The goal for this project was to design the most sophisticated eye tracker Tobii Pro had ever made, but that was as visually boring as it possibly could be. If you study eye movements, you don’t want the text subjects to pay attention to the tool collecting the data – only the things that matter for the research. This meant that a lot of effort had to be put into learning about the environment and test setups where it would be used and ensure that the physical design was adapted or adaptable to that. My role did not only involve working with a mechanical designer and an industrial designer to achieve this, but also to ensure everyone involved in the project kept this in mind for their part of the design – software or hardware alike. In addition, I was also involved in communicating with the rest of the organization about the progress of the project.
Examples of actions in the project as the…
…User researcher
User interviews/Contextual inquiry
Purpose: To learn as much as possible about the use and context of use of what we were making
Method: At regular intervals during the project, we visited and revisited developmental research facilities. When we had something to show, we brought it with us for feedback.
Participants: Researchers at Uppsala Barn- och Babylab and the University of Utrecht
Outcomes:
Things in the design which were not available in the previous Tobii Pro remote eye trackers were introduced. Examples of this were a handle for easy adjustment (and general handling) of the eye tracker, the possibility to attach a web camera to the unit, holes for mounting the eye tracker and screen on a monitor arm placed on the back of the monitor, and the almost complete removal of visual design features from the participant facing side of the eye tracker. In addition, the transportation case was designed in a way that the eye tracker and monitor could just be lifted out easily and only required the cables to be attached before being ready to used.
Since the majority from the hardware and firmware development team was participating in our first customer visit to a research facility, their understanding of context of use influenced many of the individual design decisions they took on their own during the process.
…Facilitator
Drama driven demo
Purpose: To both engage the company division and inform about the current state of the project
Method: Members of the team acted out the full purchase, assembly and use of the product using what we currently had available in terms of more or less developed hardware and software
Outcome:
Since it was very apparent when we had to “fake” steps, the entire organization did get an understanding of where we were in the project while still understanding what we were aiming for.
Especially the sales and marketing teams appreciated the demonstration as it was much more easy to understand than simply seeing a Power Point presentation about the progress of the product development.
The team appreciated the opportunity to show off their work to a captivated audience.