Bird Identifier

Design Brief
Palak Sanghani
201314001
Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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Contents
Need of Design ................................................................ 2
Suggested Design Options .................................................... 3
Constraints ..................................................................... 3
Schedule ........................................................................ 3
Deliverable ..................................................................... 4
Goals ............................................................................ 4
Proposed Screen Shots ....................................................... 4
Features and Functionality .................................................. 8
Navigation Flow ............................................................... 8



Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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Bird Identifier

There are so many illustrative books on birds, yet we prefer to use google because
of the speed and ease. The search process should be such that user enjoys
identifying the bird quickly and then find out about the bird. Google search is not
efficient in understanding the description provided by the users within minimum
time.


Figure 1 Google Image Search

Google provides search by image option but it is not so efficient, a picture of the
same bird taken in different positions flying and sitting will be interpreted as
different pictures. Our uploaded images are stored by google to improve the
google image service. Google search can be taken one step further if through
proper designing we can use natural language processing and finding the exact bird
through the description provided by the users.

Need of Design
Google search allows us to search for bird information but it works best when we have the
name of the birds, through vague description of the bird, we cannot search for the bird we
saw for a few seconds. To make bird finding an interesting process and to sustain the user
Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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interest, I want to build an interactive bird identifier. A proper design is required to direct
the users towards accurate results and to prevent errors. . It means that the website
should work intuitively so that people can spend time on the stuff they are good at. The
power of search should be brought to previously unexplored areas and help people access
and use this ever expanding information in their lives. Interaction design is required to
make the web experience simpler and faster for people to do what they want to do online.

Suggested Design Options
The design should be simple and easy to use by people of all age groups. Instead of
asking the users to provide description, we should help them identify the birds by
asking a set of questions. The questions must be well formulated so that they are
easy to answer and the bird is easily identified by a few questions.

Constraints
Searching birds by existing image is tough, it wouldn't yield accurate results
because mostly image search algorithms are based on the Meta tags or by the
pixels. The image of the same bird when is sitting on a tree branch will be
different from image in which it is flying. Image search works to a certain extent
but it would be extremely engaging experience had it been working. Still, bird
identification through features of the birds like color, size etc. is also very useful.
Along with giving the correct information it is equally essential to give fast
information. Using AJAX, the pages can be made interactive without refreshing the
browser and thus saving time and the amount of clicks required for completing
search successfully.

Schedule
Week-1. I gathered information. I deduce from my analysis that Google image
search is amazing but it doesn't work when we have not provided proper
description of the birds. In order to find proper information about birds, we need
to know the names of the birds.
Week -2. I will formulate the set of questions to be asked to the users so that the
birds can be identified. Designing the navigation of the website and the interface.
Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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Week -3. To get the website up and integrate Google search and take user
feedback and solve the errors.

Deliverable
A working website which allows user to find information about birds based on
description, search by name or by the family of birds.

Goals
To make the most accurate bird identifier which helps people identify the birds
based on description, and then search for information about that bird. It should be
a conversational search where website interacts with users.
The content offered should be relevant, not distracting and the website should
provide best user experience so that users dont have to consider how they might
have been designed differently. Everybody's time is valuable so when user is
seeking answer on the web, they want it right away. Google average response time
on the search result is a fraction of a second so proper interaction design is
required to ensure making bird identifier go even faster.

Proposed Screen Shots
The proposed screen shots show how user can search for a particular bird by
specifying the size, place, beak, feathers and other features of the bird. The web
page is broadly divided into two columns. User can select the option from left side
and the relevant results appear on the right hand side. User can go on searching or
if he finds the required bird, he can click on the image of the bird and find more
information about the bird.
Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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Figure 2 Search for Birds based on Place
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Design Brief 201314001
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Figure 3 Search for Birds based on Size
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Figure 4 Search for bird by Name

Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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Features and Functionality
The features of the website constitute of
1. Search through Bird Identifier i.e. set of questions
The questions are categorized into Size of Bird, Location of Bird, Feathers,
Beak and other features of bird.

2. Search through Bird Name.
The user enters the name of the bird and basic information of bird is displayed
along with audio, video and other illustrations.

3. Search through Bird Family.
The user searches for the birds of the same family based on the name of the
family.

Navigation Flow
1. Go to the website and begin your search. The first step is to select the size
of the bird.

Figure 5 Search by Size
The user can select from the options given. The sizes have been measured
relatively so that user can have a better judgment. The results will be
displayed as the user answers the questions.

Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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2. After the size, next option is place. The user can select the place where
he/she saw the bird. The results would be filtered on the basis of habitat
and the results will be displayed.


3. User can now specify the color of the birds feather.


Figure 7 Search by Feathers

Figure 6 Search by Place
Principles of Interaction Design Palak Sanghani
Design Brief 201314001
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4. The bird can be identified based on the characteristics of the beak like color
and shape.


Figure 8 Search by Beak

5. The birds can be still filtered by the options like behaviour of the bird and
leg colour.


Figure 9 Search by Other

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Design Brief 201314001
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6. Now select the bird most fitting the choices from right hand side column.


Figure 10 Select the bird

Figure 11 Bird Search Results
On clicking on the image of the bird, we get details of the particular bird like
image, video, audio, characteristics, similar birds etc.
Similarly, user can browse for birds based on their family and names also.