Course Overview
This course has challenged me to view UX in whole new way, how it is more than the funcitonality of a product, but the all-encompassing affects on the user ranging from the design, content, and details. I have developed strong research skills through designing research plans, conducting user testing, and understanding motivations through observations. I also developed a strong appreciation for a quality design system, which I've learned is an essential tool for design iteration and product development.
The course was organized by the topics: Understanding Users, Preparing Prototypes, and Capturing Data. I learned of research ethics, inclusive design, accesibility, content design, and research techniques. The final project, The User Experience Research Plan (UX-RP), acts as a manual to guide my future UX testing, which I will implement during JRMC 7015. I am pleased with the testing process developed and I am excited to collect data and analyze the results. I also earned my Google Analytics 4 Certification, which will prepare me well for analyzing product marketing and usability in the future.
I particulary enjoyed reading from Don Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things". It is a notable book in the UX/UI design field for a good reason. Specifically, the chapter, "Fundamental Principles of Interaction" shifted my perspective from designing a product for a purpose to designing for an impact. As Maya Angelou said, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." This applies to technial applications as well. The interaction a user has with a product determines how they remember the it.
Check out my projects!
User Research Project
The User Research Project was the first step in the Emerging Media Masters Capstone journey. My partner and I conducted 3 interviews with people who fell into our target audience. Along with the interviews, a survey was carefully crafted and sent out to several people. After collecting this data from the interviews and surveys, we created two personas that represented the majority of the target audience. I individually defined our research goals, analyzed the data collected, and designed two personas from the target groups. We used Google Forms to conduct the surveys, Zoom for the interviews, and Canva for the presentation.
Througout this process, I learned the importance of a structured approach in order to minimize bias and errors, as well as how to accept unanticipated results. From our research, we ultimtely decided that there was not enough interest in our plans to become successful. However harsh an outcome may seem, the data never (usually) lies. It's important to emphasize with people and understand their perspective to best serve their expereince. A full video presentation of the process and results is linked below.
Project Links
User Research Presentation Video
User Experience Research Plan
From previous user testing experinces in this class, I developed a strong sense of efficiency and depth for research. I learned that how you word, order, and present questions and tasks will have an effect on the user's response. With this project, I thoughtfully created a user researh plan with my capstone partner for our capstone project. We included metrics for measuring user testing, the methodology, pre and post survey questions, tasks, and analysis components to guide our data interpretation.The UX-RP has been one of the most valuable projects I've worked on this semester.
This project has expanded my perspective on user testing and how it's developed. This plan will guide my capstone project's development in JRMC 7015. I anticipate that recruiting a representative sample for our testing will prove most challenging. We are mitigating this by networking early to form connections to Athens artists and others. This project has served me well to understand the framework of user testing and user research, as well as the tools needed to develop a successful plan.
Project Links
Mini Merge: Beta & UX-RP Presentation Video
Design System Project
Designed for my Emerging Media Capstone Project, my partner and I built a design system to manage our designs at a scale using reusable components and patterns. This document includes standards to typography, logos, the color palette, imagery, UI components, and a pattern library. We used Adobe Illustrator for logos and components, and Canva to strategically and aesthetically compile all of these elements.
Ideating all of the parts was a huge step to take and landing on the right logo, tagline, and color palette was a challenge. The most difficult stage was crafting the components of the site when we weren't fully aware of what would be needed to best support the target users. I learned how valuable consistency in design is when applied to products for user comprehension and product functionality.
Project Links:
Design System Presentation Video
