NASA Concept
DATE Application
Role: Usability Researcher and Designer
Contribution: User Profiles / Prototypes / Brand Design
Overview
This is a concept project working to identify ways to be empathetic to future inter-planetary travelers. This not only identifies ways to offer psychological support and documentation opportunities for astronaut users, it also offers evaluators on the ground a way to collect data. the software needs to work for those inputting data, as well as those evaluating it.
The software concept has been named Daily Astro-Traveler Evaluation, or D.A.T.E.
Please note, while this project references NASA, it is not affiliated with them and this is purely a conceptual project.
The Idea
Thinking about the basic tasks that both travelers and evaluators would need to accomplish, wireframes and concepts were created. These are based on looking at user journeys and profiles for those using daily journaling, blogging, and medical softwares. The evaluator interface has the potential to be more in-depth, but initial interface design was important to understand how the two profile types would work together.
Traveler Interfaces
The prototype for astronaut or inter-planetary travelers is built in a tablet environment, since that is a common tool utilized in space. Users can quickly tap basic functions, and with a minimally designed interface, can quickly add data without distraction.
Evaluator Interfaces
Evaluators on the ground need to be able to see alerts, psychological evaluations and crew details with ease. A similar interface to the tablet version, but built for a desktop or larger screen, allows more of an analytical view.
The evaluator dashboard offers a quick look at the psychological breakdown of crew members. This is designed to be a quick view to alerts and possible issues within the crew. Additionally, crew members are displayed with colored images to offer a further quick glance at mental stability onboard a mission
Future Steps
Outlook for the project involves testing actual users in both the traveler and evaluator environments. Users would be assigned a persona and tasks based on the interface they test. This will identify areas that need improvements and will allow thorough testing of all functionality. It is important to note that the evaluator interface would need to be fleshed out further before doing a user test. Functionality and aids for those analyzing the data would need to be identified and designed to create a more full idea of the interface and what it would offer.