Team 6

Team Google not Android

Product Selection Contract

Group Members: Anson Dowd, Bailey Wikoff, Izzy Maier, Jake Paulson

Product Overview: Google Home Mini

Google Home is a smart home device that

assists in various household tasks like alarms,
timers, light control, answering questions,
playing music, etc.

The Google Home has an administrative app to

edit routines and manipulate other settings. The
physical component is a small speaker in the
shape of a dot with four indicating lights.

Audience:

The audience is very broad for the Google Home. People who are more tech-savvy would be
more likely to use this product. Google Home Mini can be used by almost anyone that is able to
speak, has an internet connection, and has a smartphone.

Team Goals:

Our team wants to focus on the Google Home Mini because two members of the team currently
own a Google Home Mini, while the other two members have never used a Google Home Mini.
The members with no experience using the product can bring a fresh perspective analyzing the
product, finding things that could be difficult to notice for the team members more experienced
with the product. Additionally, the members who have experience with the Google Home Mini
are knowledgeable about the product and already can think of some of the features that could
be redesigned better.
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Features to Redesign:
1. The physical aspect: placement of buttons, signifiers, etc.
○ Goal: Use the physical controls in order to change the volume, pause, play, or
mute.
○ Tasks: Interact with designated buttons for specific commands(i.e, increase
volume, pause, play, mute, etc.)

2. Adaptation/syncing with multiple users (Youtube, Spotify, Pandora).

○ Goal: Allowing one user to play music on the Google Home while the other uses
a synced account to listen on their own device.
○ Task: User links music account through the Google Home app.
3. Setup of “homes”
○ Goal: Quickly and easily set up the Google Home device in a new setting.
○ Tasks: Hook up Google Home to power. Use the app to set it up with the wifi. Go
through the steps in order to fully set up.

4. App layout
○ Goal: Change the way their Google Home functions.
○ Tasks: Find the correct setting in the Google Home app and change it to the
desired value.
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Product Observations
Group Members: Anson Dowd, Bailey Wikoff, Izzy Maier, Jake Paulson

Demographic Overview

Physical Observation
Observer: Izzy

Goals:
The goal of this observation was to judge if users could find the physical indicators and observe
alternatives other uses may use to command audio.
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Designated Tasks:
As a group, we decided on these tasks because there are a couple of ways the users can
command Google Home to play music. We thought this task would be the most reasonable to
test if the users knew where the physical indicators are to turn up the music turn down the music
and do pause. Any other task would not work correctly along with the fact that these features
were added for controlling audio.

Music:
Play, pause, volume up and down. (Using voice commands and physical commands)
Mute mic

Observations:
Jake​: Play music: hey Google Play music,
See​ Physical Observation - Jake.mp4​ in Observation Videos
Volume up: hitting the top of the Google Home then found the sides
Pause: poking the top, poking the sides, going up and down, pause button on the app, lifting it
up, pushing middle, ANGER! “That's stupid”
Mute mic: tapping around then lift it up and checked (20 seconds +)

Summary​: Jake's first goal was pausing the music. He had prior knowledge there were physical
indicators however he did not know where. He first started to hit the top of the Google Home to
pause he then moved outwards and around. After he figured it out he proclaimed “this is stupid”
he then was able to control the volume up and down. However, he was unable to figure out how
to pause the audio. We then asked him to mute the mic and after searching on the Google
Home he picked it up and was able to switch it off. There was good feedback the dots turned
orange.

Eddie​: Junior CE
See​ Physical Observation - Eddie.mp4​ in Observation Videos
okay google play music on Spotify,
Volume up: okay google volume 10, tapping
Pause: okay google stop, holding
Mute: okay google.

Summary:​ Right off the bat Eddie used voice commands for everything. Starting with “okay
google, volume 10” followed by “okay google stop” when asked to use the physical commands
he did it with ease. This was because he owned a Google Home and knew these commands
but he did say when he first started to use it he had no idea. The only thing that took Eddie a
second was muting the mic he first tried a voice command when that didn’t work he was able to
find the switch on the side.
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Demographics:
Eduardo also known as Eddie is a junior CE student. He is a 20-year-old Mexican male who
enjoys hanging out with friends and playing dragon ball z. Eddie was very familiar with the
Google Home mini since he has one himself.

App Layout Observation

Observer: Bailey

Designated Tasks:
This part of our observation included usability testing focused on navigation within the app that
works with the Google Home. The users were asked to perform multiple short activities within
the app, including switching between homes, which are for specific destinations and hardware;
editing nicknames for the user; adding a bluetooth device to control; and finding linked music,
which would feature the user’s linked music libraries and subscriptions.

User 1: Anson
Anson had little difficulty going through the first task of switching between homes. He switched
between homes by selected the account icon at the bottom of the screen, and navigated to the
profile where he was able to select a different home to switch to.

The next task of editing the nickname was more difficult; he remarked after finishing, “that was
frustrating!”. First tried to change the name of the home in the “test” area of the app, which he
had difficulty with, and when he tried editing it by pressing and holding the home name, he was
brought back to the home page. Finally he went to “Set Up a Device: Settings” and the
nickname option was there for him to edit. ​VIDEO link: Nickname Activity: Anson

Adding a Bluetooth Device was confusing at first, because he was unsure if this was the same
thing as the option to set up a device, which he thought was maybe strictly for the Google Home
products. “Setting up” a device gives the impression that there is a process and the device is
going to be linked long term, while typically with bluetooth, a device may be remembered, but
connection is instant and usage is in short term periods. He opted to exit this area when it
became apparent that the option to add bluetooth devices was not there. He then selected “Add:
Add a Device” and “Discover” where he found the bluetooth option.

The final activity was easier than the previous two. Anson selected the “Discover” icon in the
bottom navigation bar, “Music”, and selected a music option. He did remark however, on the
design of the Discover icon, and thought it looked very similar to Apple’s Safari icon.
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User 2: Shahbaz
Shahbaz is a junior SE student. He is a 19-year-old Indian male who is highly involved in the
MSOE community by being an innovation fellow. Shahbaz was somewhat familiar with the
Google Home mini because he has used one before.

Shahbaz moved through the first activity quickly, selecting “Test” and “Select new home”. It
should be noted that he remarked, “I would not have guessed that.” This indicates that the
navigation isn’t necessarily intuitive, despite the fact that he completed the task quickly.

The second activity of editing the nickname in the app was difficult for Shahbaz, although his
past experience using the Google Home assisted him. He navigated by selecting “Device
Settings:Room Settings: Settings: Nickname”. Through the process, he seemed frustrated and
slightly confused. He said that he thought it would make more sense if the option was within the
regular app settings, not the device settings. When asked if the prompt being reworded would
help, he said no, it would not.

Finally, Shahbaz finished the final activity of finding linked music quickly. He selected the
account icon in the bottom navigation bar, and selected “Music” to get to the linked music
options. Once again though, it should be noted that the speed in which he completed the task
did not correlate with the ease and intuitiveness of completing the activity. Shahbaz said “I only
knew that because I saw it (the music option) there earlier” when he finished the activity.

Demographics:
Shahbaz is a junior SE student. He is a 19-year-old Indian male who is highly involved in the
MSOE community by being an innovation fellow. Shahbaz was somewhat familiar with the
Google Home mini because he has used one before.

Setup Observation
Observer: Jake

Goals:
The main goal of this task was to watch the user turn on the Google Home and see how easily
they could set it up. This included adding a home member after setup. We wanted to see where
the pain points were in the setup or any other issues that could be encountered.

Designated Tasks:
Set-up device without power connected until synced with the phone
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Add a home member

Observations:
Bailey:​ ​See Bailey.HEIC ​in Observation Videos
Bailey had no problem plugging in the Google Home and it immediately turned itself on. When
Bailey started to use the app to set up, it was relatively easy. One of the pain points came when
she tried entering an address, and the Google Home didn’t recognize it. She also wondered why
it needed a specific address and not just a city, but no answer was available. Also, when picking
where the home would be set up (room, kitchen, etc.) there were many options, but she didn’t
know that she could scroll because there were no indicators. Lastly, the Google Home was
trying to connect to the same wifi as the phone, but when it couldn’t connect, it would just sit at a
loading screen. This was frustrating because she wanted to go back and try a different network
but it would not let her. After that, the Google Home was set up and Bailey quickly found the
button to invite a home member and our observation was complete.

Erick​: Junior EE
Erick had a little bit of an easier time setting up the Google Home than Bailey did. This is
because he owns one and is accustomed to using it. One of the interesting things we did notice
with both Bailey and Erick was the fact that it would sometimes talk to the user. The things it
was saying weren’t very helpful, especially with the app right next to us, and it was very loud.
This didn’t seem like a good choice to us because someone new to the Google Home may not
know how to turn the volume down. It kept startling us when we would talk and really didn’t offer
anything. In the Bailey.HEIC image listed above, I believe the Google Home was talking to her
and she didn’t know how to turn the volume down.

Demographics:
Erick is a junior EE student. He is a 21-year-old white male who enjoys socialization and
watching movies. Erick was very familiar with the Google Home mini because he has one of his
own.

Routine Observation
Observer: Anson

Goals:
The goal of this observation was to judge how easily users could figure out how to make and
successfully utilise their new routine to perform various functions.
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Designated Tasks:
It was decided that we would ask the user to make a routine from scratch that would tell them
the weather then play WMSE radio when a phrase of their choice was said. This way the
creation of complex routines and varying phrases could be tested.

Observations:
Izzy:
See ​Routine Observation - Izzy (1).JPG​ and R ​ outine Observation - Izzy (2).JPG​ in Observation
Videos
Izzy started out by trying to get the Google Home to send a text to her mom when she said “Hey
Google, text Mom”. After saying the phrase, the Google Home would light up for a second, then
go dark without feedback. She tried multiple times to get it to work, but she was unable to get
any sort of response. She then verified that other routines worked, which they did, but the
google home remained unresponsive when she used her “text Mom” routine. She fiddled with
the app to try and get it to text, but nothing worked.
Next, she tried to make a routine to tell her the weather and then play WMSE radio. The
routines edit location was found quickly and easily. She decided to use the phrase “what’s up”
for this routine. On the main routine edit screen, she added the ‘Tell me about the weather and
add media’ option and WMSE radio was entered and saved. The command worked as intended,
telling the weather, then playing WMSE.

Kim:​ Junior BME

See ​Routine Observation - Kim.JPG​ and R ​ outine Observation - Kim.MOV​ in Observation Videos
Kim started out by trying to make a routine to tell her the weather and them play WMSE radio.
She found the ‘manage routines’ page, but it was unclear how to make a new routine so she just
edited the ‘Good Morning’ routine. When WMSE was entered into the field for radio, it seemed
like the entry was invalid since there wasn’t a drop-down to make a selection. She just entered
‘WMSE’ regardless and hoped it worked. It was then pointed out that she could make a new
routine, so she made one with the command phrase ‘I'm awake’, but it did not recognise the
command as the new routine she entered when she said it. Instead, it seemed like that phrase
was taken because it would only greet her, but the Google Home did not tell her that her phrase
was taken when she entered it. Once she edited her phrase, it worked as intended.

Demographics:
Kim is a junior BME student. She is a 20-year-old Vietnamese female who is an introvert and
has a Guinea pig, Benji, whom she loves very much. Kim was very familiar with the Google
Home mini because she owns one.
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Observation Summary

Overall, there were multiple areas for the Google Home to improve on. The physical volume and
pause buttons have no signifiers. This means that unless the user is aware of them beforehand,
they have no indication of how to manually control it. Setting up the device was pretty easy with
only a few snags. One of the main issues was the Home talking loudly while setting up, even
though the user didn’t know how to turn it down. This was compounded by the fact that the
Home does not have signifiers on the physical product. Adding home members and Bluetooth
devices seemed to take some hunting. Similarly, making routines seemed to be a little
convoluted, not giving the user a clear sense of if their new routine worked.

What appears to be one of the more significant issues with the Google Home’s usability is the
lack of intuitive functionality and navigation. Both the physical device and the app have this
problem in multiple aspects. Moving forward, our goal will be to improve the intuitiveness of the
Google Home Mini and the Google Home App.
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Product Evaluation
Group Members: Anson Dowd, Bailey Wikoff, Izzy Maier & Jake Paulson :

Introduction
The most observed issue of Google Home Mini was the lack of intuitive functionality and
navigation. Both the physical device and the app have this problem in multiple aspects. Our goal
is to improve the intuitiveness of the Google Home Mini and the Google Home App.

Physical Evaluation
By: Isabel Maier

Recap - Physical Indicators Observation:

There was a huge difference between Eddie and Jake’s knowledge level of the Google
Home Mini and where the physical indicators were. Jake really struggled to find any indicators
the only reason he did not give up is that he knew that they were there. He was overwhelmed at
one time and even said “this is stupid” he started poking on the top of the Google Home Mini
then expanded to the sides but could not hit the side correctly. However, once he knew how to
angle his figure and what sides the indicators were on made it a lot easier to consistently find.
Eddie owns a Google Home Mini but what was interesting was that he did not use the
physical indicator he used all voice commands. When asked to use physical indicators he
quickly found them, except for the mic off switch on the back of the Google Home Mini. This
took both Eddie and Jake awhile.

Physical Indicators Evaluation​:

Using the book ​The Design of Everyday Things b ​ y Donald A. Norman, and his concept
of 7 fundamentals of design. Can clearly address if the design of the physical indicators of the
Google Home Mini and it's effectiveness. First, the discoverability of physical indicators is low. If
someone did not know about the volume up, down, play and pause buttons they would have no
idea that it was a feature. Adding on to that idea, signifiers are not perceivable like
discoverability there is no circle or different color buttons on the side to convey possible actions.
However, once someone clicks on the indicators there are four dots on the top that show how
loud the volume will be along with if you hold for a pause or play the dots will flash. There are
low constraints because you can not see the buttons. However, there is feedback once you hit
the buttons. There is some mapping, like there is grouping of one button on each side but if no
one can see it or if it is not distinct then it does not matter. Finally, some people may have a
conceptual model because they know what Alexia looks like or has an idea that there should be
some kind of buttons since music can be played. Someone may not give up looking for

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indicators but they are not easily shown. Overall, according to the 7 fundamentals of design the
physical indicators on the Google Home Mini are low and need to be improved with a better
design.

Set Up Evaluation
By: Jake Paulson

Recap - SetUp Observation:

During the setup of the Google Home Mini, both Bailey and Eddie completed the task
relatively easily. There were a few minor snags and annoyances such as the Google Home Mini
talking very loudly and some indicators were missing.

Set Up Evaluations:
There were definitely a lot of positives while setting up the Google Home Mini in regards
to Human Factors. There really wasn’t anything the user had to remember and they were pretty
much guided through all of the steps. Text was readable, text was big enough, and the basics
were covered which is what we would expect from a company such as Google. The cognitive
load was relatively low and no codes or anything needed to be remembered. It was basically
just plug in the Google Home Mini and let it tell you what to do.
The negatives came into play when Bailey or Eddie got stuck while trying to complete
one of the steps. Bailey tried entering in an address that Google Home Mini didn’t recognize.
There was also no explanation as to why Google needed an exact location instead of just a city.
Also, when picking where the home would be set up there were a lot of options, but she didn’t
know that she could scroll because there were no indicators. This goes back to the concept of
discoverability. Since she didn’t know those options were there, they basically didn’t exist (for
her).
Another kind of small but annoying detail was the fact that the Google Home Mini would
talk during the set up. This wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t so loud. Also, this is compounded
by the fact that a new user might not know how to turn it down, and it offered useless
information. It was really just taking away the attention of the user from the main task, while also
unnecessarily adding onto the cognitive load. I would definitely recommend a button on the app
that could mute the Google Home Mini from anywhere within the app, or a tutorial during setup
of how to turn the volume down.

Routine Creation Evaluation

By: Anson Dowd

Recap - Routine Observation:

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Although both Izzy and Kim were able to complete the task of creating a routine from
scratch that would tell them the weather then play WMSE radio, they had some trouble figuring
out where to navigate within the app and verifying that their routine was adequate. These results
led to overall neutral-negative experience with the product.

Routine Creation Evaluation:

The Google Home Mini app did a fairly good job of leading the user to the routine
creation area, as both Izzy and Kim easily found the routine creation menu. It did a good job of
listing the options that a routine can have too. These observations show that the app has good
visual cues leading to routine creation and an overall activity-centered design. However, the app
did have a lot of issues.
For example, Kim found it difficult to determine if “WMSE” was a valid entry for a radio
station ​Routine Observation - Kim.MOV.​ In reality, typing WMSE would have worked, even
though it did not give any indication that the entry was accepted. A better visual cue would have
been a drop down so that the user can start typing, then select the option they want.
Alternatively, there could be some sort of dialogue box and/or vibration showing that the station
entered was valid.
Another issue was that the routine creation menu wouldn’t let users know if the
trigger-phrase was taken, causing the routine to not execute properly. To remedy this, I would
suggest a simple error message that could tell the user that the chosen phrase is taken or too
similar to a current phrase.

App Layout Evaluation

By: Bailey Wikoff

Recap - App Layout Observation

During usability testing of the Google Home Mini app, our users were asked to perform 4
different tasks, including switching between homes, which are for specific destinations and
hardware; editing nicknames for the user; adding a bluetooth device to control; and finding
linked music, which would feature the user’s linked music libraries and subscriptions.
The participants were able to complete all of the tasks, but struggled for the majority of
the time. Most notable difficulties were observed in the editing nickname task and adding a
bluetooth device. Both participants were visibly frustrated throughout the testing and remarked
on that frustration out loud to us. The experiences we observed were more negative than
positive.

App Layout Evaluation

The layout Google Home app, while feature-rich with sharp visual design, presents a
number of issues related to human factors concepts.

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The participants both experienced difficulty in recognizing and understanding the terms and
icons assigned to actionable components in the app. For example, Anson thought it was strange
that the app’s “Discover” section was labeled with an icon that looked extremely similar to the
Safari icon. This suggests that better signifiers are needed so that there is less confusion while
users complete tasks and activities. Additionally, the “Discover” section could be renamed and
reorganized to make it clear to users what their options are.
Additionally, the app had multiple areas that had the word “settings”. This was confusing
for the users, because they were unsure of which settings to go to for tasks like changing the
nickname of their device. Having a central location for all settings could help eliminate such
confusion.
The current mapping of the layout is not as intuitive as it could be, and the menus and
submenus could be reduced by grouping and consolidation. Making the app’s design more
activity-centered would also allow users to complete the tasks more simply. Following
suggestions from Donald Norman’s writings, the offerings within the app could grouped by
functions, such as playing music or news, device/account settings, and smart home controls
(Norman, 2002 & Norman, 2002).

Top Recommendations
We have three top recommendations to improve the Google Home Mini and it’s app:
1) Make the app activity centered
- For example, settings are scattered throughout the app, making it difficult to
locate where specific settings can be altered. We recommend that all the settings
should be found under a singular “Settings” location similar to a smartphone. This
system would also allow for sub-menus that aid in activity-centered design.
- Changing top level menu sections to easily understandable categories or
functions would help users quickly understand what they can do and how they
can do it.
2) Improve physical Google Home Mini signifiers
- Positive and negative icons can be added on the left and right sides of the Home
to indicate how to change volumes. The pause/play action should also be added
above the volume indicator dots with a pause/play icon. This could still work in
conjunction with the old way of holding the volume buttons in order to play/pause.
- Adding signifiers will make it easier for users who have never used a Google
Home Mini to use. For example, someone’s roommate leaves their Google Home
Mini on playing music and they leave. It will make it easy for the other roommate
to control it or do what they want without having to experiment. This will also
make it easier for new users to turn down the Home during setup, and will just
reduce overall cognitive load.
3) Tell the user when a phrase is taken (when making a routine)

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- Simply giving a popup saying “The routine phrase you have entered is invalid
because it is too close to an existing phrase” and preventing the user from
selecting that phrase would remove frustration from trying to troubleshoot their
routine later.
We believe that these three changes will drastically improve the user’s experience and overall
improve the Google Home Mini.

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References
Ahmad, N., Rextin, A., & Kulsoom, U. E. (2018). Perspectives on usability guidelines for
smartphone applications: An empirical investigation and systematic literature review.
Information and Software Technology,​ ​94,​ 130–149. doi: 10.1016/j.infsof.2017.10.005

Gay, G., & Hembrooke, H. (2004).​ Activity-centered design: An ecological approach to

designing smart tools and usable systems​. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Nguyen, T. T., Vu, P. M., Pham, H. V., & Nguyen, T. T. (2018). Deep learning UI design
patterns
of mobile apps. ​Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software
Engineering New Ideas and Emerging Results - ICSE-NIER 18,​ 65–68. doi:
10.1145/3183399.3183422
Norman, D. A. (2006). Logic versus usage: the case for activity centered design. ​Interactions​,
13​(6), 45. doi: 10.1145/1167948.1167978
Norman, D. A. (2002). The Design of Everyday Things, iii-247.

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Prototyping
Group Members: Anson Dowd, Bailey Wikoff, Izzy Maier & Jake Paulson

Top Recommendations
1. Physical Indicators
2. Routines if they are duplicated
3. Make the App Layout more intuitive
4. Adding a mute button to the app

Physical Prototype
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These prototypes above show the physical changes we have made to the Google Home Mini,
taking into account our top recommendation to add physical indicators. This was done by
adding a plus and a minus on the sides to control the volume. Additionally, we changed the
play/pause button from being a tap-hold on the side to a physical button on the top, however,
the users still have the option to do it the old way. We did not change the location of the mute
switch due to the out-of-the-way positioning while still leaving it discoverable. These decisions
and changes were made due to our observation and evaluation where we concluded that the
current Google Home does not include sufficient signifiers. We did not add anything else
besides what was outlined in the ​Product Evaluation t​ o prevent cluttering the device. Our
reasoning to add these features was mainly for improving the experience of new users or users
who are using someone else’s Google Home. An easy example would be if someone had a
roommate that owned a Google Home. The roommate leaves their Google Home Mini on
playing music and they leave. Our changes will make it easy for the other roommate to control it
(like pausing or controlling the volume) without having any experience. The plus and minus
buttons immediately let the user know which side to tap in order to lower or raise volume. The
play/pause button is also much clearer than the old way of holding a volume button for a short
period. But, our design also allows experienced users to still use the method they are familiar
with if they choose to do so. Our changes will overall reduce the cognitive load for tasks that
should be easy in the first place.
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Digital Prototypes

Central Settings Redesign/Activity-Centered Redesign

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Routines Alert/Prompt Design Addition

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These prototypes above show the changes we have made to the Google Home Mini app, taking
into account our top recommendations. These recommendations include having a more activity
centered design and by improving routines. The way that we made the app more activity
centered was by giving the user their top features/activities, and by having one centralized
setting instead of having them spread out like they were previously were. This allows the user to
easily find the settings they are looking for without scrolling. It also allows us to put more of their
frequently used activities on the main screen. This should save time in order to get to these
activities and reduce cognitive load. We also changed some functionality of the routines. We
changed the fact that if a phrase is already taken, the Google Home will let the user know.
Previously, it would not alert the user. The user would then say their new phrase, but Google
Home would revert to the original actions for that phrase. This was very confusing for the user
because they didn’t know why their new phrase wouldn’t work. It added frustration and also
cognitive load to figure out what was going on. Also, it just unnecessarily adds more time to
setting up a simple phrase. Our redesign will clearly tell the user that the phrase is already
taken. The user can then edit the preexisting phrase or change their own phrase in order to
make it work. This will save the user time and frustration, while also alerting them right away
from the problem. We believe all of the changes will ultimately benefit the user and provide an
easier to use app.