MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

CSC 3119: User Interface Design

CSC3119: User Interface Design (Group Project)

Group 2 Project Report

NAJJUMA DIANA 18/U/23408/EVE

LAKER SHARON 18/U/23399/EVE

KATAMBA JAMES 18/U/23396/EVE

RACKARA ANDERSON 18/U/23386/EVE

MUJAMBERE REAGAN 18/U/23421/EVE

MIREMBE MARIAM HAVILLA 18/U/23410/EVE

KALUNGI EDWARD 18/U/23419/EVE

NKANGI JOEL 18/U/23417/EVE

SSEBALAMU RONALD 18/U/23401/EVE

WAMALA EDGAR WATSON 17/U/20633/EVE

 TABLE OF CONTENT
NEED FINDING/PROBLEM
Observations
GROUP MEMBERS AND ROLES ASSIGNED TO THEMError! Bookmark not defined.
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEW 1: Mrs. NAGAWA FLORENCE. The researcher
INTERVIEW 2: Mr. WILLIAM HANNINGTON. The tourist
INTERVIEW 3: Mr. MUKULA ISAAC. The taxi driver
INTERVIEW 4: RENA NYIKO, extreme user
USER CLASSES
PERSONAS
HOW MIGHT WE (HMW)
SOLUTION IDEAS
STORYBOARDS
DESIGN PROJECT: PAPER PROTOTYPING
PARTICIPANTS
BRIEFING
Observations and individual reflections
DESIGN PROJECT: LOW-FI PROTOTYPE
DESIGN PROJECT: HI-FI PROTOTYPE
DESIGN PROJECT: USER TESTING11
Reflections on usability lessons;11
PROBLEM STATEMENT
A lot of people are facing difficulties getting help when their car breaks down on the road.
Many of them do not have any Car Repair Service Providers’ contact number and could not get help as
the CRSP might be far away from their current location. These problems are the motivations for the
development of this project to help those who are in need when their car breaks down along the road.

PROPOSED SOLUTION
“Auto” is a web application for on-road vehicle breakdown assistance that can search for
individual mechanics and/or repair companies basing on the user’s location. It is designed for the user
to get quick service at the event of any vehicle break down. Anyone using the internet can access the
web application. Auto will help reduce wasting user’s time for finding a proper mechanic, it will show
the user location and direct the nearest service provider to the user.
On the chat platform the user can ask questions and other users or mechanics can reply to the
relevant questions. The user can search for a mechanic basing on user location. When the searches
Auto will show the mechanics by their expertise, contact details, image and rating. After the work is
completed, the user can rate and give feedback to the relevant mechanic. User details include user
location, required service type, vehicle details and description. The Admin can view all registered user
and mechanic details.

NEED FINDING/PROBLEM

Observations
We made observation based user’ experiences concerning the use of the system to search for the
available mechanics according to their locations So, a need to make the platform more user
friendly and welcoming, which could be a great platform where mechanics can market their
businesses and users can find solutions to their problems irrespective of the locations.

While engaging with our potential users we discovered that during festive seasons, Car break-
downs increase more as the long journeys put vehicles more at risk of breaking down.

Interview

We interviewed 3 people with interests in their background information and other information
including their professions, job status. Below are their personas and interview details.

INTERVIEW 1: Mrs. NAGAWA FLORENCE

From the interview we had with Mrs. Nagawa Florence a Researcher at Uganda wildlife Authority
who is always on a move to carry out research on the different wildlife reservation centers within the
country, has experienced car break down on a number of occasions in places is knows nothing about
and has suffered greatly due to that so when we introduced her to the web application she was so
interested and she suggested that we fasten the implementation as fast as possible to help address the
problem which is always her biggest fear during her journeys.

INTERVIEW 2: Mr. WILLIAM HANNINGTON

Our second interview was conducted using zoom technology with Mr. William Hannington an
American tourist on a two weeks vocation at the Kampala Serena hotel. “I left Entebbe airport at
2:00pm and excitedly headed for the source of the Nile with my family in a 4-seater Pajero 2025
model vehicle that I had rented online before coming to Uganda”, he says. “On reaching Namanve
(according to google maps) my family and I decided to stop over and take some naturistic photos and
have a brief picnic camp in Mabira forest. Since it was getting late we had to hit the road again, to
my dismay the car could not restart, we were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea who to
contact given the fact that we had not planned for this particular incident. Am not so good with cars
myself. We however had internet access and wished there was a platform which we could just access
and find mechanical help”, he added.

INTERVIEW 3: Mr. MUKULA ISAAC

On our third interview, we had Mr. Mukula Isaac a taxi driver who navigates the Kampala-Masaka
route on a daily basis with his old 2009 Toyota van model. He said that it is a long journey through
not only a number of towns but also physical features like swamps and river Katonga in particular.
Since his car is very old, it has on many cases broken down especially via the Lwera area, a vast land
with swamps and no houses or passersby except for other travelers. “I usually call my personal
mechanic from Lukaya, a nearby town on simple occasions but for cases where my car needs towing,
it is very hard to find a trusted breakdown company”, he complained. “Some of the breakdowns
carry the car and abandon it on the way since their equipment is equally old and warn out. Some just
come and rob you etc.” he added. He wished he could have ability to choose from a variety of
breakdown companies according to his location. That could make his work easier because he cannot
afford a new car apparently.

INTERVIEW 4: RENA NYIKO, extreme user

(NB: Interview was translated from a local language to English)

Finally, our fourth interview was with Rena a wholesale charcoal seller who has to travel with truck
drivers to remote areas in search for charcoal and other resources. “My daughter working for a
government organization called NSSF bought me a brand new smart phone with pre-loaded monthly
data bundles for Airtel on Christmas last year. She said it could help me solve so many problems
using that technology of the white man”, she said. “These trucks always break down and require
servicing along the way, it’s so frustrating and time wasting, I would like to use my smartphone to
save the day, I just don’t know how.” she added. Rena did not go to school and therefore has less
knowledge to do with technology. She is an extreme user, who is using the internet for the first time.
 PERSONA

Bio Frustrations

Persona Type: User/client Time wastage during car

breakdowns on long journeys
Name: Mrs.Nagawa Florence hence missing out on important
deadlines.
Demography: Gender: Female
Age: 36
Location: Entebbe

Occupation: Researcher

Education Goals
Masters degree from Makerere To get to research destinations on
University time.
To have a digital solution on my
phone.
To ensure that my car is in hands of
professionals mechanics not
amateurs

HOW MIGHT WE (HMW) QUESTIONS:

1. HMW make it easy for the users to register in the application?

2. HMW make it easy for the users to get in touch with Mechanics?
3. HMW make mechanics know about the seasonal demand?
4. HMW help the user to find the application useful even without the internet?
5. HMW bridge the gap between mechanics and users?
6. HMW convince users to install the application?
7. HMW improve the relationship between mechanics and clients?
8. HMW help users access trusted breakdown companies?
9. HMW make stranded users feel relieved and safe on our app’s premises?
10. HMW help mechanics boost their income and thus improve their standards of living?

TOP 3 HOW MIGHT WE QUESTIONS

 HMW make it easy for the users to register in the application?

 HMW make it easy for the users to get in touch with Mechanics?
 HMW help the user to find the application useful even without the internet?
SOLUTION IDEAS

HWM SOLUTION IDEA

HMW bridge the gap between the user and
mechanic?
HMW help mechanics boost their income
and thus improve their standards of living?
HMW make mechanics know about the
seasonal demand?
 Creating awareness about the application
by sensitizing the public about the
application
 Helping them get registered into the
system as an individual or as a company so
as to market them thus getting more
customers
 Increase interaction between the
mechanics and potential Customers
 Educating mechanics about the seasonal
demand for example festive seasons, rainy
seasons.

STORYBOARDS

The following are the 3 storyboard sketches created for one of each of the top 3 solution ideas.
SOLUTION IDEA 1:

SOLUTION IDEA 2:
SOLUTION IDEA 3:
PAPER PROTOTYPE

We drew the paper prototypes on plain paper of our web application using a pen.
LOW-FI PROTOTYPE

We used adobe XD as a prototyping tool to implement the tasks and scenarios. We used it to create
interface’s wireframes, that is, the visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of our
website to be developed as shown below;
HI-FI PROTOTYPE

We used Uizard online prototyping tool to implement the functionality of the web application in
form of linkable buttons and interactive interfaces.
 DESIGN PROJECT: USER TESTING

The final prototype was represented to various users and corresponding feedback was obtained.
Of these, two target users that represented the population were used to test the prototype to aid us
improve more on our interface including the alignment, color selection and others.

Reflections on usability lessons;

The following is what we learnt about the usability of our interface to different users;
 The users wanted us to create a search button to ease them while looking for mechanics to
contact.
 They also requested us to explain more in detail about their privacy and security of the
platform during navigating.
 Some clients were happy with the system because they could get contact information of a
variety of professional mechanics from any part of the country.
 Others complained about the font size being tiny. This is because a number of them seemed
to have eye defects and suggested to increase on the size for easy and better readability.