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	Interaction Design | Usability | Product Design

			MessagePhone VisiBell / Cooper challenge Information Appliance (2005)		Time: 2 weeks Techniques: brainstorming, paper prototyping, personas, scenarios, visual layout, workflow design Tools: paper, fireworks Team: interaction designer (solo project)

Design Objective Create a comprehensive design for a smart telephone that incorporates a visual interface for managing voicemail. Insight "Voicemail is, at it's essence, a response to the failed attempt to start an impromptu dialogue" Design Solution A zoomable interface that layers the organization of the messages into more meaningful chunks. It provides enough visual cues for the first time user, yet is tied to the hardware so that it can be used by the hyper efficient. In a more system wide approach, Message phone provides an infrastructure for managing that attempt to start a dialogue through interruption management, contextual messaging and more fluid hand offs. Tying a directory into existing contact management databases also allows for speed and accuracy of access. Results The design brings a solution that fits into the workflow of the person rather than making the person fit a system into their timeframe. By providing layered, visual feedback, users are given a far richer context of all of their messages, allowing them to intelligently prioritize retrieval and storage.

MessagePhone front panel layout (The phone receiver sits on top of the panel)

Additional tools also mimic social communication structures for managing interruptions so that, overall, there is a reduction in missed connections and users can leave a more informed, contextually rich, presence behind.

Link: Full design description

Voicemail List

Voicemail Selection

Voicemail Playback

Directory List

Directory Selection

New Caller Handoff

Deferred Call

Busy/Away Message