"Never tell me the odds!"
Well I may not be a UX jedi JUST yet, but I DO have my own lightsaber... so I think I'm at least half way there...
Today the whole class downloaded a lightsaber app, I believe pretty much all of us downloaded "great lightsaber" from our respective app stores.
From a UX standpoint I have a couple of notes:
The image used for the app button is very difficult to distinguish as an actual lightsaber. Its sort of just looks like a blue laser... thingie I'm sure some amount of this is due to licensing issues with Star Wars™®©.
As a fun mindless app "Great Lightsaber" succeeds in spades. The gestures and actions are intuitive (pressing lightsaber handle turns on/off the lightsaber... JUST LIKE THE MOVIES! And the sounds, OH THE SOUNDS). and there are a few cutesy features that replicate various uses of the "force" like lightning, force choking, and a force push (all just fun silly sound and visual effects, the lightning is particularly cool, incorporating sound visuals and vibration)
However, if you aren't a Star Wars fan... A.) WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? (Are you a member of the no fun society?) and B.) the buttons along the right side of the screen with all the "Force" powers and the odd stick figure images aren't going to make much sense to you and may frustrate with their lack of descriptions and vague imagery.
The layout of the app is clean and simple and focuses on the lightsaber, as it should. The ability to duel is AWESOME, but as is the case with many free apps, my heart sank when I realized that there were all sorts of customization options... IF I paid an extra fee.
On that note, whoever came up with in app purchases for "game coins, and extended customization options, and other peripheral minutia..." should be flogged.
The paid options at the saber workbench were mostly unavailable, and frustrating to look at since there was no way they were getting my monies. However a point of mild disappointment was the saber color option, which I attempted to access by leaving a review. It worked for me once, and then when I tried to change the blade color the only discernible color change was on the VERY outer edge. PWOMP. Also, the light and dark side buttons did... nothing, as far as I could tell.
The app is a good bit of fun, is free, and provides quite a bit more entertainment and simple joy than many other free apps I have downloaded, however it loses points from this user due to its tacky use of in app purchases, undermining an otherwise generally positive user experience.
Sooo... Nothing else really happened today (Day 2!) except this:
Emily discussed various aspects of conducting user research
Aaron discussed how to conduct research interviews via phone (Double team it! One team member conducts scripted interview, while other takes copious notes, and interjects with important questions at key points)
Aaron may have also possibly... once or twice in the day... mentioned SOMETHING, about a method of participatory design he was keen on called Concept Mapping. I vaguely remember him mentioning something about it. I think it has to do with circles.
Know what rocks? Free lunch. GA's students rejoiced, there was crying, etc. The usual.
Also, Dom threw post-its on the ground. So... yeah... (in fact he was in the midst of a fun card sorting lesson, but still... what did the post-its ever do to you?) I have photographic evidence but Tumblr and/or my internet connection are being turds, so I'll have to post the gruesome images later...
Outside of that, we did a fun lil project on alarm clocks, and worked more on P1. After tomorrow I may start sharing updates on my project 1, but until then... it will be shrouded in **MYSTERY**...
See ya'll manana, ya scruffy lookin' nerf herders
vaporwave
titsay
romaincrisis
pixelskylines
