User Experience Design

The entire experience for the final project has been challenging to say the least. The task of having to change our proposal a few times before settling on our final idea was already crazy start to this entire project. Having to complete a "Phase" and present to the class every week was without a doubt something that really pushed us to do our best within a short time frame. Crazy Monday-nights spent rushing it will forever be ingrained in my memory.

However I did enjoy aspects of it. Creating the personas, scenarios, card sorting and the low and hight fidelity prototype. Although I probably won't actually be doing any of those when I start work (I Think), it was a great learning experience for me and I would definitely take what I have learned in to to job field next time (as a marketing/branding exec) if possible.

Every week we had to present our findings to the class and we always had a lot of good feedback and suggestions. Although sometimes we get annoyed with people and we try to argue our view, it helps to have someone point out something that we could have missed. We got to experience the many changes and revisions that we had to make to create User Experience, the constant revision and research and user testing.

I guess the most important take away I had from the entire project would be to be as open and honest about what the Users want and just keep trying till you get it, and you know you will when you get there. Also, user testing really never hurt anyone because like presenting to our peers, a 3rd persons point of view can be really insightful especially if it is your intended user.

When I first read the title: User Research Smoke and Mirrors, it actually kind of intimidated me. I though it would be a very “Cheem”= “Hard to understand” article, something like a thought piece on User Design taken from a Philosophical stand point.

Fahey’s article was quite an enjoyable read for me in the end. There were actually some points he raised that makes sense without even having to be lectured on User Design Experience.

 

1)      Quantitative Versus Qualitative

I understand why UI designers are using quantitative methods to scientifically back up their design. This is understandable from the organizations point of view as Management would rather have such “objective” studies to justify the designer’s recommendations. They rather have factual figures that can be proven, not wishy-washy at time subjective qualitative results.

But in order to design something that is as subjective as experience, no amount of quantitative results will be able to re-create something so personal since it experience means something different to everyone. Although the results may be subjective and up to the interpretations of the Designers and researchers, the insights they will get will be more invaluable since the findings come straight from the Users mouth/actions.

 

2) The best method?

As Mr.Reddy has said before, User Experience Design is still a relatively new study, despite being around for at least 2 decades. There is no fixed definition of what it is and no “winning” methodology on how to go about designing an “experience” At the end of day, designers will try and get the best information (whatever form of methodology) they can to better understand the Users and make decisions that they think will create an experience for the User. And perhaps even that gut feeling of trying out something different or unorthodox or something simple.

3)      We need honesty

Some of these design companies will craft results to boost the validity of their research tools (Sounds like how some tertiary students “inflate” their survey numbers for their projects) but a the end of the day companies that are honest about their findings will be able to better understand their consumers and try their best to create that User Experience for them. I think if the effort is taken to understand the users (and it does not have to be expensive), insightful findings would make a difference in the design outcome then one based on a manufactured one.

At the end of the day, I guess designing for User Experience does not need a fixed methodology. It’s something that just comes to you while you’re developing

1)      There is no perfect solution to the problem. Experience can always be rejected by other Users and highly soughed after- Experience is subjective.

2)      And I guess that it’s alright. Its better to provide something that a small group of people will definitely enjoy then to design something meant for everyone and at the end of the day you lose all focus and the product or service is un-enjoyable.

 3)      Niche markets allow you to focus on meeting the needs and experience of a unique group of Users. It is important to know and understand the users first before even attempting to start designing User experience. If you don’t know what they want and who they are, the end product will be designed for no body in particular

 4)      Branding plays a big role in this. I think that Brand managers should spend more time looking at User Design Experience as they do Advertising and Product Development. Aside from making it functional and good-looking. It has to create that feeling of enjoyment and pleasure; this is where Reverse Marketing Analysis and creating Personas comes in. I felt that those two methods were very insightful into the lives of the Users, treating them as individuals rather then a “Market Segment”.

 5)      Although I may not end up as a User Interface/Experience Designer. I think the concepts and experience (no pun intended) I had from this class will be invaluable as I step out into the world of Marketing and Branding. Knowing how the process works would help be work better with designers as I know what they are looking for and talking about and giving them the information they need. I would be the more understanding “Upper Management”

 6)      All in all a tough but good learning experience.

 

 

Our task was to improve the learning experience of the lecture theater. As such, we conducted interviews using the laddering technique to find out specifically what the students liked and did not like about the LTs as well as if they though the place was aiding their learning experience. We also conducted ethnography studies at LT 8, one of the bigger and newer LTs, observing the lessons, student interaction and behavior. Interviews were also conducted with the students outside the LT after the lecture. We summarised our overall findings from the interviews and observations using the experience matrix to have an overall analysis of the students feedback before giving our suggested solutions.

1) A general over view of the lecture theaters

What students liked about the LT:


Pleasing Aesthetics - Better Concentration - Important for concentration

Good sound system - Can hear lecturer better - Helps Learning

Good Facilities - Webcast - Don't have to travel to school - Money Saving

Location near the canteen - Easy to get food and drinks - Improve brain's efficiency - Better study and achieve - Achieving is important to enjoy life
                                                                                                                                                                                       

What students dont like about the LT: e

Low Temperature - Cold and Numb Hands - Difficult to take notes - Affect Concentration

Lousy Seats - Small table - Inconvenience - Attention distracted - Attention key for good grades

Cramped Seats - Not enough leg room - Increased risk of tumbling down - Injury to Body

Narrow Spacing of Seats - Inconvenient to go to the toilet - Bad for Bladder - ill health


Interestingly... We found that what students liked and don't like can be subjective!

Some students liked it spacious, others did not like it big and spacious. For those who liked the big space, its because it helps them concentrate better as its comfortable and spacious. Those who don't like it find the space too big and thus they can't hear the teacher, their attention is not focused and thus get easily distracted.

2) Ethnography Study (LT 8)

a) Observation




The LT is relatively big and spacious. Students start strolling in just before lessons start and the place is starting to get packed and rowdy.




Many of them continue to talk and chit chat amongst themselves even as the lessons proceeds.




We find people not paying attention, instead; they are playing with their laptops, either surfing the net, chatting on MSN or playing computer games.




Many students also come in late and start eating at the back of the class.



The lecturer does not seem to be bothered when the students arrive late. Some as late as an hour! They try and sneak in quietly from the back or the front. However, the students still notice the late comers and seem to be distracted by them.


b) Interviews (Experience Matri


With students outside LT 8 after the lecture.

Melissa, 21

Reward	Ordinary Conducive Bright	Extraodinary Interactive learning	Priceless
Neutral
Sacrifice	Acceptable Noisy	Unacceptable	Intolerable
	Low	Medium	High

Jeffery, 23

Reward	Ordinary Good sound system	Extraodinary	Priceless
Neutral
Sacrifice	Acceptable Too big	Unacceptable Seats are too cramped together   Chairs are broken   Does not facilitate interaction between lecturer & student	Intolerable
	Low	Medium	High

Carol, 21

Reward	Ordinary	Extraodinary Web-casting	Priceless Learning and sharing ideas as a group
Neutral
Sacrifice	Acceptable	Unacceptable   Cold   Seats are cramped   People walking in & out are distracting	Intolerable
	Low	Medium	High

4) Solutions!

We have two aspects to our solutions. Functional and Cultural.

Functional

1. Spaced out seats

-          More leg room

-          More space to put your bags and books

-          More space for people to walk around

      2. Individual Air Conditioner system

-          Control the temperature from the LT itself.

      3. Improve Conditions of Chairs

-          Replace with newer more comfortable chairs like in LT8

 Students want to be comfortable!

Cultural

1.       Relook the Webcast system

-          More Webcast options for students to review their lecture

      2. Encourage more 2 way interaction!

-          Sharing of ideas//thoughts/concepts

-          Don’t be afraid to speak up! (use of Microphones?)

      3. No late people allowed in!

-          It seems to be very distracting for many people, affecting their concentration

Note:

Culture would be harder to change. It is subjective and takes the individual effort of the students and the lecturers to make the change successfully. Our users can be quite contradicting in their statements, saying one thing but doing something else. As such you cant please everyone.


5) Lessons Learned

•          Laddering Method had to practiced a few times to get what you are looking for.

•          Ethnography – Respondents hard to open up at times. May need to re-look how you interview them, the questions asked.

•          Matrix – How we categorize the experience could be subjective as well.

•       Overall, people’s ideas and opinions are subjective, hence different.

 

I honestly enjoyed the readings for lecture 3, from the definitions and arguments for the use of "Personas" ; the hypothetical archetypes that are defined by goals and identified by daily behavioral patterns.

In Paul Aumer-Ryan's Understanding Emotional Design, it talked about how most designs aren't geared towards the primary goal of hedonism, which is the pursuit of pleasure and gratification. Instead most designs are idyllic, effective for all users and this does not apply to everyone as everyone is different and in the readings it mainly referred to influences of a cultural context. Culture aside, people in a homogenous community can be very different and individualistic from one another anyway. Everyone is different ans unique in their own way.

This is why in Alison J. Head's article - "Personas: Setting the Stage for Building Usable Information Sites", research data used for their interface design was not based on the usual marketing segmentation of demographics and pscyhographics. Knowing one's audience is of primary importance in emotional design, but basing it on values and stats of a collective group of people may just not be specific enough to design something that gives great user experience. The article argues that greater success in designing an interface in this case, was to meet the goals of one specific person.

At first, I found myself thinking that it was kind of silly to make a product just based on one person's opinion. How is that reflective of the entire potential user in the target audience? Perhaps all the concepts I learned about market segmentation from marketing and advertising class had been well ingrained in me.

After reading more about it in the article "An introduction to Personas and how to create them", it did make sense to use 1 specific person in mind. Market segmentation indeed does not provide insights into how needs are met in the product and how best to design it. Instead, I felt that using Personas was an advanced adaptation of the market segmentation concept.  By using ethnographic research to pull together and combine similar user needs, expectations and goals, they can put all these together and form one person to represent that "targeted audience"  This way,  it also made sense to use the Persona as a checklist for ensuring that whatever goes into the design, a goal and the user's needs are met and the product specifications are more precise.

Breaking down the Personas into the Four pleasure analysis made it look like the usual market  segmentation, only it was more precise and would help better understand different aspects of the user and ensure that the persons needs and appreciation pleasure are met in the product. Physio, Socio, Pschyo and Ideo Pleasure are very similar to the usual market segmentation, only more specific, detailed, personal & real. This is a great way to base one's product design on, as by meeting the 4 pleasures, needed and appreciated, it creates a product that has all the specifications met and has been tailored specifically according to a real and definite source, who is ultimately the user.

Putting this to use in the 2nd assignment was a challenge, yet fun and interesting at the same time. I had to constantly remind myself that I was writing about an individual, a person, like a character out of a book. I had to make sure that her different traits, likes and personalities added up, sounded convincing and not too perfect or unbelievable. My story had to sound like someone who could really exists in the real world and a target audience of whatever brand/product.

I think that this concept of Personas & Four Pleasures Analysis can be brought into advertising and marketing as well.  Marketing and Branding can enhance the User Design Experience, by creating perceptions of a product along with its good design based on the those concepts. This shift from market segmentation to personas and the four pleasure analysis could be the future for marketing, branding & product design, all to to create user design experience.