Google Drive is an efficient, effective and commonly used service for file storing, file sharing and file editing. Although when squished down onto a mobile device, the process begins to get much more convoluted. While its foundation is strong, it possesses ample room for potential increases in versatility and efficiency. We wanted to take Google Drive and prepare it for the technological shifts of the future by applying developed technology to the user’s experience with Mixed Reality headsets.
Project Concept
For this project we set out to fix the multitude of problems that came naturally with using Google Drive on mobile devices. We wanted to emulate an office work space and have it be accessible and efficient at all times, regardless of where you may be or what you may be doing. Our product statement was to “make live editing, group communication and user to user interaction accessible and efficient anywhere, anytime.”
Concept Solution
We went about our concept by analyzing how we could touch up the small number of pain points brought forth by Google Drive. To uncover these pain points we produced user surveys and paper prototypes to find the user problems and pain points while using Google Drive. The paper prototypes gave us insight on the user interaction and thought process behind the user’s actions when interacting with a mixed reality UI.
User Demographics
Google Drive is a service that can be useful to absolutely anybody in the world, whether that be a 73 year old woman needing to store her Christmas photos in a safe place or a 15 year old boy looking to work on a school project with a friend that lives a few miles away. Right now, given the technology driven generation we find ourselves in, Google Drive is more prevelant to a younger demographic simply because they are more comfortable with technology - they grew up immersed in it. Our survey results directly reflect this assumption.
Competitive Benchmark
Competitor Research
Google Drive’s competitors can be split into two overlapping categories; file storage and file sharing. Google Drive is currently at the top in comparison to its direct competitors in both Websites that use it and Market Share.
Google Drive being on top is due to it being the only service out its competitors that does not require a download and/or a paid sign up - all that it requires is a Gmail account. This makes Google Drive the easiest to use in terms of convenience, which is a very prevalent luxury today.
Research
We based our research methodologies primarily off of online surveys. We set out to get a better idea on our target demographic, what people use Google Drive for, as well as the popularity of Google Drive on mobile devices. Out of our 49 responses, we were pleased to see a response from every age group for that fell right in line with our demographic hypothesis. We were also pleased to see that Google Drive on mobile devices was something people were definitely open to try, if they weren’t indulging already.
Findings
Future Market Report
While using Google Drive on your mobile device may be a convenient way to save time while on the go, it currently is not efficient. The small screen and plethora of necessary app downloads bog down the apps efficiency and make it very difficult to do anything in a timely manner.
We hope to turn this around, and we plan on doing so by implementing Augmented Reality projections via a pair of glasses and/or contacts that is directly connected to either your mobile device or apple watch. These Augmented Reality projections will help greatly in increasing screen size and overall efficiency.
We also plan on implementing Google Lens by using this already existing technology to be able to capture images and directly convert them in text files that you are able to edit freely.
Product Statement
Make live editing, group communication and user to user interaction accessible and efficient anywhere, anytime.
Paper Prototyping
User Testing
We learned quite a bit from out usability testings. Our biggest take away from our first testings was the need for some sort of navigation bar/browser that would guide you through different work space windows. We also found that there was confusion on what was being shown, versus what was private to the user during a group call with multiple individuals. Our second time testing the UI, we found that there was confusion within the process of sharing a file within your group call, in comparison to what was already being shared. Most subjects had a difficult time imagining the paper prototype to be in front them in a mixed reality setting, but we still found the tests to be very successful and helpful in our design and development process.
