The Ultimate "Sled" Camera for Mobile Device Testing?

Sled cameras or hand-held "rigs" are a great solution for recording user interactions with mobile devices. There are a few great products in this space, but in Ovo's opinion the Ipevo Ziggi-HD Plus (Ziggi, for short) is the winner. We recommend it for the following reasons:

• It is only $99.00 on Amazon Prime at the time of writing this whitepaper. If that link goes stale, the version Ovo tested was the 8 Megapixel, USB 2.0 Version.
• It works with Ovo Studios software, and other software, with a driver-free and utility-free installation. It is truly plug and play.
• Task-critical controls are built into the camera itself and do not require you to open utility applications from the camera manufacturer. Ziggi has hardware buttons for focus lock, focus re-acquire, and exposure. Lack of built-in hard-button access to these functions is a major failing of sleds that use cameras from third-party manufacturers like Logitech.
• Unlike any other camera Ovo is familiar with, Ziggi can rotate on its stand for portrait or landscape orientation.

Here is a photo showing the hardware-based controls built right into Ziggi.

Ziggi seems to have been designed for doing presentations from paper. Ovo remembers our college professors writing on overhead project transparencies with wax pencils. Or perhaps you have used opaque projectors. Ziggi was intended to bring this kind of presentation task into the 21st century.

However, with some modifications, you can turn Ziggi into a fantastic mobile device sled. Take a look at the following video to see Ziggi in action.

Handheld Sled for Mobile Device Usability Testing

Note: This video is part 2 of a series with part 1 presented lower in this page. Part 1 shows Ziggi used in a classic "blue tape method" kind of test.

At the time of the above video, Ovo had only made one modification to Ziggi which was to stick hook-and-loop fastener material to the bottom of Ziggi's base. There are more and better modifications you can make to Ziggi if you are the kind of person who has a Phillips #1 screwdriver and laughs at the idea of invalidating your warranty.

• Mobile Attachment Material: Ziggi has a nice, black, rubbery base. Rip that off and replace it with something that will allow you to attach a mobile to the Ziggi:
• Mobile Attachment Material #1: Use Velcro. It is cheap and available at Walmart, but it can be very "grabby". Also, participants might not like you sticking Velcro bits to their mobile.
• Mobile Attachment Material #2: Use a sticky gel pad. These things are magical, long lasting, and do not require you to put any adhesive on the mobile you want to stick to your rig. (E.g., eBoot 10 Pieces Sticky Gel Pads, $10.00 on Amazon Prime at the time of this writing.) Buy this. It is so much nicer and cooler than Velcro for this use.
• Weight Reduction: In its intended use, Ziggi needs a heavy base to suspend its camera over the piece of paper it is capturing. (Refer to photo at bottom of page to see the Ziggi in this mode.) You do not need this weight if you are going to use Ziggi in sled mode, so you should remove all of the metal plates inside the base that serve as ballast. After you rip off the rubber base, you will see Phillips head screws. Unscrew them and pull out the three metal plates inside. Then screw the base back on and apply your preferred Mobile Attachment Material.

Ziggi as Overhead Camera for the "Blue Tape Method" of Mobile Device Testing

Anyone who has used a ceiling camera, an over-the-shoulder camera, or any kind of suspended camera is familiar with the "blue tape method" (BTM) of mobile device testing. In BTM, you figure out what area of the participant's desktop is in frame and you demarcate the space with blue painter's tape. Then you instuct your participants to make themselves comfortable and keep their hands anywhere they want inside the square of blue tape.

Setting Ziggi up for a BTM device test couldn't be easier. Notice the care with which the moderator provided blue tape perimeters for both portrait and landscape modes.

Here is a brief, two-source recording of the kind of scene you can capture with Ziggi in BTM mode. Despite Ovo's earlier cheekiness about participants making themselves comfortable, this is not all that bad of an experience for the user. Considering the general artificiality of usability/UX testing, the intrusion imposed by Ziggi in BTM mode is, in Ovo's opinion, relatively minor. For purists who scoff at that opinion, Ovo compares using Ziggi to having a colleague with a camcorder stand behind the participant and film over their shoulder.

About These Videos

These video were captured using Ovo Logger ADC 2.0 in 3-source mode (Ziggi in sled mode) and in 2-source mode (Ziggi in BTM mode.)