Cyrcle

A circular smartphone designed to fit in women's pockets

Overview

Smartphones are ubiquitous in our society, yet nearly every model is too large to fit in a woman's front pocket. dTOOR, a Seattle-based startup, sees an opportunity to create a female-friendly smartphone. I collaborated with a team of three to design the digital interface for the future model, to be released in 2017.

Research

In order to determine how Cyrcle could succeed in the competitive smartphone industry, we began with a thorough investigation into other nontraditional phones and devices, including smartwatches, circular phones prototypes (even those featured in movies), and inexpensive, low-feature phones that help you get “off the grid.” We were surprised to find that although there were a wide range of circular devices (particularly smartwatches and fitness devices), there were very few circular phones. Those that existed had either gone out of business or were not yet on the market. We hypothesized that we would need to design a device capable of a wide range of functionality (unlike some of the competitors that went out of business) that could compete with users’ current mobile phones, rather than being an alternative or secondary device.

With this in mind, we took to the streets to learn more about what people wanted and needed in their smartphones. Because dTOOR was still refining its target market, we wanted to hear from a wide range of people. We began at a Starbucks in downtown Seattle and asked individuals about how they currently use their phone, what its weaknesses and strengths were, and what they wished they could change about it. We searched for patterns in this data by creating an affinity diagram.

Our series of interviews and decoding led us to unearth Wendy, the persona that guided us in our design decisions.

Planning

At the close of week one, we began to explore how Wendy’s needs would inform Cyrcle’s design. We crafted a scenario for Wendy in which she was shopping for one of her clients and juggling a number of other tasks, such as text communication with her client and a call to her son. The scenario directly influenced the screens states built for the initial prototype. We determined that the screen states that would most directly assist Wendy with her needs included the home screen, photos, texts, calling, browser, and music app.

We were intrigued by the ways in which our interviewees used their current phones, but we also wanted data on how users would expect to use a circular phone. We invited seven women to particulate in a participatory design session, in which they sketched various screens of their hypothetical future circle phone. This exercise helped us understand users’ mental model of a circular phone and ensure that we wouldn’t throw any curve balls that would hinder adoption.

Design

After reviewing nearly 50 sketches from our participants, we began a design studio (a timeboxed approach to rapid ideation) within our own team. These sketches, which incorporated some of the most promising elements from our participatory design, led us to build our initial grayscale prototype.

I worked specifically on the browser and “clock view” screen states. The browser was a challenge in that users had a preconceived bias against using a circular phone to view a rectangular screen. The browser had to combat this bias by showing as much context as possible while gracefully dealing with the narrow top and bottom of the screen. I did this by providing some padding on the left and right of the content on the widest part of the screen, which meant that users could see full-width results on approximately half of their screen.

The “clock view” of the calendar presented a different challenge. Viewers were open to seeing their content in new ways, but these ways couldn’t be too foreign, or otherwise the user would be dissuaded to use the calendar feature. Therefore, I explored options in an analog clock view, which was familiar to users, but not typically used on a digital interface. For the event text, I played with multiple options, including displaying text from left to right (which presented a problem on the 6:00 and 12:00 hours in which there was no space for left-to-right text), and text radiating out from the center (which users told us was not readable). In the end, we compromised with text reading left to right, but including a list view on the calendar homescreen, which allowed users to view their activities immediately on the calendar page, as well as envision their day in a clock view on the “clock view” display.

Testing

Eager to get feedback on these designs, we returned to the public to test our designs. We asked participants to listen to music, shop online, text a client, and make a call. Some of the specific things we were testing for was if users understood how to rotate through their apps on the home page using a circular swipe gesture, if they were able to use the curved keyboard we created, and if they were able to efficiently view and add events to their calendars in the “clock view.”

• Almost all of our interviewees expressed the importance of having a easy-to-use keyboard. Most of them use text messages as their main way of communicating with others.

• Many were intrigued by the “Clock View” function of the calendar; however, one user noted that he wasn’t sure if the calendar clock-view was showing am or pm.

Additionally, we received feedback outside of these specific questions that also helped us create a stronger vision of the future product:

• Users loved the contrast of new, high-tech paired with the imagery of a traditional rotary phone. This contrast of new and old delighted customers and will likely be one of the best selling points of the phone.

• Many participants were interested in how strong the material of the phone is. The majority of iPhone users we interviewed enjoy using their phones but have major concern on the durability of the phone. Battery power was also an issue.

Results and Learning

Three weeks after we began, we presented dTOOR with our finalized prototype, as well as several recommendations moving forward.

• Usability tests were run on a rectangular computer screen. As a next step, test the prototype on a hand-held device (ideally a round one) to see if and how it changes how people interact with the interface.

• Add more clickable functionality. Because many of our users prefer to texting over calling, the functionality of the keyboard (both real and perceived) will be intrinsic to the success of the phone.

• Refine the target market. Interestingly, our persona Wendy is an Apple user. However, as we entered the testing stage, we began to realize that many Apple users are loyal customers and will not easily convert to a new company. Therefore, we advised dTOOR to explore the Android market and determine if customers would be more likely to switch to a circular phone.

For me, Cyrcle was a fascinating project because it stretched me to think outside of the way we currently view and interact with technology. Many of the test participants visibly struggled with this as well, which I believe goes to show how ingrained we are in our current mode of operation. It was therefore important to strike a balance that could introduce new concepts while also maintaining a threshold of familiarity that assured users they could adopt the new device without undergoing a steep learning curve. This will be important as we begin designing technology for new devices and platforms, potentially including virtual reality and other developing technologies.