So essentially, when designing/ building the object, the user is right smack in the middle of the process.
Assignment 0: Bad Design
(Sadly) the candidate chosen for this exercise is my Creative Zen Stone, albeit it being rather trusty at times. The MP3 player is incredibly small and extremely handy, especially when it comes to accompanying me on my jogs. It is also able to fit nicely into all my bags, whether big or small since it's so tiny and light. You can probably see from the comparison below between the Zen Stone and the human hand. The storage is 1 GB in size and it is pretty conve
On the Creative website (http://uk.europe.creative.com/welcome.asp) for the United Kingdom, the player is described as "Incredibly tiny, with incredible sound". Ok, it is true that the sound is great! However, the problem comes with the interface.
This is my own Creative Zen Stone player in its glorious red (: Given as a birthday present from my godbrother.
As seen in the picture, this is all there is to the interface. At the width of the player there is actually a slider with three options. The three options are basically indicated by three icons. They actually refer to the "repeat all", "shuffle" and "skip folder" options. However, I had no clue these were such until I read the Quick Start manual.
I interview a few of my friends and here are their feedback and response:
Their feelings towards the product
Christine:
Upon her first look at the product, the first thing she commented on was that there is no display screen. She felt it was too light and it looked like there was no weight. This was an issue as she felt it would be fragile and easily damaged.
Ming Feng:
He found the Zen Stone "a bit too ridiculously small". One great problem for him was also the fact that there is no display screen. However, he felt the player looks nice.
Kumar:
He also pointed out the fact that there was no screen, contributed to its non-friendliness in terms of usage. However, he felt that this is due to the price factor. Priced at approximately SGD $69, he felt that the interface and design was constrained by its very price.
Lessons they learnt from the interaction
Christine:
She felt that it was really quite confusing. She did not really know exactly how to navigate around the product and use it. Even after giving a brief explanation to her about how the LED works and trying her own hand at it, Christine still had her doubts. If she had a choice, she would not purchase it.
Ming Feng:
When Ming Feng picked up the player, I asked him if he knew how to turn the player on. Notably, it took him a while to figure our how to turn it on. He felt that there was not much feedback in terms of what was going on in the player as he interacted with it. However, he thought it seems "pretty easy to understand and get used to".
Kumar:
The lightness of the product struck him as he held the player. It did not seem "real" to him i.e. he felt it was like a toy. "It's so small that I can hide it in my palm!"
However, the same problem persists as he found it slightly challenging to find a particular song in the whole playlist. He felt that since there is no display screen, he will not know the song he is listening to and will not be able to find a particular song either. In addition, with the battery level being indicated by a blinking LED, he mentioned his worry regarding the usage of the battery itself.
Their impressions on brand
Christine:
She felt that for a local brand, the Creative Zen Stone is "not too bad". However, she generally finds that Creative is not very reliable. She (inevitably) compared it to Apple and felt that Creative has "less class" as compared to Apple.
Ming Feng:
Contrary to what Christine said, Ming Feng felt that Creative is reliable. Although he is currently a user of an Apple iPod Nano, he felt that Creative is relatively "alright" and would not mind using it.
Contrary to what Christine said, Ming Feng felt that Creative is reliable. Although he is currently a user of an Apple iPod Nano, he felt that Creative is relatively "alright" and would not mind using it.
Kumar:
He compared the Zen Stone to the Apple Shuffle (as it has no display screen either). Assuming both products were of the same price, Kumar actually said he'd choose to buy the Creative Zen Stone as there are more colours to choose from. Colour-wise, Apple is rather limited (not counting the patterned skins available at stores for purchase).
Here's a pictorial comparison between the iPod Shuffle and Zen Stone. Both have no display screens. The shuffle is even smaller!
Your reflection on the product and user reaction
When I began using the Zen Stone, I practically slept with the Quick Start manual. The basic feedback that the player gives is via a LED on the left hand side. There are different coloured lights i.e. green, red and orange. They would either be blinking, be a steady light, or blink 1-3 times. Each different type of blink/ steady light meant different things and called for the user to react differently. For instance, if the LED was blinking red, it would mean there is low battery level and requires the user to charge as soon as possible. No one, absolutely no one, would know this at all! Even for me, as I studied the manual like a textbook of an examinable module, took some time to be used to each indication. In fact, till now, I am still slightly confused!
Just like my friends, I do wish for a display screen to be present! I recall one day when I wanted to listen to this particular song in the whole list of 1GB-worth songs. I had to keep pressing the "right" button (no pun intended!) and listen to the starting of each song before finding that particular song. It contributed to a whole lot of time and energy wasting. By the time I finally got to the song I wanted, I had exhausted the entire playlist and was, myself, too exhausted to enjoy the song.
However, owing to the price and the incredible size of the player, I understand fully why there is no display screen. Perhaps that's why Creative did come up with other Creative Zen Stones with display screens: the Creative Zen Stone Plus. (The latest even comes with built-in speakers now!)
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