Developing User Needs
An informal walkthrough of the user needs development process. This step may seem trivial or contrived, but is essential when designing for a user base of more than one.
Introduction
For a project like this, which is intended for a small set of users, it may seem trivial to consider the user needs oriented design process. However, even the process of user discovery executed at this small scale can reveal a number of different considerations that you might not have thought of if you only did this project for yourself.
Call To Action
This tutorial is part of a bigger course called "Intelligent Product Design", which I am building out at https://backpack.danaukes.com/course/intelligent_product_design/. Please pardon the dust as I build it out.
If you just want the tutorial, you're in the right spot. But, if you need a little more, such as live lectures, a discussion board, or a community of other students, consider enrolling once the course opens. For now, please feel free to explore https://backpack.danaukes.com.
Notes
Some of the key findings I heard when doing my own user needs discovery:
From my wife
- Having it work with Home Assistant is a bonus, but it should do the basics first.
- It should do everything that a basic garage door opener does.
- Not having a remote in the car is a minus.
- It would be great if this new functionality also considered sending an alert or an alarm if the garage door is open past bedtime
- She needs one for the car
- it shouldn't need to be charged more than once a week
As a Parent
- It's important to consider safety. Making sure that the garage door opener only works when nobody is in the way is important.
- Integrating the door sensor would be important.
- It would be nice to be able to see if anybody is in the way remotely if you're closing it from somewhere where you can't see the door.
Considering Kids
- It would be nice to be able to create different combinations, That can be shared with friends for a limited amount of time.
- There should be simple feedback if the password is correct or incorrect, and there should be a way to get in without a phone.
Safety and Security
- I don't want this to be an externally hosted app.
- I don't want to pay a monthly subscription.
- I want to be able to iterate over time and slowly add features.
- I want it to integrate into my existing home automation.
- It should be just as secure as the existing solution, meaning that not anybody would be able to just hack it to open the door.
Extensibility
- It would be nice to be able to reprogram the device without plugging into it. This shouldn't conflict with the security.
