Prototype redesign - Revised

After the testing of the prototype we decided on changing some details that caused problems with it's use.
Although the weight caused some minor discomfort at first, the fact that the children seemed to get used to it lead to the decision of leaving the weight as is as to avoid redesigning the components, since we managed to work it down to the bare minimum and removing any components would mean losing functionality.

The button functionality was the first item to be discussed for changing. The new button usage would work as follows:
- Single button press to turn on the pen from the off state.
- When turned on pen is in word retrieval mode (awaits word to be spoken)
- At any time during the on state, pressing the button resets the pen to word retrieval mode.
- Shutting down is done by holding the button pressed while the pen is on.
- Alternatively if the pen is left idle for a certain period of time (1 minute) it goes into standby mode with limited power consumption and if left idle for 3 minutes it shuts down completely.



The pen design was another part that was redesigned. We changed the shape to have a smoother transition between the thin and thicker parts to make it more comfortable for holding and writing with.


The screen functionality would stay as described in earlier posts. Every time the user writes a letter correctly, the next letter would appear and wait for the user to write it. Should the user write the wrong letter, the input procedure would start from the beginning.

All other elements seemed to work well during the testing so no further redesign was required.