Addor Systems
In September 2022 I was asked by Synetec Ltd. to help them to create a prototype for a client of theirs to be used at a trade show. The client was Addor Systems, and the prototype was to help drum up interest for their "drone-in-a-box" concept.
Constraints
The time frame was only two weeks.
I was the only contributor to the project in addition to a project manager from Synetec.
The prototype needed to be able to run off-line.
There was no time or resources for user testing
My tasks included:
- UI design
- Wireframing
- Lo-Fi prototyping (Figma)
- Hi-Fi prototyping (Webflow, HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
Goal
The goal of this project was to create a prototype to simulate the set-up and launch of a surveillance drone and show the user the result of a mission with videos and still images taken from a drone mission. For the client the goal was to drum up interest from first of all security companies for their "drone-in-a-box" concept. This goal of this concept is to automate drone surveillance flights so it can be run by security personnel, and not drone pilots.
Methodology and organisation
The client was in Devon, the project manager in London, and I was in Southern France, so this was obviously an online project. We met regularly in the mornings in order to monitor progress and exchange opinions and questions.
The project
As often with these types of the projects, the client provided a set of documents and sketches how they would like it to look and how it should work. I read them closely to understand their way of thinking, and then put them away. I then started a dialogue to understand what they needed for the prototype, and what kind of story they wanted to tell on the trade conference in order to focus on the right functionality and not waste time on unnecessary items.
Wireframes and Lo-Fi prototypes
In order to elicit response from the client I started creating a set of wireframes and Lo-Fi prototypes illustrating a few concepts that in my opinion would work well with the intended target group, security personnel perhaps working with touch screens. Some of my ideas were accepted by the client and those who were not, had clear and understandable reasons explained by the client.
UI and Hi-Fi prototype
After the first week, we had agreed on the concept and it was time to start creating the UI and the Hi-Fi prototype. I then switched from Figma to Webflow in order to create an off-line prototype with large video files to simulate the drone flight.
During the weekend the client went out and shot drone footage for use with the flight control simulator. This footage was then incorporated into the the prototype in order to give the impression of a live drone flight.
Conclusion
The client tested the prototype frequently throughout the week as the development went on and came with feedback also from people in the security business they had contact with. I would have liked to do more user testing on this prototype, but we had neither time nor resources to do it.
The client showed the prototype on the two-day trade fair and was happy with the response they got from the visitors.
The clearest indication of the client's degree of satisfaction is that they have decided to use Synetec to develop the actual software. Since I was the only contributor to this project, I will have to assume I had a role to play in this.