Formula One: Mobile Device Supported Rapid In-the-Wild Design and Evaluation of Interactive Prototypes

Abstract

As computers are becoming more wearable and ubiquitous, design methods using interactive prototypes have also been evolved to support in-the-wild design and evaluation in the early design stage. However, current prototype-based design methods are still complex and difficult to use for designers without programming knowledge. It is even more challenging to bring out those prototypes in the actual in-the-wild situation. In this paper, we propose a novel design method called Formula One, which supports quick and easy development of interactive prototype by using the video call functionalities of consumer smart mobile appliances. The Formula One method consists of two-stages, which are Pit Stop and Drive that a user and designers design and modify a prototype and test it, respectively. Through a pilot study, we observed potential benefits of our method in exploring different interaction modalities, finding usability concerns that can be raised while in the wild to define design guidelines.