Testing the idea
The next step in finding out how full stack student would react to our proposed gift of a footrest was to make one and let them try it out.
A prototype of the design
Original prototype idea
I constructed a crude prototype of the footrest to test with actual full stack students. Unfortunately, restraints of time, budget and my skills in creating the prototype made for some specific challenges in making a working prototype of the design I had chosen. Fortunately, I was able to do a little quick adjusting to the footrest design. My original footrest design sat on the floor under the students desk. The design I ended up using was a basic hammock design. The hammock hung from under the students desk and is height adjustable.
The actual prototype for our foot hammock.
Full stack students got to try it
After they got a chance to “put their feet up” using my design, I had a chance to interview three students and ask how well in accomplished the tasks of making them more comfortable while seated and if it was something a full stack student would even appreciate. I also had a chance at this point to ask these students directly if they currently experienced any back pain related to the amount of time they spend at their desk each day.
Overall the students response the the foothammock was positive. When asked how well the foot hammock would meet the goal of making a full stack students workstation more comfortable, the average ranking was 7 out of 10. Indicating the full stack students do have positive feelings towards our design concept.
Another “Ah-ha” moment occured when 1 of the 3 students I interviewed reported he is currently experiencing back pain that he attributs to the time he spends seated here at Prime. With actual students reporting they are experiencing back pain, and experts recommending that workplaces take steps towards preventing injury, further exploring the idea of giving these students our footrest was seemingly justified.
“It really does take the pressure off my knees and back.”
What happens next…
So far, this week I had researched the problem, designed a solution to it, and tested my idea with a few potential users. Now, It was time to compile all of my findings and present them as a design proposal to Prime’s stakeholders.
The stakeholders were impressed with my findings and asked that I further research how well this gift connects with our full stack students. They have also asked for a plan to further test the footrest by building a higher-fidelity prototype. I submitted a design proposal outlining several additional methods I intend to employ to further research full stack students and my footrest. These methods include:
Creating a task analysis video recording of students habits at their desk for observation and further analysis by our UX team.
Create two different high-fidelity prototypes in order to test our original design concept for the footrest as well as conduct another round of testing on the “foot hammock” design.
Conduct an A/B test in which two groups of Prime full stack students are asked to test out the different designs separately. These tests would be recorded for further observation by my UX team.
Create a survey for all participants of our prototype A/B testing. The survey’s goal would be to directly ask the user about the design and how it could potentially affect comfort in a full stack students working environment.
With these tools and research ideas at our fingertips, we are well on our way to designing a more meaningful gift for Prime to present their full stack students!