Smart Fridge - University of Birminghamrjh/courses/IntroductionToHCI/.../Group19.pdf ·...

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MSc/ICY Introduction to Human Computer Interaction

Team 19

Anatolii Konstantinov 1602894

Karolina Pakenaite 1332908

Nikolaos Agas 1604788

Serena Grillo 1334685

Smart Fridge

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Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....3

Review of related work………………………………………………………………………….4

Basic fridge………..…………………………………………………………..…………4

Samsung’s smart fridge………………………………………………………………...5

LG Internet Refrigerator………………………………………………………………...6

My Fitness Pal…………………………………………………………………………...7

Observation of reviews……………………………………………………………………..8

Analysis of user requirements…………………………………………………………………9

Mother…………...……………………………………………………………………….9

Father…………………………………………………………………………………...10

Grandfather…………………………………………………………………………….11

Child……………………………………………………………………………………..12

First generation prototypes…………………………………………………………………...13

Prototype 1……...……………………………………………………………………...13

Persona reviews…………………....……………………………………………….15

Prototype 2……………………………………………………………………………..16

Persona reviews……………………………………………………………………..19

Prototype 3……………………………………………………………………………..20

Persona reviews…………………………………………………………………..…24

Evaluation……………………………………..……………………………………………25

Conclusion and recommendations………………..…………………………………..…28

Second generation prototype…..…………………………………………………………….29

Tools for constructing prototype………………..………………………………………...29

Final prototype……………………………………………………………………………...30

Plan for evaluating the final prototype…………………………………………………...34

Scenarios and solutions…………………………………………………………...….34

Reviews from the users……………………………………………………………….35

Heuristic evaluation……………………………………………………………………36

Summary and achievements…………………………………………………………………37

References……………………………………………………………………………….…….38

Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction University of Birmingham

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Introduction

The Internet of Things (IoT) – a technology paradigm anticipated to be a global network

of machines and devices capable of interacting with the internet and each other – has

been hyped by many academics and manufactures as a new wave of technological

advancements that will improve, or at least change, many aspects of modern life. There

are many promised applications of this technology, hoped to make what were once

tedious daily routines quicker, smarter and more efficient (Lee and Lee, 2015). The

application that we will explore in this project is the idea of a ‘Smart Fridge’. There have

already been some early attempts at creating Smart Fridges intended for household use

however, though many thought of the Smart Fridge as a seemingly obvious opportunity

to introduce such technology into homes, these attempts have been branded as

commercial flops (Kuniavsky, 2010). Here we will build upon the ideas of these models –

that commonly have features that help track inventory, set the fridges temperature, order

groceries and so forth - to create a smart fridge which has the additionally functionality of

helping household users maintain healthy eating habits. This additional feature should

increase the commercial appeal of a Smart fridge, as healthy eating has become more

important to the modern person on a global scale.

Some of the initial ideas for our ‘Smart Fridge’ model include:

Approach detection - turns the display screen on and closes the door when it has

been left open for too long accordingly

LCD screen display - showing useful information such as how or on which shelf

the food should be stored, a warning of products soon to become expired, if

products have been finished or how much is left

User profiles - possibly with face recognition for multiple purposes such as child

lock or to keep a record of an individual’s daily consumption, notifying them of their

intake of calories, nutrients, alcohol and etc.

An online shopping tool - showing alternative products, price comparisons and an

automatic online ordering feature based on the users average shopping list items

A recipe finder option - depending on what food is inside the fridge options can be

recommend and suggested foods can be ordered

Connected mobile app - so you can track your diet and what’s in the fridge

anywhere, to receive notifications an what you need when you are at the store

The smart Fridge can also hold information on household food that doesn’t need

to be refrigerated (i.e. cupboard food) by scanning a shopping receipt to provide

better information on recipes

Shows and varies temperature based on the food stored inside the fridge

Warning when there is no power and how long the emergency battery will last

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Before building a ‘Smart Fridge’, we need to design one. In the next chapter we will

provide an evaluation of existing systems which will draw upon task analysis, so a better

understanding of user requirements can be made.

Review of related work

Over the course of the development of this project, research has been made into a

number of different areas relating to the idea of creating such a fridge. The team

conducted research on three different fridges and a related diet tracking app. We

provide the collected findings below with a conclusion.

Basic fridge

First, we decided to evaluate a basic fridge that we see in a common household. After

evaluating, this will help us to create an iteration of initial prototypes of a smart fridge

before designing an advanced system prototype, by deducing missing functionalities

and potential improvements in the basic fridge.

Advantages The advantages of buying a basic fridge, is that they are cheap, convenient, simple. As a fairly homogenous household item that users have been brought up with there is no worry that someone won’t know how to use it. Also, there are no worries about the privacy or security of the appliance as it is not connected to the internet. Disadvantages Basic fridges are often hard to organised and can easily become cluttered. It is sometimes confusing whose food is whose or what food is in the back of the fridge. Users may often find themselves labelling their food or containers but still having their food stolen – a likely case if this fridge is in student accommodation. The lack of organisation also means we often find some food has forgotten and expired. Leftovers especially, are hard to estimate when it bounds to be out of date. It is common that a member of a

household does the weekly shopping, thus it requires a lot of time on meal planning. Also they may forget what is in the fridge when at the supermarket, leading buying duplicate products. Basic fridges require a constant check if there is enough food in the fridge – it is estimated that the average person visits their fridge 20 times a day.

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Conclusion To conclude, we can see that there are many ways we could redesign a basic fridge to make its use more efficient. We could add a screen that provides many useful tips, i.e. how to organize the fridge, provide a food shopping list or even make an automatic food shop and delivery. It could also have a function that recognise the expiration date of food or recognise how much is being stored. The goal of our development project, is to keep the fridge convenient and simple, and to create a system which could be used by a wide range of users – so we will have to analyse which features to prioritise as we note them. Samsung Smart Fridge

For a second review, we decided to see if there are any existing smart fridges and

evaluate their functionalities. Samsung has already launched an internet fridge in 2013.

Advantages

The Samsung fridge has a build-in Wi-Fi. It has

an integrated LCD touchscreen and on the

screen, users can read news and listen to music

or radio on a Pandora app. There are other

accessories on screen, such as grocery

management app, memo app to add notes and

Epicurious app which researches the recipes

based on the items you have on the fridge or

creates a shopping list, but it does not sync with other devices. The screen displays

internal temperature and weather. In addition, the fridge has SD port for you to display

photos on screen. Lastly, the system can also make or receive calls with phone

mirroring function.

Disadvantages

Does not provide Ethernet connectivity or compatibility with many other devices.

Samsung devices are need to sync – this requires users to purchase more devices as a

required accessory, making the audience target very limited. Lately, many published

articles have mentioned that a fridge has a lack of security with Gmail calendar, being

easy to be traced by hackers. Lastly, the quality of screen is not satisfying – glares, low

resolution, does not support pinch and zoom features making the technology feel dated.

Conclusion

From this evaluation we see that the internet fridge though existing has limited

functionality and visual appeal. This product has been unsuccessful because the

consumers had seen it as unnecessary and expensive accessory. There are many

features that not needed to be added on a fridge, making it complicated and time

consuming for user, which is contradictory to the aims of a smart fridge.

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LG Internet Refrigerator

For final appliance review, we looked at another existing smart fridges and evaluated its

functionalities, comparing it with Samsung’s fridge. We see that LG has launched an

internet fridge in 2000 with improved features in 2013.

Advantages

LG refrigerator has a medium size LCD monitor

15.5, similar to the average size of computer screen.

It has a built in speakers, CCD camera &

microphone. It also has a build in TV tuner. Email

and calendar can be accessed on refrigerators

screen. A system provides an electronic food

nutritional fact file, food manager with expiration date

warning and alphabetical list of food stored in the

fridge. It also tracks the family water intake. For an

internet connectivity, LG refrigerator has its own LAN

port, thus it is also capable of internet shopping.

Lastly this fridge can also transfer photos to

refrigerator from an SD card or your smartphone.

Disadvantages

Lack of a barcode scanner for easy usability, which

means users have to manually key in descriptions

and dates of products. Easy to be hacked into,

leading to the fridge being unsecure with lack of

guaranteed privacy. Also provides few unnecessary

features, which can make the fridge more expensive

and subject its appeal to a niche target audience.

Conclusion

This refrigerator launched in 2000 was also an

unsuccessful product. The problems solved were

obscure. For example, many juice bottles are

transparent, providing a visual reminder that a

purchase is needed eventually; vegetable drawers

are similarly transparent and contain items often

removed from packages, thus this was the reason why bar codes were eliminated for

inventory. Moreover, the ability of the device to remind users of upcoming purchases

when there are often multiple buyers in a household who communicate informally is not

typically addressable as a use case.

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My Fitness Pal App

My Fitness Pal is an app that allows users to keep track

of their calorie intake by taking into account what they’re

eating. The app is designed to promote a healthy diet and

can give users details about their daily, weekly and

monthly intake of calories allowing them to track their

progress and help them set targets so that they can

reach certain goals.

Advantages

The app is free for anyone to use it. The app comes

with a scanner function that allows users to scan the

barcode of foods and the dietary information is

automatically added. The app can save frequent

recipes making it easier for users to update their daily

intake of food. Tracking calories is proven to increase

weight loss. It is community based and peer based

support could help some dieters stay on track.

Disadvantages

The directory of recipes is extensive and has many duplicates and alternatives as any

member from the community can add their own variation of recipes. Tracking calories

can require more time and dedication than other diets. Portion sizes are determined by

the dieter, which could flaw total calories consumed. Dieters still need to make good

food choices and exercise for the app to improve their diet – no advice is given by the

app.

Conclusion

Having this feature on a smart fridge would reduce the time and dedication, by

introducing a built in scanner that does not require manual product keying. Also the idea

of a mobile app means that people can access information about their fridge on the go

allowing for a greater range of possible functions. As the smart fridge will also be used

to track users diets, it make sense to have a connected mobile app as users will not

always be eating meals at home or from the food stored in their fridge.

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Observation of reviews

In light of the reviews, there are a number of features that we can adapt from the above

models to incorporate into our smart fridge system when analysing what was or wasn’t

included. We spot that both examples of smart fridges have small screens, and as most

people are used to using wider screens this could be a first improvement to make in our

model. Our prototype should have big enough screen so it can easily be used, as well

as a familiar screen layout. Users would not struggle to use it or get confused with its

functions. Our fridge should include various ways of inputting information such as a

barcode camera scanner, this way the user can inputs products in the virtual fridge

inventory with ease promoting the frequent use of the system. Both of reviewed fridges

did not meet our expectations so it is no wonder why the smart fridge is still in its infancy

stage in regards to being a viable household product.

Our fridge should incorporate some aspects of previous attempts and familiar products.

A smart fridge having internet connection is compulsory either by wireless or cable

connection. To increase functionality. Our fridge should be accompanied with a mobile

app which allows synchronization between them and allow access to the fridge from

anywhere. The LG fridge has some features that would suite to a smart fridge, like

nutritional facts and food manager. The feature that lets you search recipes based on

what is inside and helps decide what to cook is also a useful feature we wish to include.

There many non-essential features that we’d like to include in our smart fridge o make

the user experience more enjoyable. Such as the simple gadgets and widgets featured

in the Samsung smart fridge. Furthermore, these fridges does not allow to have access

to some important applications that would make the smart fridge more user friendly.

User should have quick access to the fridge system as well as a mobile alternative.

However we must be careful not to make the system to complex; hence, the design

process of this system demands effort, time and a solid understanding of user

requirements.

In the next chapter of this project we analysis the user requirements of what we have

modelled to be an average household, comprised of people of different ages, technical

abilities and desired goal they’d wish to accomplish with the help of a smart fridge.

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Analysis of user requirements

Joanna Jones Pregnant mother

Age: 32 Job: Teacher

IT Skills: Good general knowledge

Main points: On maternity leave, so has a lot of free time to spend in the kitchen Cooks for the family 5 to 7 times a week Craves for watermelon

Goals: To create a pregnancy diet plan To monitor how active she is To minter the nutrition of her family

Frustrations and pain points: She hates having to defrost the fridge She has trouble organising the food in the fridge and remembering when food is

expiring

Scenarios:

Keep track of the consumption of each person in a house and have details of her own nutritional records

Receive daily recipe ideas Tips for her pregnancy diet

Daily routine: A pregnant mother of one child, lives in a house with her husband and her elderly

mother. Being on a maternity leave, she helps with household duties. Every morning,

she makes a lunch for her daughter and drives her to school by car. Then she spends

her morning at the gym to stay active and healthy. At noon she does some grocery

shopping for the dinner. Then she plans to spend at the tea shop with her mother for

lunch. After this, she goes home and spends an hour checking her emails. She spends

her afternoon making dinner for everyone and finishes her day by walking her dog with

her husband at the park.

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Thomas Jones Workaholic Father

Age: 43 Job: Financial Analyst

IT Skills: Good general computer understanding

Main points:

Works hard and long hours, so is often too busy to shop or cook Does the weekly shopping for the family Lives with 2 children and his wife

Goals: Find deals to save money Eat healthy due to maintain good health

Take weekly notice of the shopping list to reduce spending time at the supermarket

Frustrations and pain points: Forgets passwords Forgets shopping list Going around super markets corridors is exhausting

Scenarios: Spend less time on food planning and shopping Order and get the products delivered to home Choose healthy foods to help improve his health

Daily routine: Every weekday he stays at the office most of his time and works hard to satisfy his family needs. He tries to find ways of spending more time with his family at home. He wakes up early in the morning, goes to office and stays there until late at night. Then returns home tired and goes to bed. He would like to find alternative ways to do shopping faster so that he can spend his quality time with his family on weekends.

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Edgar Jones

Elderly Grandfather

Job: Retired miner

IT Skills: Total lack of understanding

Goals:

To extend his life without following strict rules of diet plan

To avoid taking part in cooking as much as possible

To save money on food

Frustrations and pain points:

Hates his diet plan

Has a small pension

Lack of health

Scenarios:

Check whether his choice is in harmony with specified diet, taste preference and

the cost

Order his grandson to buy some products from supermarket for the meal

Order someone else to cook his chosen meal easily

Daily routine:

In old age Edgar got paraplegia due to his abusive work as a miner, but he didn’t lose

the desire to live life to the fullest. Balancing taking his medication and but still enjoying

the occasion drink, Edgar wanted to feel like teenager in both the literal and figurative

sense. He spends his day as a classic example of a grandfather – watching TV shows,

chatting on phone with some friends and in the evening he reads his books about how

to be happy in old age. At weekend there is always a family dinner and Edgar is happy

for someone else to cook for him, however he would like to see more of his favourite

meals on the menu! He allows himself to have one cup of whisky on the weekends and

tries to prevent his disability having a significant impact on his life. He gets a lot of help

and attention from his family but would like more guidance on how to stay healthy.

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Harry Jones

Child

Age: 11

IT Skills: low general knowledge

Main points:

Likes playing computer games

Loves eating ice cream and chocolate

Hates any food that is green

Goals:

Wants to avoid eating vegetables and eat as much ice cream and chocolate he

can each day

He wants to his parents order the food online

Frustrations and pain points:

Feels disappointed when he checks the fridge and doesn’t see his favourite

snacks

Hates going to the supermarket with his parents

Can’t reach high shelves on the fridge

Scenarios:

Wants a child friendly system that encourages a healthy diet

His mum wants a child lock feature to prevent him eating to many sweets

He wants to spend less time with his dad at the super market

Daily routine:

Harry is a very hyper active child and loves to play football and computer games. He

hates having to sit still at the table during dinner time and always avoids eating

vegetables. He hates being dragged to the supermarket on the weekends and would

much rather spend his time playing games. His mother is trying to get him to eat foods

that are more healthy for him however is finding it hard to convince him that healthy

food can be tasty and fun!

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First generation prototype

Prototype 1

This first generation prototype of the smart fridge is based on an ordinary fridge and the

main aim been has left the same – to keep products cool. However it has some specific

features which can help user in their daily routine.

The first main feature of this design is the touch screen display on the whole door of the

fridge. It was chosen because text upon that display is more visible and there is

possibility of displaying more gadgets such as video player, FM radio, music player,

weather and so on. The home screen displays three different options for a user to select

without requiring to click a menu.

Meal planner options offers some basic information on the

user’s nutrition. The details of the user’s body profile (weight,

age and height) are saved in an account of user. When filling in

the details, it calculates optional daily/weekly/monthly nutrition

in accordance to the age, height, weight, and lifestyle.

Information consist of appropriate healthy meals at specific

period. Also once the user chose a specific meal on the screen,

fridge can display the recipes to help them how to cook.

User can select one of these options by touching the appropriate text.

Weather

Date

The user fills in the details

Figure 1 - Home page

Figure 2 – Questionnaire page for meal planner

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The second option from the home page is

made for the personas who don’t want to follow

“Smart advice” of the meal planner. They can

quickly search for any dish and see what it

consists of and how to cook the chosen dish.

The fridge searches for the dishes based on the

ingredients stored in the fridge. The fridge could

have an option of a wider search so that a user

can plan ahead and have a shopping list.

The last option is to display a set of gadgets and apps

(such as a TV) so you can multitask while cooking. Users

can add or remove any gadget they want by customising

the screen in the settings option.

Search function: text is inserted

by the user

Apps and gadgets

TV

Figure 4 – Gadgets page

Figure 3 - Search for recipes by ingredient page

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The following table shows the ratings by the personas on the prototype 1 in a range

from 0 to 5 where 0 means the worst and 5 means the best.


Thomas Jones Working father

Edgar Jones Retired grandfather

Harry Jones Child

Scenario 1

Keep track of consumption by each person in a house and herself

for nutrition records

Spend less time on food planning and

shopping

Check whether his choice is in harmony with specified diet,

taste preference and the cost

Child friendly system

Score 1 1 0 1

Reason

There is no page for a general view of all users - need to select on each account manually

Can search for recipes but no help

on creating a shopping list

Not developed based on the

persons tastes, doctors

prescriptions and the cost

No option for setting a child

friendly system, except a

possibility of adding an app of games for

entertainment

Scenario 2 Daily recipe ideas Order and get the products delivered

to home

Order his grandson to buy some products

from supermarket for the meal

Child lock

Score 4 0 0 0

Reason

There is a meal planner but it is not developed based on the persons tastes and food

preferences

There is no option for online shopping

There is no option to send the list of products to his grandson nor there is an option

to create a product list

No child lock option, could bring a health

risk

Scenario 3 Tips on her

pregnancy diet

Choose healthy food to help

improve his health

Order someone else to cook his

chosen meal easily

Encourage a child to eat more green vegetables

Score 0 5 3 0

Reason

The meal planner page provides

suggestions only for general users-this could bring a

health risk to Joanna

A meal planner provides

information on improving healthy

lifestyle

Can find a favourite dish but there is no option for him to order

someone to cook his chosen dish

No encouragement were given to a

child as the meal planner is

too complicated to

understand

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Prototype 2

The Smart Fridge home screen has an e-photo frame that allows users to display a running slide show of family photos. This allows families that use their traditional fridges

as a place to display souvenirs and pictures, to continue to do so in a modern fashion. The home screen has a main menu that allows users to easily navigate through the system main functions of profiles, food, recipes, shopping and temperature.

Each member of the family will have their own profile where they can log their daily consumption. Parents have the option to be admins of their child’s profiles.

Within each members profile there is data on how many calories out of their daily recommended allowance is left, the breakdown of nutritional information on what they have eaten and historical data that charts their progress. The settings option will hold features that enable users to change their daily allowance based on their current weight/BMI and their desired goals.

E-Photo

Touch - screen menu

Title

Return to main page

Settings

My fitness pal style nutritional

advice – daily allowance in

green

Figure 5 - Home page

Figure 5 - Profile page

Figure 6 - Account page

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The food page hold information of all the food available in the fridge. Food can be added, reduced and removed in settings. There will also be options to select meals.

This screen shows family’s favourite meals and suggested meals based on what is in the fridge. Meals will be added via the settings option. In settings there are also options to show only healthy meals.

Images received from barcode

List of favourite and suggested

meals

6 recipes per page – can view

more by touching an arrow

Recipe from Google

Figure 7 - Food page

Figure 8 – List of recipe page

Figure 9 - Recipe page

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This page will show shopping apps on for simplicity. The will be an option to compare prices between stores in later editions.

There will be a basic setting to

change the temperature of the fridge.

There will be an app that is compatible with the fridge, allowing users to access its features anytime and anywhere.

Drag the bar to change the

temperature in the fridge

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Harry Jones Child

Scenario 1




shopping




Score 1 3 1 0

Reason

There is no page for a general view of all users - need to select on each account manually. Also the nutrition

data could be simplified as it is a

little too complicated

It provides some necessary

information and lets you compare the prices but it still requires you to spend time on exploring the

software

Not developed doctors

prescriptions, bringing a risk to

his health

No option to set a child

friendly system


to home



Child lock

Score 4 0 0 0

Reason

The recipe page shows a list of favourite meals and suggestions

based on what is in the fridge, but does

not provide new ideas for future meal planning

There is no option to order and get the products delivered

to home

There is no option to send the list of products to his grandson nor there is an option

to create a product list

No such option, could bring a health

risk


pregnancy diet


improve his health


chosen meal easily


Score 0 5 3 0

Reason

The recipe page provides

suggestions only for general users - this could bring a

health risk to Joanna and the

baby. There is no option to show

nutrition of each food and what is

beneficial

In the settings there is an option to show

healthy food only



The profile page for a child

is too complicated to

understand

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Prototype 3

This prototype is equipped with a big screen,

at least 20 inch so the user can easily view

the available options. It is crucial to have a

satisfactory screen, and good quality, due to

the fact that is going to be used by a variety

of people with disabilities. On top of the

screen there is a camera, which is used for

motion detection and face recognition.

Screen goes off, when no motion is detected,

for lower energy consumption. When a user

approaches the fridge, screen goes on and

the user can read the news or watch the

weather. Moreover digital time and internal

temperature are represented on the screen.

Meanwhile, camera has already detected the face, and when you touch the screen the

welcome screen appears.

The name and the photo are projected so

you can easily realize who is selected on the

system. An option ‘Are you hungry?’ leads

you to three other options - grab food, drink

or cook.

The first two options show a list of what is

inside the fridge. The third one helps you to

decide what to cook.

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By selecting the button ‘Find recipes’ on Cook

page, you are leaded to a screen which allows

you to search online, and that is why internet

connectivity is a necessity.

‘Recent recipes’ page shows the list of all

existing recipes. It also has an option to

add missing products for recipe to the

shopping basket so you can order them

later.

There is a big input box where you can

type keywords and all the matching

results are appeared on the right.

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Your chosen recipe is represented on the

next screen which shows the ingredients and

lets you watch the recipe as a video. A big

button lets you add the recipe to your list of

favourite recipes.

On a Shopping page, it transfers you to a

screen that composes the weekly shopping

list and whatever has run out, giving you

the option to order them. Additionally, you

can edit it by clicking the button bellow. You

can search the products and you either

add, edit or delete existing products. As

well as, there is another option that lets you

add items you have already bought.

Video

Time

Temperature in fridge

The systems assumption

Online order

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You scan the barcode of the products

and they are automatically placed to the

list. On the big white window is written

the name of the product and there is an

option to confirm that the correct

product is found.

Finally, the third option ‘Nutrition’ on the

Home page, informs you the daily

consumption of nutrition and lets you

balance your diet accordingly. It also

represents age and weight of user so

they can calculate easily the suggested

amounts.

In case of recognition error, there is a

button of “other users” which lets you

choose the correct one manually.

Keyboard appears every time you need to type

The system orders the user to stand appropriately

for recognition

Two options of either edit or create a new account

The system indicates what you need to type

If not confirmed, the system assumes

that the product is correct. Otherwise

need to touch this box to modify the

results

Image to indicate an example of a barcode

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Harry Jones Child

Scenario 1




shopping




Score 0 5 1 0

Reason

There is no overall nutrition record for the household not

can Joanna access to other accounts

because the system uses face

recognition

The shopping page solves this scenario

perfectly

Not developed on doctors

prescriptions, bringing a risk to

his health

No such option


to home



Child lock

Score 3 5 1 0

Reason

This fridge has an option to find new recipes but difficult to go through the

menu

The shopping page solves this scenario

perfectly

There is no option to send the list of products to

his grandson

No such option, could bring a health

risk


pregnancy diet


improve his health


chosen meal easily


Score 0 5 1 0

Reason

The fridge does not provide any tips or

list of food that should be avoided during pregnancy

The Nutrition page shows the progress but does not help

you choose healthy food



The profile page for a child

is too complicated to

understand

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Evaluation

Heuristic Evaluation Each team member inspected each of the prototypes using

Nielson's Heuristic criteria (Nielson, 1994). The results were aggregated and

summarized below. Severity ratings for each of the problems were discussed as a team

and are shown in bold next to each problem. Severity ratings conformed to the following

key:

0 - Don’t agree that this is a usability problem

1 - Cosmetic problem

2 - Minor usability problem

3 - Major usability problem; important to fix

4 - Usability catastrophe; imperative to fix Prototype

Heuristic Evaluation - Prototype 1

Heuristic Rating Comments

Visibility of system status

2 No visibility of the condition of the systems status Also no visibility of if connected to the internet but may not be a necessity

Match between System and Real World

2 It is usable but the way it works needs effort to have results

User Control and Freedom 2 User should have to update the information regularly but it is time consuming

Consistency and Standards

1 It is consistent with the colour of the screen, but lack of options

Error prevention 0 No errors noted to be prevented due to test

Recognition rather than recall

2 Letters are too small to read and difficult to make options

Flexibility and efficiency of use

2 There are no macros or recent documents so each time you have to go through the same things

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

1 It very minimalistic to a point where are too few options

Help and error recovery 3 No option for help or to recover from a failure

Help and documentation No help provided for the user nor other document to support him

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Heuristic Evaluation – Prototype 2


Visibility of system status

3 No visibility of the condition of the systems status. Also no visibility of if being connected to the internet but may not be a necessity.


1 Easy to identify what products are in the fridge. However real life quantities of how much food is left is unlikely to match the quantities in the system Easy for users to update their profiles. May be hard to use for children or those who are not used to computers.

User Control and Freedom 0 Easy for users to navigate between all pages. The option to have a compatible app also increase freedom. Users can make the system their own e.g. by uploading pictures.

Consistency and Standards 1 Same colour scheme throughout. Similar page layouts. As the system links to external sites, this may reduce consistency.

Error prevention 3 As anyone can access the fridge without logging details into the system, this may distort data about what is in the fridge. This may also be a problem if users can access each other’s profiles. Data needs to be updated frequently so the system may benefit from automation.


1 Buttons and menu options are used more than search functions. Pictures.


2 Adaptable and flexible as users can change information easily. The app increase efficiency as you can update data on the go.


1 Simple and consistent layout. Link to external sites.

Help and error recovery 3 No back button.

Help and Documentation 3 No clear help function or document

Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction University of Birmingham

27

Heuristic Evaluation – Prototype 3


Visibility of System status

1 No indication of delay or system working, but transit between pages are reasonably fast.


0 System has nice a representation with pictures that are close to everyday life

User Control and Freedom 0 Going through pages is easy, and there is always a back button on all pages in case of emergency.


1 Some pictures are known but some are knew and difficult to understand

Error prevention 1 Not enough error prevention


0 Easily understand what you have chosen


3 It is easy to use but no shortcuts do options faster


1 Useful but the design is too rough

Help and error recovery 3 When you make an option to add to shopping cart, you cannot reconsider your option

Help and Documentation No help provided to help user choose what he

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Conclusions and recommendations

All 3 prototypes have some good attributes that will be reflected in the second generation prototype. Evaluating the first generation prototypes also helped to highlight additional features that will improve the system. The Smart Fridge has to be designed in such a way that it can easily become integrated into a family’s daily routine; as frequently updating information of what’s in the fridge and what is being eaten is a necessity for the system to be helpful to its users. Therefore, the Smart Fridge will need to have the following key attributes:

The system needs to be simple to use and easily tailored to each users requirements

The system needs to have an element or portability

The system shouldn’t be very complicated, especially considering people who are not familiar with computers will be using it

The prototypes should satisfy most of the particular requirements of the personas

Recommended features that would improve the usability of the Smart Fridge include:

As the “Smart” fridge is designed to be personal helper, every person should have their own accounts however for the purpose of monitoring the nutrition of other members of the family the head should get access to other profiles

An option to see the consumption patterns of the family as a whole

Meal planner must be developed enough for personas with specific preferences

A child friendly profile that would encourage children to eat healthy and give parents easy access to monitor the child’s eating habits

A large enough screen

An app that allows users access the system on the go

Have back buttons on all pages

Show different levels of food usage

Show time, date, and temperatures on every screen

Option to send

Toolbar on every page – showing connectivity There should be option to create shopping list

29

Second generation prototype

Tools for constructing prototype During the process of creating the first generation low fidelity mock-ups, we mostly used

presentation software such as Microsoft Power Point or LibreOffice impress. They are

available on every pc and we did not have to install them. Also, LibreOffice is an open

software, free and covers our requirements. Mostly they provide the simplicity and the

ease of use. We simply created links to screens on PowerPoint so that when pressing

buttons, this made our prototype more understandable.

The simplest way to make our prototype would be Pencil & Paper. You do not need

special software nor a computer to create mock-ups. You can easily write notes and

create designs on a paper. Whole team could contribute to the designs and when

something was not appropriate, it could be thrown away. But using paper to prototype

demands some drawing skills. So, all of our prototypes were first designed on paper

and then developed extensively on PowerPoint.

There was no need for a more specialized tool due to the fact that we are making a

prototype for a smart fridge’s screen and not a website or any other app. Also a first

generation prototype is designed to be 'thrown out', so there was no point in spending a

lot of time, effort or money on the first generation prototypes. Balsamiq provide a lot of

useful tools and has a simple interface. It would be better suited in other kind of

prototypes. During our design we overcame the need for specialized tools by importing

images to the fridge. Moreover, Balsamiq is a paid application so we avoided spending

money. Also it is not available for all operating systems, i.e. Linux.

We also used Paint or Draw applications, but they do not provide sufficient equipment

needed like hyperlinks and creating slides in a row. Also Adobe Photoshop allows to

create designs with a lot of options and supplies necessary layers. But, it is a

professional tool so it needs a lot time to learn how to use it, which is against to the idea

of prototyping. It is also paid and quite heavy software for some computers and struggle

to play execute on them. Also it does not work on all platforms and it was deterring.

30

Final prototype

This is the profile page where all profiles are represented and an option which lets you go through the profiles of whole family. Then takes you to the nutrition page of the selected person and you can see detailed information.

This is the main page of nutrition facts of the profiles where you can see calories consumed by each person daily. On the right of the screen, there a pie chart which shows percentages of carbs, fat, protein and contains a “See All Nutrition” to see detailed nutrition facts. There are other 2 options Add Food and

Add Exercise that are connected to mobile add and lets you sync your activity.

Help button for new users

Goes back to previous page

Navigates to a page of

a whole family profile

Links to a setting page

You can change an image by touching the picture

Links to a more detailed data

Let’s you add

a new profile

31

This the main Shopping age. User has two main options to choose from, Shopping list and Scanner. Shopping list shows a list of foods to be bought and a list foods running out. The scanner option lets input stuff into the fridge by activating scanner or by using camera to recognise foods. Also you can see various supermarkets that lets you check prises and choose what you prefer to buy.

Running low or expiring

products lets you add

them to shopping list

Links to a page that notifies a user if any product is running low or are expired

32

A link to view the

video of recipe

A link that lets you compare

the prices of each product

Navigates to more recipe

suggestions

Links to a page that

lets you find more

alternative recipes

A link that list the recent recipes that a user used

Links to a recipe

page that displays

ingredients, method

and a video

A link that navigates to a scanner where a user can

scan their products before placing them in a fridge

Links to an external

page to compare

prices and find deals

Links to a shopping list page

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The temperature option leads you to a big slider where you can adjust the temperature. You can slide the regulator with your finger, right or left and will change accordingly. Also the choice you have made is shown below in the box.

Privacy allows you to set either password or face recognition, touching the frames of words. Face recognition can also be used for child lock. Dietary needs outlets diet for persons with particular restriction of nutrition Information consists weight, height and age which should be set by the user. Goals has three parameters – loose, gain, maintain used to correct the user goals for weight. Setting one of them in wishful values, personas can manage goals which they wants to achieve

Each four frames of

words links to a page

for specific setting

Drag a bar to change

temperature of a

fridge

A button that adds

the list of running

out products to a

shopping list

A link that can

send a shopping

list to an email or

mobile app

A link that lets you

order the food online

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Plan for evaluation the final prototype Evaluating our second generation prototype is a very crucial process for creating a product. It will determine if the final product is going to be successful and how easy it will be to use. These evaluations must be clear and provide us with enough knowledge to let us design a nice product. Our plan for evaluating our second generation prototype has three phases. First, we use our personas to evaluate the smart fridge, we have chosen three representative scenarios for each of them that we consider to be the most important. They allow us to have a feeling and understand how usable our product is. They are simple to create and the feedback allows us to verify our assumptions before creating the final product. On the second part we use Nielson's heuristics to test our User Interface Design and the interaction Design. It is convenient, fast and easy so it can be performed by non-specialized evaluators. They allows us to inspect our product with 10 different types of guidelines. Also, the interaction and the faults of our prototype become clear and allowing the designer to intervene to the final product. Finally, we use evaluators with different characteristics who are unbiased to the project. Before letting them go through our prototype, we explain them the purpose of our prototype. Then we ask them about their impression about it and see some of their comments that would be enlightening. This allows us to discover any possible usability problem. At the end, we are able to make conclusions about the second generation prototype and address problem before final product. Scenarios and solutions

Scenario 1:

Send shopping list to someone else

Scenario 2: Receive ideas about recipes and see the

recipe

Scenario 3: Keep track of consumption of each person in a house and herself for nutrition records

Best way to solve the

scenario

To send a shopping list, the user can do so by following steps: 1. Click

‘Shopping’ on home page

2. Then click a ‘Shopping list’

3. Once the user creates a shopping list, the user can now click the ‘send’ button to send the list.

On the first screen user must choose the recipes option and which takes to

the next screen where he can either

choose from the suggested recipes

or choose new recipes where there

are listed recipes based on what is in

the fridge.

In order to see the nutrition records for the whole family, on the welcome screen the user must press “profiles” options. It can lead to all profiles where he either

chooses “Overall” option or can see nutrition facts for each member separately. Only 2 clicks are required.

35

Reviews from the users

Maria Kiousi, 30, works as a Chef in Greece.

Maria was not really impressed by the idea of smart fridge. She

seemed to be not interested in using one. She likes to do her job

easy and fast, so she was negative at first. After using for a bit,

she seemed to enjoy more, and she did not expected the fridge to

do things in such a convenient manner. She liked the feature of

taking analytic information about her nutrition facts. She liked that

buttons and letters where big, because at home she does not

wear her glasses most of the time. She also mentioned that it is

not internationally friendly as there are no settings for a language

or on the shopping page, there are only English food stores.

Che Huang, 25, student of Chester University

In my opinion this device will have an effect on my life in a

positive manner. It has a lot of helpful information, especially

the data of nutrition which is one of the most important part of

human’s life. I like the general view of the fridge, its menu and

the display on the door makes it look really smart! I don’t think

that it was developed enough. I suppose that it was a first

approach to invent such a helpful assistance for the kitchen in

the modern era.

Marina Luz, 29, works as a doctor in Queen Elizabeth Hospital

and has two children.

When I first heard about this device, I had thought that ‘The

Smart Fridge’ is another useless gadget, buying it would be like

putting money down the drain. However having got closer with

abilities of that fridge, I found one interesting feature - how I

could sort out some issues with nutrition’s for my naughty

children. The possibilities of getting access to other profiles and

probably control those nutritious is the most helpful feature for

my daily rut, unfortunately I could not find any more benefits.

36

Heuristic Evaluation


Visibility of System status

1 No visibility of the condition of the systems status, but the add button is provided on each page. Also the Wi-Fi icon is added to indicate the network connectivity.


0 Easy to identify what products are in the fridge. Easy for users to update their profiles.

User Control and Freedom 0 Easy for users to navigate between all pages. The option to have a compatible app also increase freedom. Users can make the system their own e.g. by uploading pictures.


1 Same colour scheme throughout. Similar page layouts. As the system links to external sites, this may reduce consistency.

Error prevention 0 When two users are twins, the face recognition may not work, thus the system will ask for a simple pin


0 Buttons and menu options are used more often than search functions. Some options provide pictures. Alternative design for younger users


0 The app increase efficiency as you can update data on the go. Also has a shortcut of going back to home page.


1 Simple and consistent layout. Links to external sites which may have design errors.

Error recovery 0 The details are saved on internet as the users can also access the fridge system on mobile app. Thus the settings and details can be easily recovered.

Help and documentation 0 There is a question mark help button to provide tips and guidance for new users

37

Summary and achievements

This report sort to identify why attempts to create commercially viable smart fridges have mostly failed thus far. Using the shortcomings of manufactures in the smart fridge industry and that of our own first generation prototypes as guidance, our second generation prototype was designed to cater to a range of user classes giving users more functionality yet maintaining ease of use – making it suitable to be used in an average household. The analysis of the three first generation prototypes highlighted that there a range of ways that this goal can be achieved through a smart fridge system – in terms of logic, hardware and design. The use of specific and varied personas as an evaluating tool as well as our own observations on functionality using Heuristics testing, helped to identify problems and improvements of the smart fridge throughout the project. This meant that a better system was designed in the second prototype by learning form mistakes and incorporating the good features of its three predecessors. Aside from being a tool to make the tedious tasks of meal planning, shopping and keeping track of inventory more efficient, a core objective of our smart fridge was that it would be a means for users to sustain a healthy diet and this aspect is what differentiates the system to its counterparts. Our final results suggested that our system is successful in assisting in this regard and therefore our smart fridge is at least a more commercially viable product than those we have reviewed.

What follows is an analysis of the process of designing our system and creating our project; what aspects of the process could be considered achievements and what aspects could have been improved upon. The findings from the literature review were useful in giving us initial ideas, as when we first decided to design a smart fridge it was a very abstract idea to us having never seen an existing system before. However we failed to collate a wide range of expert opinions or academic writings on smart fridges, though this is probably because the idea is still in its infancy. We could have made greater use of the review or related work in our project, perhaps by implementing more design choices based on the analysis of the models we reviewed, however as we had a more specific idea of a healthy smart fridge this was harder to do. In our initial meeting we spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas and an abundance of potential features that we could include into our project. As the project progressed it became clear that we could not include all the features we came up with, however we didn’t put forth a clear plan of what we would or wouldn’t include, but instead left this to the discretion of those creating the first generation prototypes. This was a shortcoming because it meant that in some places similar ideas where being developed where as other ideas where forgotten. This also highlights the necessity of good communication between team members – something that we did improve upon as the project progressed.

38

In hindsight, a sensible way to approach a task like this would be for the team to have

an organised and detailed list of tasks to be completed and deadlines for completion.

Also or more structured and formal way of finalising decisions would have saved us time

debating ideas. These improvements in structure would have made our process of

design more coherent as we would have followed a more logical and well thought out

plan of action.

39

References

Lee, I. and Lee, K. (2015) ‘The Internet of things (IoT): Applications, investments, and challenges for enterprises’, Business Horizons, 58(4), pp. 431–440. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2015.03.008. Kuniavsky, M. (2010) Smart things: Ubiquitous computing user experience design. Elsevier Science. Samsung's RF4289HARS smart fridge has room to grow (hands-on) http://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-rf4289hars-refrigerator-series/ lgsmart fridge at ces 2012 http://conversation.which.co.uk/home-energy/lg-smart-fridge-ces-2012/ MyFitnessPal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps Nielsen, J. (1994). Heuristic evaluation. In Nielsen, J., and Mack, R.L. (Eds.), Usability Inspection Methods, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY Human-Computer Interaction (3rd ed.). Dix, Finlay, Abowd & Beale. 2003 Balsamiq vs PowerPoint storyboarding with VS 2012 http://techblurt.com/2012/09/13/balsamiq-vs-powerpoint-storyboarding-with-vs-2012/ An Overview of Expert Heuristic Evaluations http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/06/an-overview-of-expert-heuristic-evaluations.php 10 Heuristics for UI Design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyGwWJ0KP7A 10 Usability Heuristics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWc0Fd2AS3s Free Office Suite https://www.libreoffice.org/ PowerPoint 2016 https://products.office.com/en-gb/powerpoint Balsamiq Mockups https://balsamiq.com/ Samsung Smart Refrigerator (with Wi-Fi) at CES 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8V4i4O1d6U

http://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-rf4289hars-refrigerator-series/

http://conversation.which.co.uk/home-energy/lg-smart-fridge-ces-2012/

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps

http://techblurt.com/2012/09/13/balsamiq-vs-powerpoint-storyboarding-with-vs-2012/

http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/06/an-overview-of-expert-heuristic-evaluations.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyGwWJ0KP7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWc0Fd2AS3s

https://www.libreoffice.org/

https://products.office.com/en-gb/powerpoint

https://balsamiq.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8V4i4O1d6U

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