User Bio

The user I observed is a 25 yr. old, male, Ph.D candidate in the field of Linguistics. He attended Western Washington University, receiving a B.A. in English and continued to Binghamton University in New York where he earned a Masters in Creative Writing.

I observed the user in three different circumstances, all via recorded video from his iPad; first, as a student in his Phonology and Phonetics class; second, during a break and short preparation period for a Composing Research class he is teaching; finally, for the first 10 minutes of his Composing Research class he is teaching.

Artifacts

Activity Log

Videos

Candidate Applications

During my observation I noted several behaviors, annoyances and frustrations from the user.

• user had to break concentration to take notes
• several times the user strained to see the blackboard
• a chatty office mate prevented the user from properly preparing for his class
• the user struggled to find his keys while hands were full
• power cables were retrieved, plugged in, and tripped over multiple times
• syncing notes between devices consisted of email the document to himself
• user had to retrieve an RFID card from his wallet to gain access to building

Candidate applications I came up with included:

• wearable availability LED indicator for back of neck. online/do-not-disturb/busy states
  • touch to cycle through states: green (available), red (DND), yellow (busy)
• an automatic note taking application for your phone
  • transcribes voice to text
  • leverages open source auto summary library
  • auto tags sections of notes with timestamps in original audio
• phone case that has compartment for a single, commonly access key
  • potentially 3D printable!
• pouch sewn into a laptop case or jacket that held a single, universal power cable
• a camera application that would automatically send the photo to any number of connected accounts: email, Evernote, Facebook, Blackboard, etc.
• phone case that has compartment for single RFID card