Ask Clarifying Questions:

Before we can effectively design a Google Home Mini for blind users, we need to understand their unique needs, capabilities, and limitations. Here are some questions that can provide these insights:

• What are the current assistive technologies and tools that blind people commonly use?
• Do we need to design an entirely new device or can we just create an enhanced version of the current Google Home Mini?
• Are we focusing on a specific age group among the blind users?
• What is the level of tech proficiency among our target users?
• Are there any legal, privacy or ethical considerations that we need to be aware of?

Identify User Persona:

Multiple user personas could be identified amongst the blind user base:

• Young, tech-savvy individuals who are comfortable with advanced technologies.
• Elderly individuals who might not be as comfortable with tech and might have additional accessibility needs.
• Blind users who are also hearing impaired and would require additional accommodations.
• Individuals who became blind later in life and are still adjusting to using assistive technologies.

For the purpose of this interview, let's prioritize the user persona of an elderly individual who is not as tech-savvy and might have additional accessibility needs.

List the Pain Points:

For the chosen user persona, the potential pain points might include:

• Difficulty in setting up the device due to small-sized instructions.
• Inability to see the LED light feedback which currently provides a lot of non-verbal information.
• Trouble finding the physical buttons or touching the wrong part of the device accidentally.
• Difficulty in understanding and remembering the exact voice commands.
• Challenges with the pronunciation of certain commands which might lead to the device not understanding the command.

Suggest Solutions for the Pain Points Listed:

• Enhanced voice assistance: An initial setup assistant that guides users through voice commands could greatly ease the setup process for blind users. Additionally, providing clear and extensive voice feedback for every interaction can make the device more accessible.
• Tactile markers: By introducing tactile cues or markers on the device, users can find the buttons or touch-sensitive areas more easily.
• Flexible voice commands: The device could be programmed to understand and respond to a variety of similar commands rather than expecting precise phrases. This would make the interaction more natural and easier to remember for our user persona.
• Training Mode: A mode where users can practice commands and get feedback until they are comfortable.
• Integration with Braille Display: If our user knows Braille, we could consider integrating with Braille Display devices.

Prioritization of Solutions:

Based on the impact on user experience and the feasibility of implementation, here is the prioritization of solutions:

• Enhanced voice assistance - High impact, relatively easy to implement.
• Flexible voice commands - High impact, might require more complex machine learning and language models.
• Tactile markers - High impact, feasible to implement but may require hardware redesign.
• Training mode - Medium impact, should be relatively easy to implement.
• Integration with Braille Display - Lower impact as not all users know Braille, might be complex to implement.

Metrics:

The success of these changes could be measured using the following metrics:

• User satisfaction scores through surveys and interviews
• Decrease in the number of customer support calls or queries related to accessibility
• Number of successful command completions without errors
• Time taken to perform common tasks

Summary:

Designing a Google Home Mini for blind people, specifically elderly individuals who may not be as tech-savvy, involves addressing key pain points around setup, feedback, and command recognition. Solutions such as enhanced voice assistance, flexible voice commands, tactile markers, training mode, and possible integration with Braille Display could potentially make the device more accessible. The success of these changes would be evaluated using metrics such as user satisfaction, customer support calls, command completion, and task completion times.