This week, I was tasked with creating a video prototype that demonstrates clearly and effectively (and creatively) a scenario based use-case for a product. Specifically, this video was designed with the purpose of demonstrating the need for a product and its unique features that could be shown to a product team. This project was required to belong to one of the following categories:

Activity (e.g., Fitbit, Zombies Run, Map My Run, Pact, Strava, Sworkit, Couch to 5k, Moves)
Nutrition (e.g., MyFitnessPal, LoseIt, Fooducate, Lark
Sleep (e.g., SleepCycle, PowerNap, Withings Aura, S+)
Mental Health: (e.g., Headspace, Lumosity)
Other health & wellness (e.g., Clue, HealthTap, PulsePoint, Cardiio, QuitNow, Crisis Text Line)

The video prototype must demonstrate a similar type of product that does not currently exist to demonstrate the need for such a product.

Final Video Prototype

Design

While brainstorming for this project, I decided to focus on the activity and nutrition categories. As a runner, I struggle a lot with the combination of nutrition and running because I have a sensitive stomach and I often like to run in the mornings or around lunch time. This leads to the bad habit of running on an empty stomach. I try to avoid this situation because when you run without fuel, your body has no energy to successfully run and build muscle.

I also struggle with stretching properly before and after a run. I often squeeze my runs in between classes and other activities during my day, which used to cause me to skip stretching. I’ve learned from my mistakes because I’ve gotten injured in the past due to lack of stretching and strengthening. Through observation, word of mouth, and social media, I am confident that many other runners struggle with these pain points as well.

After determining where to focus, I came up with the following idea: a new feature of the Strava/Runna/Garmin app that helps athletes prevent injury and fuel properly. I created two goals that focused on usability and desirability. I referred to these goals throughout my prototyping process.

Usability: A casual runner can easily fuel properly for their body and training load. A runner is reminded that they must work every day to prevent injury, even if they are not injured. The product appears easy to use and fits seamlessly into a runner’s schedule.

I decided to evaluate this by asking if runners think about the food they consume before and after runs and if they struggle to fuel properly before and after runs.
I also decided to ask if they feel that this feature would make them more secure in the fact that they will not get injured or less worried that they will get injured if they had these features.

Desirability: It is easy and fun for a runner to learn how they should be fueling and stretching. The product appears useful and desirable to runners and other athletes.

I decided to evaluate this by asking runners and non-runners if they would use this feature in their existing running app.

I also brainstormed the following unique features of the product:

Prompts users to stretch after a run
Prompts users to fuel before and after a run (users would photograph the food in their fridge)
Prompts users to fuel during a run: take a picture of the gels you are eating, and the app will tell you (in your earbuds) to take the gel at a certain time based on how far you've ran and how long and how much you've burned and how many carbs the gel has

Storyboards

Before creating my storyboard, I wrote a rough script of the video. Then I highlighted important scenes to sketch in the storyboard. I sketched the storyboard, making sure to describe the movement in each scene. I created a shot list of each scene, then I received feedback from peers, so I added further descriptions and made adjustments to my shot list.

Prototype

I spent three days filming and two days editing the footage. I used a Canon T6i camera and a medium tripod. I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit.

Analysis

I used the following testing protocol when conducting user testing of my prototype video:

Determine if the participant is a runner or athlete
- Do you think about the food that you consume before and after running?
- Do you run into any challenges with fueling before or after running?
- Have you ever been injured due to running?

Ask the participant to view the video
Ask the following questions:

How would you describe the product/feature that was described in the video?

Describe it to them if they are wrong (and take note)

If you had access to the features in the video, how much more confident would you feel about running with proper nutrition from 1 to 5? (5 being high)
If you had access to the features in the video, how much more confident would you feel about running without injury from 1 to 5? (5 being high)
Do you use an app to track your fitness? If yes, would you use this feature if it was integrated into that app?
What parts of the video resonated the most with you?
What suggestions do you have for how the video or product could be improved?

I tested my final video prototype with four design students, and three students outside of my HCDE 351 class. This consisted of one seven-minute testing session and three five-minute testing sessions, for a total of 23 minutes of testing. Based on this, I gathered the following insights:

What Worked Well:

The video effectively communicates the unique features of the product. Two participants outside of HCDE who were unfamiliar with the video concept correctly identified the product.

P2: “App that keeps you accountable and protects you while engaging in fitness.”
P1: “An app that tells you how to run in terms of reminding you to fuel and stretch.”

The product would make users more confident that they are preventing running injuries because four participants ranked their confidence as five on a scale from one to five (high).
Participant 3 mentioned that they enjoyed the product because “some people will find more merit in being reminded by an app rather than a person” (P3).
Participant 2 mentioned that they don’t stretch before their runs because it feels like something they should do, but they don’t have to do. They said that this app would make them more confident that they are taking care of their body.
Three participants from HCDE said that the camera angles and the acting helped them visualize the product and how it would fit into a runner’s daily life.

What Needed Improvement:

Two participants from HCDE wanted more elaboration on how the app would receive information about the runner’s nutrition. They mentioned that they would be even more confident in the product if they had more information on how it worked.

One participant recommended that the nutrition notification could be formatted differently to ask whether the user has eaten and then the user would click “yes” or “no”.

One participant suggested that the stretching reminders in the injury prevention plan could recommend specific stretches to the runner.
Two participants mentioned that the beginning of the video did not effectively highlight that the runner was skipping her stretches before the run.

Suggestion from participants: use a more universal symbol or image for stretching, maybe include a thought bubble.

Conclusion:

I concluded that my scenario was effective in communicating the need for the product and importance of the two pain points: injury prevention and nutrition. Overall, the video could be improved by balancing the two features of the product and including more scenes related to proper running nutrition. My usability statement was met because the video showed that a runner is reminded that they must work every day to prevent injury and that the product fits into their running schedule. My desirability statement was met because all participants mentioned that they would be more confident in their runs if they had access to the product featured in the video.

If I had more time for this project I would:

Add more scenes related to running nutrition and show more fueling reminders.
Show more specific features of the product, like how it gathers data on the user and what specific stretches it encourages.
Change the shot of the yoga mat at the beginning to make it more clear that the runner skipped her stretches.

Overall, my final video prototype met my goals of prototyping for usability and desirability and I received positive feedback during my critique, therefore I will not be completing another iteration of my video for this assignment.

Reflection

Through this project, I learned more about how to use the Adobe Premiere Pro editing software. I also learned how to use Adobe After Effects for the first time. I had previous experience with filming and video editing, but I gained more experience with filming via a DSLR and tripod. I also learned that it is very hard to distinguish between creating a video that is for marketing versus a product video that demonstrates a use-case scenario.

When starting this project, I wish I had known that filming would take much longer than I expected. I would have allocated more time for filming so that I could start editing sooner. I also wish that I had known that some scenes would be longer than I expected because I had to cut out a couple scenes because my video was too long.

Video production is a passion of mine, so I really enjoyed being able to apply my skills to a class within my major.

Video Prototype: It’s the Little Things