Project One - Ann, Marlissa, Milena, Nicole and Rob.

Project One: Deconstruct an Interaction
Taking a Photograph on a Phone

Why is this interaction necessary?
Having a mobile device that serves more than one function is becoming increasingly more common. Many cellular phones now come with an mp3 or camera function, and this comes as a benefit to users who would like the convenience of having all of these on hand without the burden of carrying three separate (and very costly) devices. Having a camera on your phone also gives you the advantage of recording images that can later be sent to another phone, or sent to an email account without ever having to be next to a computer. Taking a picture is faster than conveying a verbal or written description of something, and can be useful in many planned or unexpected situations that arise.




What are the Items of Interaction?
As stated earlier, many phones now come with a camera function. However, to maintain the consistency of our ethnographic research in this project, we chose to observe the user experience of a specific camera model: the Sony Ericsson W580I.

Where and When Does the Interaction Start and Finish?
The interaction starts when the user decides there is an image he or she would like to capture. In the case of our study, it was when we told the user to take a picture of anything they chose. The interaction is finished after the camera makes the shutter noise, thus telling the user their photograph has been taken, and is ready to view on the phone's main display. The end result of the interaction is also the task that needs to be performed, and what is critical to performing this task is finding getting to this end result in a timely fashion so as not to miss the image that the user is trying to record. It could be a record of an event being witnessed, or an object you would like to have someone else review, or maybe even a celebrity walking into the same restaurant as you. Of course, having record of all of these things may not be integral, but they serve many social uses, and can be convenient in trying to remembering things.



How does the Design Direct the Interaction?
Our observations found a lack of guidance for the user to perform the task. In this particular phone's model, there were a lack of visual cues on the buttons to direct the user to the applications menu, creating confusion for the first time user when trying to take a picture.

In a country like Canada where the cellphone penetration rates aren't as high as in other parts of the world, the usabilty of a phone for the novice user is important because there are more novice users here.

On average, the subjects took roughly 2 minutes to find the nessecary steps in taking a picture, whereas the regular "expert user" could finish the same task in 5 seconds. One would be right in arguing that someone who purchases any phone will eventually become an expert user.

However, the longer than expected length of time most subjects took in our study (many of whom were owners of other camera phones) hints at poor design that may be tolerated by a user who has already purchased the phone and can't afford to buy a new one, but also may deter many others from buying the same model. If many of the devices have already been manufactured and do not sell for this reason, having had a better initial design could save the maker some of the manufacturing costs and potentially prevent the waste of product.

How Can This Interaction be Improved?
We think a few simple modifications to the labelling of the buttons on this phone would greatly improve the user experience, for instance labellling a clear "menu" button, or highlighting the phone's shortcut icon. Also, changing the phone from a "slider" to a more conventional "flip" form would not only be less confusing to the novice user, but a more practical design for the phone's durability.