#reflection01

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Reflection #01

This week was our formation of groups and the brainstorming of several apps that we think may be improved by introducing new functions, rearrange existing ones or remove them. At first, I thought we should find apps that were designed horribly and then give suggestions to improve the user experience. However, it would be more rewarding to analyse apps that I frequently use and walk through the process to suggest improvements which may potentially enhance the experience. It might even be a good app with no obvious flaws.

Our group will individually curate a few apps which we think could be improved to elevate the user experience and then reconvene to discuss them. Thus, I decided to rank the apps I often use in my phone and decide if there are any gaps and how we can address those issues.

Top 3 Apps Used

Source: iMore

Safari: One of the apps I often use is Safari. Safari is not a downloadable app, as it is already existing in the iPhone. I find myself having the habit of opening a lot of tabs to keep and retain information just so I could go back to them later. I realised I’ve never used the ‘bookmark’ function. The reason might be because seeing what tabs I have currently opened is feedback enough that I’ll go back in the future and read them. Perhaps, we could design around better visibility for bookmarking of sites?

Source: LibbyApp

Libby: I’m a recent user of Libby and I’m loving it so far. Libby is literally a pocket library on your phone. Libby is a digital library where one can borrow books using your own NLB library card. It curates over billions of books and users from all over the world could scour, find one that suits them and read them offline. It even has audiobooks! Libby has a lot of plus points, but what could make the experience even better? I noticed that finding books when you already know what you need is easy, but trying to find the right book to read is hard when you are overwhelmed with choices. Also, for a first time user, it may be difficult to navigate if you do not have a particular book to search for and is just browsing through. Perhaps, we could design a way to declutter the navigation and be more personalised?

Source: 9to5Mac

Podcast: This app is another one of iPhone’s exclusive apps already preexisting on the phone. The application has a curation of podcasts from different shows and one can tune to each episode individually or download them for offline listening. The design of the podcast app is very intuitive, however, sometimes if I find a podcast really insightful, I would usually have the problem of finding previous podcasts that I have listened to before. Also, during episodes, there would also be interesting pieces of dialogue which I would love if I could visually be able to pull from the podcast. Something like highlights from a particular read. I wonder if we could somehow incorporate how we highlight texts into an audio context. 

What I have learnt

For me, I think for an app that we use daily, it is hard to look for things to improve. Because often, we are so used to what we have that we seldom look for problems. The first exercise in class forced me to think of the struggles I face and how I can solve the pain point. Similarly, if we approach the same outlook and be critical, often times the apps we use in our everyday lives may have gaps that could also be solved the same way. 

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Deluged by Data

Nowadays a large number of individuals are using technology to record certain events that occurred, are happening or will happen in their lives. By doing so they would just easily get a device that has a camera and by clicking some buttons they would capture and record the event. This action is good. Why? Because as individuals there are events that we want to remember by capturing photos and taking videos. When we capture photos, we tend to get this thing, a picture that will serve as a remembrance on the events that had to happen. Recording videos are on a higher level because we can see what happened on that event, we can see the action and hear the voices of the people in the video. Now, what makes this action a negative one is when we overdo this action.

People love traveling and when you travel a camera is the most important thing to bring because you want to capture the moment or the experience. You tend to take pictures of the tourist spots, the roads, the scenery, and even the food. When you take pictures of everything that you see this might lead you to overdo the concept of capturing the moment. After the travel, you will look at the pictures that you have taken and sooner or later you will realize that out of 100 pictures only 20 or 25 are the one that has impacts to you the moment you look at the picture. The rest might just be useless or trash. When taking a picture one important thing to remember is its impact on you the moment you will look at it. Wherein looking at it will make you remember the whole event that happened on the day you took that picture.

Another example is when you propose to someone. Instead of feeling each and every moment. The way you will propose to her, the reaction of her face, some people would prefer to record the event. Some would also post it online and share it with the world. Well, there is nothing wrong with it but isn’t it more special if it was just the two of you. Enjoying the moment because it was just the two of you who have captured the event. Not with the use of a camera but with the eyes and storing it in both of your hearts. We are more focused on shooting the situation instead of feeling that we are in that situation. If we are documenting what is happening, are we really observing it?

As a teenager in this generation, I would say that I am one of the other human beings that are deluged by data. I am always on my phone or laptop facing the screen and just scrolling from different applications. I spend most of my days looking at Facebook and watching YouTube videos. Sometimes I do not notice the time that I have been doing this action for 15 hours in a day. The remaining 9 hours would be my sleeping period. The moment my phone starts to ring because I have used it as an alarm clock this serves as the beginning of me looking at the screen until I go back to sleep, and this process repeats every single day.

In my opinion, disconnecting with our devices is difficult. It is difficult because in this generation we have become too attached to our devices. Without our devices, we can’t connect to the virtual world. A world that we humans have built. It will be difficult for people who are earning money with the use of these devices. Disconnecting means they will no longer earn money. Specifically, the applications on our devices are created for a reason and for target customers. Facebook allows us to connect with friends and the people around us. Lazada is where we can buy things online. Instagram is where we can store the photos or videos that we have captured. These are just a few of the many applications that were created by humans for humans. Disconnecting to our devices would result in a very big impact on our lives in different aspects.

With the help of these devices, we can easily get information. The moment you will search on the internet about information overload, the millions of results are the overloading of information. And what you are doing is an example of getting too much information. Before, getting information was hard since there are limited sources but now with just one click, and millions of sources will be seen on the screen. As an individual living today, we humans are suffering from infobesity. We know many things, not just the ones that we have seen in real life situations but also the events that we have seen on our screens from different websites. Information that we have read on the internet. Sometimes knowing too much has a negative effect because we tend to easily get bothered on what is happening not just in our lives but also with the lives of other human beings.

Being active online is okay but there is always a disadvantage in being active online. A disadvantage that we humans know but we prefer to ignore it or pretend that we do not know it. One thing that we need to practice is by doing this action called a digital diet. A diet where we need to lessen our activeness online or by using such devices. An example of this is when we take a picture of something. We do not need to have 20 captures of it 1 or 3 photos is or are enough. When we are actively using our devices, we tend to forget reality. We are more focused on looking at our screens. In gatherings, the majority of the people are together but not having interactions or real-life conversations, they would just look at each of their devices. Communication online is very different from having a conversation with someone, face to face. We need to practice digital diet.

In conclusion, after watching the documentary it made me realize the big difference about how humans live today.  Although it is easy for us to say that we need to change it because of its impact on our lives. Doing so is very difficult. It is not because we cannot do it, it is because we have adopted this culture. The only solution now is on how we apply this culture in our lives.