Pujith Marodia

Interaction Design student at the Belfast School of Art

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Master Post - IXD

IXD 303

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DOTUX prototype

IXD 304

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Sherlock Holmes prototype

Sherlock Holmes website

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DOTUX screens - IXD 303

Dashboard:

Modules:

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DOTUX screens - IXD 303

Program structure: 

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DOTUX screens - IXD 303

Login:

Register:

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DOTUX screens - IXD 303

Pricing:

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DOTUX screens - IXD 303

Educators:

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DOTUX screens  - IXD 303

Home page:

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Typographic Inspiration - IXD 304

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What does Don Norman think about the term UX?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BdtGjoIN4E

Since we started the module by talking about the term UX and trying to define it in our own words I wondered what Don Norman the person who coined the term thought about it. I was lucky enough to find a video on YouTube where he speaks about this exactly.

Don Norman says that whilst he was working at apple he thought that the experience of using the computers was weak, the experience of seeing one at the store and buying it was weak, the experience of taking it home and setting it up was weak. It was from this thought that he coined the term UX (User Experience). He meant for the term to be used as a system of a service / product which means everything from the experience of purchasing it to using it in day to day life and also the experience of how the service / product looks, feels and works. 

He says that nowadays the term is horribly misused and I agree with him. People use the term saying we design apps / websites and we are UI / UX designers but that’s not what UX is all about. This is something that we discussed in class as well when we spoke about ‘Instagram designs’ and ‘Dribbble designs’ and people on those platforms who make app / web UI and term themselves as UI / UX specialists. 

Clearly User Experience isn’t rocket science, it’s actually much much more complicated than that.

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What is a Mental Model? - IXD 303

Users get used to site patterns quickly so they develop expectations of how things should work and where elements should be on a page these expectations are called mental models. Mental models aren’t built on facts they are built on users past experiences with using similar sites. An example of a mental model is where the search bar is on a page and what its function is or the back button on a browser and what it does. Mental models impact the way we design because users base their actions according to them, not respecting mental models can cause users to perceive your site as of lower value or they may think the site is broken even though it is not. In conclusion it is very important as UX designers or us to conduct research to be able to learn users mental models so that we can build better and more usable user centered systems.

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What is a Journey Map? - IXD 303

A customer journey map is a visualization that depicts a user trying to accomplish a specific goal which pertains to your company. Although every journey map is different there are some basic components that make up all journey maps. 

The basic components are:

1. The user or persona who experiences the journey. They would be the ideal target customer from which a strong narrative can be made. Several maps can be made to catch different types of view points.

2. The situation the map addresses and the specific goal or task that the user needs to complete. The best way to do this is scenarios that involve a sequence of events or describe a process.

3. The different stages in the journey map that the user must complete, for example if the scenario is buying a car the stages can be discover, order for a test drive, buy, seek support, etc.

4. Note the behaviour, thoughts and feelings that the user has through out the journey that are mapped within each stage. We can take note of all the actions the user is taking, the different thoughts, questions and motivations that the user has and the ups and downs which tells us where there is delight vs frustration.

5. Finally looking at the insights and opportunities gained from the map and speak to the users about how the experiences can be optimized. 

When done successfully journey mapping has huge benefits, it can provide a holistic view of the customer experience which reveals opportunities to address pain points, fragmentation and helps us to create better user experiences. 

Journey mapping is also a lot about the process of working with other people as a team which brings everyone on the same page, it forces conversation and an aligned mental model for the whole team.

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5-Second Usability Test - IXD 303

The 5-second test is a simple usability technique to help designers gauge the audience’s first impressions of a webpage. The 5 second test is less about content and information and more about what stands out to the user. It’s more about what they like and recall. This is not to be used as a replacement for A/B testing or analytics it is just to get an idea of that initial impression and if you are heading in the right direction or not.

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Fake Copy in UI Prototypes - IXD 303

Here is another topic we discussed in class during the content design discussion. It is one of the most common mistakes that designers make and is most evident on platforms like dribbble. Using text just to get work done in the most perfectly symmetrical and aesthetic way is not good practice because content that is specific to a project will change the look and feel of the website almost entirely. Lorem Ipsum may be used to make everything look great but when real content is put it at the time of shipping the website it may cause things to break because the text may overflow and not fit properly or look too long or short. This could intern cause the major issue of redesigning the website which requires time and costs money.

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The Double Diamond - IXD 303

Designers across disciplines share strikingly similar approaches to the creative process, which we’ve mapped out as ‘the Double Diamond’ 

Divided into four distinct phases – Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver – the Double Diamond is a simple visual map of the design process.

In all creative processes a number of possible ideas are created (‘divergent thinking’) before refining and narrowing down to the best idea (‘convergent thinking’), and this can be represented by a diamond shape.

The main aspects of the design process are:

Discover – The first quarter of the Double Diamond model covers the start of the project. Designers try to look at the world in a fresh way, notice new things and gather insights.

Define – The second quarter represents the definition stage, in which designers try to make sense of all the possibilities identified in the Discover phase. Which matters most? Which should we act on first? What is feasible? The goal here is to develop a clear creative brief that frames the fundamental design challenge.

Develop – The third quarter marks a period of development where solutions or concepts are created, prototyped, tested and iterated. This process of trial and error helps designers to improve and refine their ideas.

Delivery – The final quarter of the double diamond model is the delivery stage, where the resulting project (a product, service or environment, for example) is finalised, produced and launched.

The double diamond method properly defines the process and is very useful information to remember.

here is the link to where i read the article: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/design-process-what-double-diamond

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What Is an Empathy Map? - IXD 303

An empathy map is a collaborative visualization used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user. It externalizes knowledge about users in order to 1) create a shared understanding of user needs, and 2) aid in decision making.

An Empathy Map consists of four quadrants. The four quadrants reflect four key traits, which the user demonstrated/possessed during the observation/research stage. The four quadrants refer to what the user: Said, Did, Thought, and Felt.

Empathy maps can:

1. Remove bias from our designs and align the team on a single, shared understanding of the user.

2. Discover weaknesses in our research.

3. Uncover user needs that the user themselves may not even be aware of Understand what drives users’ behaviors.

4.Guide us towards meaningful innovation.

Empathy maps are extremely useful and in use with other types of mapping research techniques will help improve experience of a product.

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Tips for Icon Usability - IXD 303

1. Always need a text label to clarify meaning of an icon because universal icons that are understandable by all are rare.

2. Icons should have less cognitive load and be very easy to scan. Making schematic icons over realistic icons can help make icons easy to scan.

3. Colour and shape needs to be thought about carefully because colour is ambiguous and people are usually not sure what it is supposed to mean.

4. Maintain consistent colours and design accessible icons that are clear and readable.

5. Consider the 5 second rule which is the same idea as the 5 second usability test that I read about earlier. If the icon takes longer than 5 seconds to come up with and understand then it is not really good.

6. Test icons for recognition by running a icon usability test.

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What is Card Sorting? - IXD 303

Card sorting is a UX research method in which study participants group individual labels written on notecards according to criteria that make sense to them.  This method uncovers how the target audience’s domain knowledge is structured, and it serves to create an information architecture that matches users’ expectations.

Open Card Sorting vs. Closed Card Sorting:

1. Open card sorting is the most common type of card sorting. In an open card sort, users are free to assign whatever names they want to the groups they’ve created with the cards in the stack.

2. Closed card sorting is a variation where users are given a predetermined set of category names, and they are asked to organize the individual cards into these predetermined categories. Closed card sorting does not reveal how users conceptualize a set of topics. Instead, it is used to evaluate how well an existing category structure supports the content, from a user’s perspective. A critique of the closed card sort is that it tests users’ ability to fit the content into the “correct” bucket ­to users, it can feel more like solving a puzzle than like naturally matching content to categories.

Card sorting is a highly useful technique in information architecture; it is used to understand how users think about your content. It can help you organize content so that it suits your users’ mental models, rather than the point of view of your company.