User Involvement
Prototypes
At the end of the first phase of the project (June 2011), a first prototype was tested with the end users, followed by a final prototype in September 2012.
The first prototype served as a proof-of-concept both for functionality and for interconnectivity of the system-components. The final prototype included improvements and refinements of the modules. Between the two design stages, an intermediate user evaluation was done with Prototype 1. The results of this user evaluation were considered in the redesign phase for the final prototype. Concurrently, a second technology analysis was carried out and taken into account recent developments and new products, to allow their integration into AsTeRICS.
This 2-stage approach provided a useful feedback from the first user evaluation phase into possible optimisations of the architecture and of the software algorithms. The second design stage fully supported industry compatible design processes and resulted in optimised hardware modules with lower power consumption, customised printed circuit boards (PCBs) and enclosures. The prototype software featured fully elaborated user interfaces so that the system was made ready for the final user tests.