Body Worn Camera Interface
The objective of this project was to design a digital interface for a Public Safety Motorola Body Worn Camera utilized by law enforcement officers. Acknowledging that officers frequently operate in sensitive scenarios, the system must streamline actions without the intricacies of typical phone usage. Additionally, the interactions conducted on the device should provide a solution that integrates with the physical controls. Lastly, we took into consideration that this solution must be clear not only for officers but also for the public, ensuring awareness of the device's recording status.
Timeline
5 weeks
Role
Team lead, research & design
Team Partner
Ausmita Barman
Project Definition
Research
Our project began with an in-depth research phase. Our goal was to:
Understand the nature of this device, its target audience, usage, benefits of using body-worn cameras, and the considerations we had to make regarding privacy.
Examine the commonly used design features in this product, such as the features they offered, the design style in iconography, fonts, and colors, and the essential information they provided.
Determine design guidelines from Material Design, Google’s open-source design system.
Consideration of a Body Worn Camera
Device Requirements: Designed for a small touch-screen device, the integration of hardware with software to fulfill all basic functions officers execute in their daily duties.
Interface Familiarity: It is easier to navigate the swipes, functions, and features if the interface is similar to the smartphone experience. However, considering that, officers have less time to navigate and need to remain attentive.
Officers Training: Law enforcement agencies are always trained and updated with new technology. However, the interface should be clear and consistent to allow for optional quick training, reducing costs and time for the Department of Justice.
Required Information: When recording, there is required information that needs to be collected for federal purposes, such as file name, time, date, and geotagging.
Privacy Policy: The device should notify individuals that they are being recorded by an officer.
Ideation
Creative Process
During the first stage, we created a concept map where we listed all the features, functionalities, and components that the application should have. We reorganized them into groups based on related features and functionalities, which formed the main nodes of our concept map.
We identified and documented in detail all user tasks. This involved understanding the user's needs, behaviors, and goals. We focused on questions such as:
What is the user trying to achieve?
What steps does the user need to take to complete the task?
How often will the user perform this task?
How difficult is this task for the user?
How critical is this task to the overall goal of the user?
Sketches
One of the most important steps was creating sketches of all the screens, conducting a rigorous analysis of the paths that users could take. This made it easier for us when creating the wireframes and prototyping, as the path we wanted to follow was very clear since the beginning.
Wireframes
User Testing
Testing Sessions Findings
It was a 20-minute in-person usability test session with each participant in the presence of a moderator. Overall, we did 3 individual usability test sessions with 3 participants.
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Problem: Previously, some user actions intended for click and swipe weren't clear to users, as they lacked a visual cue to perform these actions.
Solution: On the home page, a visual element was added to inform users that they can activate the alert. Additionally, users are allow for both clicking and swiping. Similarly, in the file tags, a preview of an additional tag was prototyped to indicate to the user that swiping is possible.
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Problem: Users felt that the information and tone of the texts were not in line with the language used by law enforcement officers.
Solution: The welcome message was changed to include a formal greeting and provide clear information such as the officer's rank and last name. Similarly, the files were renamed to make them neutral.
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Problem: Law enforcement officers must have the intention to activate the alarm, so the design should not be too simple to interact with and should also be on the home screen. However, it was just a single click away.
Solution: The alarm activation button remains on the home page, but its primary interaction would be through a swipe gesture and the clickable area is minimized. We add an extra step to confirm activation. Additionally, this function can also be initiated by holding down the emergency button for 3 seconds.
