vrijdag 18 maart 2011
Task Analysis
Our product is meant for both the clients and the salesmen. So the we made a task analysis for both of these groups. The purpose of our task analysis was to inventories all the different options of our product. This is the result of our work:
Client
First of all the salesman needs an account. It is created with the help of the salesman. Now the product can be used. Once the client is logged in, the main menu will appear. Here is an inventory of the options that the client will come across:
Ordering
Here the client generally knows what he wants, thus this option is mainly to make a new order.
• Product Selection
o Catalogue
Alphabetical
Categorized
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
o Ordering history (Shortcut to order quickly)
Information
This will be the database of the store’s products. This section has an informative purpose, so the idea is that the client can just sit down in the coffee corner and read the different characteristics of each product. He will also notice that, every now and then, a new product is available.
• Product Selection
o Catalogue
Alphabetical
Categorized
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
o New products (newsfeeds from Sigma)
o Special Offers
Direct Scanning (RFID)
This option is for the more impulsive client. He scans the products and then he decides whether to read the datasheet or to order it.
• Add to shopping cart
• Special offers
• Product suggestions
Configuration
This option is for the painter that looks for a certain product that works under special conditions. So the client knows what properties he wants, but doesn’t know which product has those properties. By filling in the screen with these properties and pressing search, a list of possible products will appear.
• Weather conditions
o Inside or outside job
o Temperature
o Windy, sunny, rainy...
o Colour
o Size (number of litres for each bucket)
o Minimum number of layers needed
o Needs to fill holes, or not
o UV resistant
o Chemical base (mostly regarding laws and safety)
• Read list
o Select product
Shopping Cart
This replaces the standard paper order form. All the products that were added here are shown in the list. There also is a shortcut to see previous orders and add them directly to the order list. This saves some of the client’s precious time because he doesn’t have to look for the product in the store or in the digital catalogue.
Special offers
Whenever a new product arrives in the store, the client might not notice it and even then, he won’t know what is new about it. The special offers option is made to increase the client’s awareness. At the same time, the client can see if a certain product is less expensive. This is kind of like the advertisement corner of the store.
Catalogue
The catalogue is a database of everything that is within the store: the ladders, protective gears, the brushes, the paint and even the colour assortments. The client can search for the item trough it’s category or the list, by alphabetical order.
Order History
This is a log of all the previously bought items. You can select any product to then add it in the shopping cart.
Shortcuts
It also should be noted that the client can always return to the previous page and that a shortcut should be available at all times for these options: shopping cart, ...
Salesman
The salesman can do the same things as the client but since he is one of the store’s employee, he has a few more options. The salesman has a different main menu as he logs in.
Information
The employee is like a walking database of the store’s products. So this button redirects the salesman to the previously mentioned “Information” menu.
• New products (newsfeed from Sigma)
• Product Selection
o Alphabetical Categorized order
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
Overview current customers
To increase staff efficiency, the salesman can see where a client is and at the same time, see what he has in his shopping cart. Since the client has a unique account, the salesman can also see previous purchases. This way, the employee knows what to expect out of the client.
• See names current customers+ colours of device
o Shopping cart contents
Suggestions based on products
Price negotiation
• Payment
o Print bill for customer
o Send to back office
Add customer to database
Whenever a new client comes in, he doesn’t have a RFID card to identify himself. That is where the employee comes in to help the client make a new account. This can be done with our product.
• Add customer information (e.g. Name, address, company, bank etc.)
o Scan new RFID card for customer
o Give RFID card to customer
Client
First of all the salesman needs an account. It is created with the help of the salesman. Now the product can be used. Once the client is logged in, the main menu will appear. Here is an inventory of the options that the client will come across:
Ordering
Here the client generally knows what he wants, thus this option is mainly to make a new order.
• Product Selection
o Catalogue
Alphabetical
Categorized
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
o Ordering history (Shortcut to order quickly)
Information
This will be the database of the store’s products. This section has an informative purpose, so the idea is that the client can just sit down in the coffee corner and read the different characteristics of each product. He will also notice that, every now and then, a new product is available.
• Product Selection
o Catalogue
Alphabetical
Categorized
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
o New products (newsfeeds from Sigma)
o Special Offers
Direct Scanning (RFID)
This option is for the more impulsive client. He scans the products and then he decides whether to read the datasheet or to order it.
• Add to shopping cart
• Special offers
• Product suggestions
Configuration
This option is for the painter that looks for a certain product that works under special conditions. So the client knows what properties he wants, but doesn’t know which product has those properties. By filling in the screen with these properties and pressing search, a list of possible products will appear.
• Weather conditions
o Inside or outside job
o Temperature
o Windy, sunny, rainy...
o Colour
o Size (number of litres for each bucket)
o Minimum number of layers needed
o Needs to fill holes, or not
o UV resistant
o Chemical base (mostly regarding laws and safety)
• Read list
o Select product
Shopping Cart
This replaces the standard paper order form. All the products that were added here are shown in the list. There also is a shortcut to see previous orders and add them directly to the order list. This saves some of the client’s precious time because he doesn’t have to look for the product in the store or in the digital catalogue.
Special offers
Whenever a new product arrives in the store, the client might not notice it and even then, he won’t know what is new about it. The special offers option is made to increase the client’s awareness. At the same time, the client can see if a certain product is less expensive. This is kind of like the advertisement corner of the store.
Catalogue
The catalogue is a database of everything that is within the store: the ladders, protective gears, the brushes, the paint and even the colour assortments. The client can search for the item trough it’s category or the list, by alphabetical order.
Order History
This is a log of all the previously bought items. You can select any product to then add it in the shopping cart.
Shortcuts
It also should be noted that the client can always return to the previous page and that a shortcut should be available at all times for these options: shopping cart, ...
Salesman
The salesman can do the same things as the client but since he is one of the store’s employee, he has a few more options. The salesman has a different main menu as he logs in.
Information
The employee is like a walking database of the store’s products. So this button redirects the salesman to the previously mentioned “Information” menu.
• New products (newsfeed from Sigma)
• Product Selection
o Alphabetical Categorized order
o Configuration on basis of requirements and environment
o Scanning of found product to order
Overview current customers
To increase staff efficiency, the salesman can see where a client is and at the same time, see what he has in his shopping cart. Since the client has a unique account, the salesman can also see previous purchases. This way, the employee knows what to expect out of the client.
• See names current customers+ colours of device
o Shopping cart contents
Suggestions based on products
Price negotiation
• Payment
o Print bill for customer
o Send to back office
Add customer to database
Whenever a new client comes in, he doesn’t have a RFID card to identify himself. That is where the employee comes in to help the client make a new account. This can be done with our product.
• Add customer information (e.g. Name, address, company, bank etc.)
o Scan new RFID card for customer
o Give RFID card to customer
vrijdag 18 februari 2011
Personas
We wish for to create a product that will be used by the customers of Sigma as well as their salesmen
Field Research
On the 7th February we went to a Sigma Service Point. We went to one of the Service points, which is situated in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. After asking at the reception if we were able to walk around in the store, we got the green light. The store on itself was quite small, and did not just only offer paint, but sort of the whole kit of needs which a professional painter must have to do his job. The store area also included a place where the painters could talk with the retailers with a cup of coffee, as well as a desktop PC which provided information about the weather as well as colour schemes.
One of the retailers provided us some additional information. Their users are professional painters, which get hired to do jobs, such as painting parking lots and such. They informed us about the fact that most of their customers do know all sorts of colour codes as well as what sorts of paints they want. In case of an unknown problem to tackle, they most of the time discuss the problem to get a good advice from the retailer apparent in the service point.
It is important that this connection between the user and the retailer will still remain after introducing the interface. This could be sustained by still leaving some things to the retailer, such as a price negotiation space as well as some additional information, if needed by the painter.
When looking at the shelf in this service point, it seemed strange that no price was shown. The reason for not giving this information directly is not yet clear to us. Thanks to a reference to call the people who are responsible for the interior of the stores, we are able to know.
One of the retailers provided us some additional information. Their users are professional painters, which get hired to do jobs, such as painting parking lots and such. They informed us about the fact that most of their customers do know all sorts of colour codes as well as what sorts of paints they want. In case of an unknown problem to tackle, they most of the time discuss the problem to get a good advice from the retailer apparent in the service point.
It is important that this connection between the user and the retailer will still remain after introducing the interface. This could be sustained by still leaving some things to the retailer, such as a price negotiation space as well as some additional information, if needed by the painter.
When looking at the shelf in this service point, it seemed strange that no price was shown. The reason for not giving this information directly is not yet clear to us. Thanks to a reference to call the people who are responsible for the interior of the stores, we are able to know.
maandag 7 februari 2011
Chosen company
We chose to design for Sigma Coatings. Sigma Coatings is a Dutch company, specialized in all sorts of paints. They were founded in 1972 and are part of PPG Industries, which is a large American company, which is specialized in glass and chemicals.
They offer products to two types of clients: DIY (which are the customers which will buy their paint in shops like the Gamma and Praxis) and trade (the professional, such as painters or decorators which get hired).
Since the customers which buy their paints at other retail points may not be that interested in an application that gives information on only the Sigma brand. They only have limited paint types on their shelfs, often representing only a small amount of the Sigma Coatings assortment.
When Sigma wants to sell some type of paint to a professional client, they offer a lot of colour schemes, as well as brochures and professional advice. This information can be found on their website, in pdf-formats.
They offer products to two types of clients: DIY (which are the customers which will buy their paint in shops like the Gamma and Praxis) and trade (the professional, such as painters or decorators which get hired).
Since the customers which buy their paints at other retail points may not be that interested in an application that gives information on only the Sigma brand. They only have limited paint types on their shelfs, often representing only a small amount of the Sigma Coatings assortment.
When Sigma wants to sell some type of paint to a professional client, they offer a lot of colour schemes, as well as brochures and professional advice. This information can be found on their website, in pdf-formats.
List of initial demands
We have been given a specific task in this course. We have to design an application for a large company, which is planning to introduce RFID technology to its products. This RFID technology makes it possible to scan products and display all the needed information for the user.
This information gets displayed on a 7’’ touchable screen, in which a lot of functionalities which may support their shopping process.
The product has to help the customer, so this assignment is not that much business focused. It needs to assist the user in an intuitive way.
This information gets displayed on a 7’’ touchable screen, in which a lot of functionalities which may support their shopping process.
The product has to help the customer, so this assignment is not that much business focused. It needs to assist the user in an intuitive way.
Introduction
This course is all about designing for interaction. Our goal at the end is to design an interactive application which will help people to buy their product. Our group specifically had to design for do-it-yourself stores.
In this report we will discuss the first main objectives in designing this interactive application. This will be followed by the list of demands which are given by the Interaction course, which will be our starting point.
We will start off with explaining our choice for the company which we are going to design for. After we made this choice, we will do our research on the customers and users which will eventually have to have benefit from using this application. This will be done by field research.
This field research will eventually lead to some specific wishes from the user, from which we will derive some of the things which have to be integrated in the design. These results will also give us a clear idea of the person we are designing for, and therefore we will set up a persona, explaining some of the basic information which explains our user.
This persona is an archetype of the user, which describes a person representing the target group. This person does not exist, although it gives a lively indicator of the target group.
After determining the persona, we will eventually come up with a future scenario, in which we will explain which problems our application has to tackle.
In this report we will discuss the first main objectives in designing this interactive application. This will be followed by the list of demands which are given by the Interaction course, which will be our starting point.
We will start off with explaining our choice for the company which we are going to design for. After we made this choice, we will do our research on the customers and users which will eventually have to have benefit from using this application. This will be done by field research.
This field research will eventually lead to some specific wishes from the user, from which we will derive some of the things which have to be integrated in the design. These results will also give us a clear idea of the person we are designing for, and therefore we will set up a persona, explaining some of the basic information which explains our user.
This persona is an archetype of the user, which describes a person representing the target group. This person does not exist, although it gives a lively indicator of the target group.
After determining the persona, we will eventually come up with a future scenario, in which we will explain which problems our application has to tackle.
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