How might we...
"How might we design a product or provide a service for people who often have personal training to improve their shooting percentage so they can enjoy basketball and not easy to give up?"
In the define phase, I further narrowed down the problem space to be solved and expressed it with “How might we”. Therefore, before brainstorming, it is very necessary to clarify the problem you want to solve. My target client is a basketball enthusiast who wants to improve their shooting skills and the problem is how to improve their shooting percentage while motivating them to practice for longer. Based on these points, I developed my imagination. . .
30+ different Ideas
Luckily, having my thoughts organized at the beginning helped me immerse myself in the brainstorming process faster. I made a quick list of 30 ideas to solve how might we.
In the process, I've discovered that the examples given can be combined to make a more complete idea. According to this, I put these same ideas together and classify them as VR game, App, Drill, Change objects, Psychologically and Accessory Equipment.
After classifying, I chose three groups that I most want to implement which are VR game, App and Change objects.
Sketching
I have already selected three ideas that I am interested in. So at this stage, I put the ideas in my head into paper with a pen. Before that, I sorted out these three concepts again and presented them in the form of a mind map, which allowed me to have a clearer idea for designing better sketching.
Concept 1
Basketball stand
Sketch
This modification of the existing basketball equipment was my first thought. Why does the current shooting training make the trainers feel boring? Because in the process of training, constantly picking up the ball and shooting the basketball makes trainers feel boring. Why do trainers need to repeat the shooting position? In the five whys in the Discover phase, I got the answer, "Because spot shooting drills for practicing shooting help create muscle memory.” So how do I modify the basketball hoop to repeat the shooting action without making people feel bored?
Divide the basketball stand into three parts to solve; the first part is the Backboard; add an electronic screen that can show the score and a light that can light up. Most people desire to win and hope that their scores will be higher. The shooting machine is designed to grasp this psychology, so it is essential equipment in Arcades now. The light is lighted when the user makes a shot. The second part: the pole, sets up a net tied to the pole to catch missed balls, which greatly reduces the probability of the situation in the ball bouncing far. Part 3: hoop, when a goal is scored, it will sound "OH! PERFECT!" When no goal is achieved and the ball falls into the net, it will say "Never mind! One more try." This can better motivate users.
Concept 2
Basketball player's App
Sketch
My research on basketball facilities has shifted to another aspect. Now, most people will more or less join a community or club that they are interested in. With the continuous development of the Internet, can I design an App on the mobile phone? Can everyone on the platform exchange their experience in basketball and record their training process? The design of this App was born from this.
I set up the APP with five pages. The first one: Community, the original intention of setting this is for basketball fans to communicate and play together. There are four functions in this page. The first Friends is a function in the form of a forum, where users can post their own questions about basketball or answer questions asked by others. Generally speaking, it is a place for communication. The second is Basketball count, which is a function that can search for surrounding basketball courts. The third Group Chat: This is a software that allows you to search and join group chats about your interesting aspects in basketball. The fourth, People nearby, lets you find nearby users who also love basketball.
The second page is a chat function, where your friends and joined group chats will be displayed.
The third page is the user center, where the recording and replay functions are designed to better record and observe users’ strengths and weaknesses in the practice process. Users also can view and use virtual coins here.
The fourth page is Activity, and the three functions are the game schedule near the user, exciting basketball movies and one-to-one teaching. The focus is on the last one, one-to-one teaching, which can be taught by you or taught by others. By coaching others on what you are good at in basketball, you can also learn what others have.
The fifth page is Goal, which can set a long-term plan and daily basketball training plan. Every time you complete the goal, you will get the coins used in the mall in the user center.
Concept 3
VR Game for Shooting practice
This is the idea that interests me the most.
"Why cannot combine gaming and exercise?" was my first reaction to this.
Sketch
When designing this game, why do people get bored or have a hard time sticking to basketball practice but when they play the game or even constantly lose, they think are not give up but "No way! I will win the next round!" This is I've always been curious. So why does the game keep people wanting to play? I downloaded several popular mobile games for observation. Most of these games include a few features: virtual currency, game skins, and celebrity endorsers. The game has a reward mechanism that will make people addicted, so my first thought is that if players score a ball, they can get a certain amount of gold coins, which is also related to the distance of the shot. Celebrity endorsements? In this game, I set up a role of a virtual coach, most of whom are familiar basketball stars. This is also linked to the gold coins obtained by shooting at the beginning. The basketball stars that more people like will have to be obtained at a higher price in the game mall, which to a certain extent can motivate users' determination to always score goals. Having solved the problem of being hard to stick to and thinking that training is boring, the next problem is how to improve the accuracy. The glasses automatically catch the position of the rim and provide a visual parabola based on the user's distance from the rim. The accuracy of the player's posture and gestures affects the color of the parabola, with green representing the correct and vice versa.
For the design of the shape of the glasses, although this game is only aimed at training shooting skills, much jumping is also involved in the process and the comfort of use must also be considered. Then the traditional VR equipment, which pursues an immersive feeling, is not considered. Is there any more advanced way to present it? Combination of games and reality? So I thought of a design that uses holographic projection technology and a combination of lighter glasses and headphones, which not only improves comfort but also allows users to play basketball in an immersive experience.
Prototypes and feedback
Due to the Covid-19, I couldn't meet with my client so I used the prototypes and made videos to show how to use them so that customers could understand my thoughts by watching the video, and he also gave me some real feedback.
Basketball Stand prototype
This prototype fully demonstrates how this basketball hoop can be used.
Functions: 1. When a goal is scored, it will cheer. 2. Scores are displayed when a goal is scored 3. There is a net to catch the missed ball 4. There is a light that lights up when a goal.
Feedback from my client
This idea looks nice. It can collect the ball very well, but the user still needs to pick it up. It would be better if the ball could be rolled in front of the user. There is only one scoring function on this backboard. It would be perfect if you could record your shooting percentage. Because it is essential to know your shooting percentage when you practice basketball.
Satisfaction：7/10
App's prototype
This prototype shows some of the functions of the App. The function of Goal enables users to visualize the goal, which is to achieve the purpose of ongoing training better.
Feedback from my client
I really like the function that it can record training goals and review the training process, which solves the problem of enthusiasm for sports to a certain extent, but it is a big problem for the long-term use of app records. It doesn't directly address the problem of improving the shooting percentage
Satisfaction：5/10
VR game's prototype
At first, I think it will be most helpful than others. But when I was doing this prototype to test it, this glasses limits my action and let me feel headache.
Feedback from my client
Hahahaha the idea of this VR game is very interesting and the setting of the virtual basketball star is very novel. I think it will inspire a group of people to love this game, but if you use glasses on an outdoor basketball court, the game screen will be unclear and not real enough because of the sunlight. If you wear headphones and glasses for a long time during exercise, I think the user experience will be poor.
Satisfaction：6/10
Summarize
I had discussions with my customers about choosing the final prototype. In the beginning, I had high expectations for the VR game, but after discussions with customers, I learned that it actually has many drawbacks, such as the comfort of wearing glasses, how to use it for myopic users, and will the glasses affect users when they are exercising? These are things I never thought about. I just thought this design would help them and would be useful. But I don't think from their perspective so I ruled out this idea. In the end, we chose the Basketball Stand because it is the idea of the three for both motivation and spot training.