Team Pyxis
-
Telemetry Integration
Actual telemetry data was unavailable during the design of the application, so were not able to be included. However, we feel that related telemetry values might be a good supplement when presenting details of activities that are currently going on. Normal data ranges or values should also be included to help students understand whether the values have fluctuated as a result of the experiment or activity occurring.
-
More Expedition Information
To date, the application has a screen that allows users to learn more about the current expedition. It explains what experiments and astronauts are involved on the latest expedition. It would if students were able to search through past expeditions and learn about the different crews. More importantly, it would be beneficial to allow students to search through the current expedition experiments via category. This would require some user testing to ensure that it is done in an intuitive way, but it would really enhance the searchability of the application.
-
Augmented Reality Tracking
When conducting user testing, we noticed that students would often tap on the ISS Tracker to enlarge it or view it in a different way. One easy way to make the entire experience more exciting and engaging is to allow students to tap on the tracker when the station is within viewing distance; doing so will launch an augmented reality viewer, where the student can hold the iPad up to the sky, zoom in on where the station is, and perhaps even take a photo for his wallpaper.
-
“Do-It-At-Home” Experiments
To create a more visceral experience, it would be nice to pair experiment descriptions with do-it-at-home versions that students can conduct in their free time. This would allow them to gain a greater understanding of what's going on in a more hands-on way. This would require further testing and research to ensure that the experiments are age-appropriate. Although we have seen some examples online, it would be beneficial if NASA can participate to help generate a community that comes up with these type of content.
-
Additional Visuals
Students thoroughly enjoyed viewing videos and images that pertained to specific activities and experiments, and many even requested a voice recording or video from the astronauts to really feel like they know them and connect with them. Nevertheless, all students have expressed the desire to have more visuals throughout the application (for example, media could be provided for more crew activities going forward, and more featured experiments could utilize videos).
-
Zooming on Timeline
Zooming out of the timeline at various levels would allow students to gain a big picture view of different days, weeks, and even entire expeditions. Instead of listing activities by their names, different categories of activities could be visualized by the color that is most prominent during certain sections of the timeline.
-
Customization
Students seemed interested in customizing which categories of activities they would be able to view on the timeline: certain students, for example, are extremely interested in science experiments, whereas others are curious about how certain routine activities are different in outer space. This can be implemented with a filter popover for them to check or uncheck certain categories.
-
Integration of Social Aspects
Our competitive analysis and user testing show that integrating more social aspects to the application could enhance its desirability. Although students have expressed interest in making the application more social, this would require further research and testing since it was not the main focus of the current iteration of our application.
