User interface

After the expert meetings it became clear which parameters should be used to control the boat.
The parameters which need to be definitly given by the user are the heading or location the boat has to go to.

Further more I would like to have more options for the user, in the end, the user has build his boat and put a lot of time in it, therefore I want to give the user the option to control more parameters of the boat.
This is the reason I conducted a small user test with 9 users.

The prototype consisted of several layers which can be turned individually, the layers are:
- the boat
- compass
- sail
- wind direction

The goal of the user test was to find out how people want to navigate their boat and how they can adjust the sail.

In the user test the wind direction was given and also a desired heading was given to the user.
8 out of 9 users preferred to turn the boat to the right heading and one of the users turned the compass to make the front of the boat heading into the right direction.

adjusting the sail was found really easy for all users. However the user test was conducted with a physical prototype and without text explaining the functions. In the end design the user interface will be digital, so I cannot draw conclusions out of this test regarding the final design but this helped designing the next digital design.