The Creativity Project
I am a research assistant with ROC HCI, Professor Ehsan Hoque’s lab at the University of Rochester. In the lab, I am on Ph.D student Raiyan Abdul Baten’s team for his research project to study the impact of networks on creativity.
00 My Role
My main role is to design the interface for the study and help translate design into front-end code. I am also assisting with research, study-design, and collecting/analyzing data.
01 The Problem
The study is divided into three stages and the participants have to respond to a prompt that tests their creativity. Since the study has multiple tasks, information has to be presented concisely. Additionally since it is online, errors have to be handled creatively as participants will not be able to ask a researcher if they get stuck or need help.
02 What elements does the study need?
After reading more about the study and talking with team I have come up with the following list for what my design needs to include:
PART 1: SOLO
users attempt the task on their own with no influence from others.
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Task Related: Task Prompt, Answer-Space, Timer for task
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User stats: Username and Score
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Network Related: N/A
PART 2: STATIC NETWORK
users are now allowed to see answers from others in their network and edit their list.
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Task Related: Task Prompt, Answer Space and Timer
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User Stats: Username and Score
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Network Related: Display answers from others on their network
PART 3: DYNAMIC NETWORK
users may change who they follow, before the next round starts
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Task Related - N/A
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User Stats: Username and Sore
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Network Related: follow and unfollow other users based on their answers
SOME RESTRICTIONS
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Users are allowed to enter up to 6 items in answer to prompt.
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The prompt has to be written and not pictorial.
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A user will have only 3 others in their network at any given time
03 Creating Flows
Unlike a website where users can navigate in multiple ways, this interface has to provide users with specific clues as to where to proceed next. Therefore I worked on creating a specific flow chart for how the user would progress through the interface.
04 Wireframes
Here are some shots from the initial wireframes and ideas that I have created:
05 Low Fidelity Prototype
Prototype Screens
Some Design Decisions
06 What's Coming Next?
I am currently collaborating with the team to translate the design into front-end code so that we can run a pilot soon. After which we can reflect on the data gathered and feedback received to consider the direction the research should take and any possible UI improvements.