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Introduction: Our team would focus on changing the functionality of the Nanolab graphical user interface after reviewing the testing results, external evaluation, and internal evaluation.
Change design based on:
Testing
The interface needs to have more hardware integration and further development with the button functions. For example the data file selection should automatically provide time and file type after the selected file and put it into a time sheet. There needs to be autonomous integration within the interface as well to accommodate the data transfers that would occur when connected to the Nanolabs.
Our testing plan calculates a data transfer every half an hour within a day to record 48 occurrences. The Nanolab GUI will run autonomously in the ISS which we plan to transfer data two times per day, a total of 60 occurrences.
Our mockup1.0 design showcases a text box that incorporates data, the data, and a downloads/export feature. The downloads feature offers manual exportation of data so the user can have raw data (experts can use this to determine results and measurements)
A data file will be automatically downloaded into a text frame in the GUI where the user will be able to view the file name, type, and date. The advanced GUI here provides a pup-up screen that showcases the name and type of file (the record of file still needs to be implemented)
The code.org interface offers data integration which gives date, time, and hardware status. Our interface only offered this option for one of the Nanolabs and did not offer autonomous integration either.
Internal Reflection:
The interface needs to be more integrated with the other Nanolab groups. The interface was meant to be generic so it would interact with the current and future Nanolabs (utilizing the Nanoracks module). Our interface only meets the standards of functionalist by itself, but does not interact with other Nanolabs.
Our group was able to prompt the file directory in Windows 10, showcasing the interface will be able to access data from various sources (as long as it is directed to the file directory). The function currently only works with windows 10 and in the future hopefully will work with other computer systems (Linux, chrome OS, Android/Apple).
External Evaluation:
There needs to be more development regarding the visual appeal of the interface. The interface needs to appeal to the audience (middle school to college professors). The lower educated audience will receive an interface that is more visually appealing with colors and more pictures. Dr. Florence Gold commented that the interface needs to provide the idea that it is related to space exploration and NASA, and this should be done by including pictures or backgrounds that are related to Space and NASA experiments.
We wanted to make the design more appealing by including pictures. We were able to add pictures to the frame of the GUI, however we had trouble using pictures on top/behind features of the interface.
Our team used the ttk Tkinter package to make the interface more visually smooth and appealing. Our next step would be to add color and frames to the buttons.
Our team was able to incorporate a logo (we replaced the generic Tkinter logo) with a custom logo representing the Nanolab GUI.
Recommendations: The Nanolab should be efficient and powerful, however it needs to be kept simple. Our group was focusing on many functionalities and features and should have narrowed down the design to include only the necessary functionalities. Our Nanolab design needs to be visually appealing but also provide the necessary functions to researchers and the public.
Conclusion: Our team started of developing the Nanolab GUI by focusing on independent functionality. We first developed prototypes that had many features and had many visuals. We continues to improve on each of the prototypes by adding more and more functions that we thought would be valuable to the user. However after the first review, we determined that the interface should focus more of data presentation and less visual appeal. After refining our design and having a simple interface, with another review we determined our design needed to be incorporated with the other Nanolab groups so they would be able to interact with each experiment. For the final result, the interface and still be improved by implementing hardware and autonomy.
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