Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
Senior Audio and Voice UX Designer - 2019
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Deliver interaction updates for a Mixed Reality communication application on revolutionary hardware.
Role . Design Lead + Senior Voice Designer Team . 4 Design, 8 Engineering, 1 PM Date . March 2019 - Current Brief Remote Assist is a Mixed Reality communication application for the Microsoft Hololens and Mobile devices. The Hololens 2 is being released in November 2019, and Remote Assist needed to update its interaction models to accommodate for new features in the new device. Features Articulated Hand Tracking, Eye Tracking and improved Audio hardware invited the design team to design and ship interactions that allowed users to directly touch the Holograms they can see. |
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Background
Contraints .
The design team was challenged by multiple technological restraints throughout development.
The design team was challenged by multiple technological restraints throughout development.
- Resources for prototyping were extremely restricted (and often shared prototyping time with bug fixing time)
- We had a restricted time frame (6 months) in which to research, prototype, and implement a new interaction model
- The app is an existing, in market app with users - as a team, we needed to ensure that new designs and interactions were consistent with the existing experience
- The hardware we were developing for was developing as we were designing interactions - meaning there were many occasions in which development work was slowed or stopped
Goals .
- Scope interaction updates that can be shipped in a 6 month period
- Research and Prototype rapidly to develop a POV and proof of concept for direct interaction with holograms
- Ship interaction updates that leverage the new features of the hardware when the device launches in November 2019
- Define scope of work that needs to be continued by the design team
Role and Responsibilities
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Voice Design
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Design Lead
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Design Process
Research
I approach every project with a research phase so that I understand the user needs and constraints of the project. Voice interaction has a deep history at Microsoft, hence there were 5+ years of focussed research to draw from in the process of creating principles and designs for Remote Assist.
I approach every project with a research phase so that I understand the user needs and constraints of the project. Voice interaction has a deep history at Microsoft, hence there were 5+ years of focussed research to draw from in the process of creating principles and designs for Remote Assist.
Design
Factoring in the research conducted, the process of design and prototyping is a highly collaborative effort in the Remote Assist team. I iterate on my wireframes until they are ready to be shared with our prototyping engineers. I discuss the designs with them and provide additional direction while they create interactive prototypes for the Hololens device.
Factoring in the research conducted, the process of design and prototyping is a highly collaborative effort in the Remote Assist team. I iterate on my wireframes until they are ready to be shared with our prototyping engineers. I discuss the designs with them and provide additional direction while they create interactive prototypes for the Hololens device.
User Testing
Once an interactive prototype has been constructed, the team hosts daily or weekly build reviews in which the prototypes are stress tested and feedback is collected for iteration. Once the prototype is hardened, these prototypes were delivered to our User Testing department with a test plan to collect feedback from users.
Once an interactive prototype has been constructed, the team hosts daily or weekly build reviews in which the prototypes are stress tested and feedback is collected for iteration. Once the prototype is hardened, these prototypes were delivered to our User Testing department with a test plan to collect feedback from users.
Results - Voice Design
User Testing Results
User testing was conducted on a voice interaction tutorial with excellent results that demonstrated the value of including a simple tutorial to improve user awareness of the voice commands in Remote Assist.
Confidence
% of users surveyed stated that the tutorial improved their confidence in their ability to control the application with Voice Commands.
Memory
% of users surveyed stated that the tutorial improved their awareness and recollection of the voice commands in Remote Assist. They did request that a refresher next time they revisited the app would help solidify the commands in their memory.
Value
% of users surveyed reported that the tutorial was an appropriate length, and was a good investment of time.
Outcomes and Next Steps
The Voice Tutorial is part of a larger design update to Remote Assist to overhaul the Voice Interactions in Remote Assist. This update is scheduled for 2020.
User testing was conducted on a voice interaction tutorial with excellent results that demonstrated the value of including a simple tutorial to improve user awareness of the voice commands in Remote Assist.
Confidence
% of users surveyed stated that the tutorial improved their confidence in their ability to control the application with Voice Commands.
Memory
% of users surveyed stated that the tutorial improved their awareness and recollection of the voice commands in Remote Assist. They did request that a refresher next time they revisited the app would help solidify the commands in their memory.
Value
% of users surveyed reported that the tutorial was an appropriate length, and was a good investment of time.
Outcomes and Next Steps
The Voice Tutorial is part of a larger design update to Remote Assist to overhaul the Voice Interactions in Remote Assist. This update is scheduled for 2020.
Results - Design Lead
The November update of Remote Assist will include the direct manipulation interaction design update for the Hololens 2, which represents the first application for the Hololens 2 that will feature direct manipulation of holograms. Concepts that did not make this shipping timeline have been captured and prioritised for future development and release in future updates.
