Sunday, March 25, 2018

Kent State UXD Program- Interaction Design Journaling Week 2

My wife and I were watching the fascinating PBS special on how good the National Weather Service is able to predict the weather due the massive amount of data they collect and the use of different algorithms.  I know, it doesn't seem like are sometimes very good at it but given the number of changes that happen over hours it is pretty clear it is not easy to predict something that is constantly changing.  The takeaway I did come away with the importance of starting with a good point of origin.  Statistically, they found that when certain points of data were collected incorrectly at their origin it had a massive effect on their algorithms ability to predict the weather.  In User Experience Design, sometimes it can be an awful experience when there is not enough meaning to start your path.  It is true that some designs leave people lost as they navigate a digital experience but often those designs at least start off well.  But the most frustrating experiences for me have been when web sites or mobile applications didn't do enough to show me where to get started.  When that happens you are likely to think how good can this experience be if this organization can't get that right.  The result was often me never coming back or deleting the App.  I would also add that even when designs are done well, its important to keep learning from your users to understand if your main screen should evolve past its original design into something else.  This means understanding not just their digital habits through site metrics but also general trends in spending and other external metrics. 

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Kent State UXD Program- Interaction Design Journaling Week 1


In this week's class I agree with some of the content I watched from a Lynda course on Scenarios and Storyboards.  I liked the part where the instructor said you need to run through scenarios before you start proto-typing.  My only comment is that I didn't see specific mentions of how to build accurate personas.  I know from reading a lot of case studies many times the designer has to experience the pain of who they designing for first hand to truly appreciate the specific situation.  I know that is a slippery slope because you could have lots of customer experiences but its certainly worth a designer trying to place themselves in their customer's shoes by actually doing and experiencing the pain.