Quick Settings Metric scores UX improvements
I improved my Bluetooth app's UX by using the Quick Settings Metric. The score dropped from 16 all the way down to 1! The user went from "having to read a bunch of stuff and find a button and select something" to the common case of "the user has to press enter".
The app goals are the critical starting point for UX improvements. For this app, I want normal users to be able to use their Bluetooth devices like environment sensors and connected multimeters super easy. For the Pokit meters that I'm adding support for, the user flow didn't feel easy and quick.
I started by picking a user goal. The most common goal is "I want to use my meter to make a measurement". The corresponding user flow is:
A screen shot of what the user sees is below. The device is found and automatically shows up in app. There's a large message saying that the user must set up the device and set the Control value.
No matter what, the user has to wire up the circuit ("set up the device"), so I won't include that in the score. I also don't include "running the app"
5 points Read the message
5 points Find and click Control button
5 points Select measurement from the pop-up
1 point Click OK
Total score: 16 points
It's not terrible, but can it be better?
Does the user have to click the Control button?
The easiest win is to show the selection pop-up right at the start. When a multimeter is found, I can just show the setup dialog (technically, it's a pop-up) without the user having to read a message or find the control button to click. The result is this better display:
5 points Select measurement from the pop-up
1 point Click OK
Total score: 6 points
The score has dropped from 16 to 6, a giant improvement! But can I do better?
Does the user have to select a measurement?
The multimeter, when it starts up, will be in Idle mode. The dialog is designed to match the current setting. But wouldn't it be better to show the last usable state? Like if the last measurement was Ohs, that's likely to be the measure the user wants again.
1 point Click OK
Total score: 1 point
