A Case Study on Iteratively Assessing and Enhancing Wearable User Interface Prototypes

Wearable devices are being explored and investigated as a promising computing platform as well as a source of personal big data for the post smartphone era. To deal with a series of rapidly developed wearable prototypes, a well-structured strategy is required to assess the prototypes at various development stages. In this paper, we first design and develop variants of advanced wearable user interface prototypes, including joystick-embedded, potentiometer-embedded, motion-gesture and contactless infrared user interfaces for rapidly assessing hands-on user experience of potential futuristic user interfaces. To achieve this goal systematically, we propose a conceptual test framework and present a case study of using the proposed framework in an iterative cyclic process to prototype, test, analyze, and refine the wearable user interface prototypes. We attempt to improve the usability of the user interface prototypes by integrating initial user feedback into the leading phase of the test framework. In the following phase of the test framework, we track signs of improvements through the overall results of usability assessments, task workload assessments and user experience evaluation of the prototypes. The presented comprehensive and in-depth case study demonstrates that the iterative approach employed by the test framework was effective in assessing and enhancing the prototypes, as well as gaining insights on potential applications and establishing practical guidelines for effective and usable wearable user interface development.