Doro
An evaluation of the Doro 780X resulting in proposals for their coming update of the phone. This was made in collaboration with Doro AB during a course in UX Research.
Timeline
6 weeks
Methods
Usability testing
Quantitative & qualitative research
Design solutions
What is Doro 780X?
The 780X is a phone designed for Doro's oldest customer segment.
Individuals in this group primarily use the phone for making and receiving calls.
Summary of the project
Evaluation of the phone revealed
difficulties in installing phone numbers, with confusion between the physical buttons and the UI.
​Our research explored possibilities for dementia-specialized smartphones, which we began sketching. However, we later discovered that budget constraints severely limited potential changes.
To meet the requirements sustainably, we reduced the number of physical buttons, assigning more functions to those remaining.
After several iterations and moderated tests, we realized the UI needed adjustments to align with the physical buttons.
Quantitative research
Assessing the feeling around helping loved ones with their phones
To kick off we wanted to know about the general struggles users face when helping their elders with technology. ​
A survey was sent out on social media platforms and resulted in 64 participants.
The results showed that relatives find it jarring to help their loved ones with their devices and that there is a wish for the process to be simpler.
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As a an addition to this I also looked to forums online to gain a general understanding of what it's like to have a close relative with dementia. Some of the most common recurring issues where:
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Losing the device
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Not being able to use it because of physical limitations
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Being targeted by scammers
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Pictured: Outtakes from forums on Reddit showing common concerns from loved ones
Pictured: Example from our survey that resulted in over 60 participants
Expert Interviews
Gathering empathy
Elderly people with dementia often rely on professional assistance at home to manage daily tasks. As a result, staff frequently interact with the phones used by these individuals, so we wanted to understand how they would handle adding contacts in a phone like the 780X.
Interviews with two experts revealed that they found the phone confusing due to its lack of intuitive design. Given the limited time during house calls, this could prevent the elderly from receiving the necessary help.
"My colleagues would never have managed this. It takes far too long."
- Expert trying out the phone
Usability testing
Observing key problems
We conducted moderated usability tests with six users to evaluate key tasks on the Doro 780X phone interface where as I performed 3 of these. It became clear that users struggled with selecting the input field, confirming actions, and entering digits, often confused by the buttons and input mode.
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Below is a few of the tasks we asked participants to achieve.
Analysis
We used a model to define and prioritize the main issues at hand
The amount of research we did resulted in a ton of issues. While we wanted to solve every single problem we knew that wasn't possible given the time frame. To make sure that we focused on the right things we used a usability severity decision tree.
​This model was suggested by our mentor Sally White, a UX researcher with over 10 years of experience in the field.
I found the model very helpful since it was difficult to determine what painpoints to prioritize. By answering the questions I didn't have to second guess myself and felt more confident in what problems to focus on.
Pictured: The model we used to prioritize the painpoints
Pictured: Outtake from our severity analysis howing how we labeled each painpoint
Results from research
There is a lot of critical issues at hand but and while we tried to solve them all we realized it wasn't very sustainable. Instead we chose to focus on the input in the phone.
Ideating
Sketching an idea
We were actually very much focused from an early start on redesigning the phone into a smartphone. Most people are used to smartphones these days and one of the leading phones specialized with dementia is just that. However when we presented the idea to Doro it became clear that it wasn't possible due to budget constraints to make sure the phone was sold under an accessible prizing in store.
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This showed how important it is to ask the right questions early in the process to make sure that designs don't go too far in the process before showing it to the stakeholder.
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Pictured: Some of my sketches from our iterations on the flow for adding contacts into the phone
Designs
Doro 780X
Confirm
Soft keys
Various actions
Confirm
Cancel
Navigation
Many of the buttons in the original phone were confusing and inconsistent.
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In previous tests users often pressed the wrong buttons and had to start over.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Changes to interface
Removing soft keys
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Tests showed
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Less hesitation when pressing buttons
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Confusion when confirming input
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Changes to interface
Removing soft keys
Remove OK and sidebuttons
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Tests showed
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Pressing the correct buttons
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Frustration over lack of flexibility
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Changes to interface
Removing soft keys
Removing OK and keeping navigation arrows
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Tests showed
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Pressing the correct buttons
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Confidence when navigating the keyboard
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Scaling back the physical buttons resulted in a more confident user journey
A last test
The project came to a close and we decided to include recommendations for Doro to continue the research.
Version 3
The future Doro 780X
While there were a lot of frustration the tests made it clear that the third version was the most intuitive one.
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Next steps for the prototype:
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Add color to connect interface and physical buttons​
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Change hierarchy in interface, making actions more clear​
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Further explore how the new physical appearance of the buttons interacts with the rest of the interface
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Final thoughts
It's easy to get overwhelmed in a large project when given full creative control. By prioritizing our findings, we were able to identify and focus on the key pain points of the phone, turning them into a manageable process.
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We conducted tests on different versions of the phone with six participants. One challenge we encountered was the learning curve associated with the phone, which I hadn’t fully considered beforehand. The reduced time spent entering a contact could be attributed to users memorizing the previous behavior, despite changes to the buttons.
If I were to continue this project I would conduct more tests on each version with different individuals.
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Meeting with a mentor provided valuable feedback. It’s crucial to seek input from others to avoid getting trapped in a single mindset.
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