APPLICATION DESIGN 1 // PROJECT 1

November 26, 2022

APPLICATION DESIGN 1 // PROJECT 1

3 places to find app design inspiration

29th August 2022 - 19st September 2022 (Week 1- Week 4)

Ang Shin Er / 0355231

Bachelor Of Design (Hons) In Creative Media / Taylor's University

Application Design 1 // Project 1

LECTURES

Week 2 | UI vs UX : What are the difference?

UX Designer would say that that button should physically press down when you click it.

UX Designers focus on the structure and layout of content, navigation and how users interact with them.
The types of deliverables they produce include site- maps, user flows, prototypes and wireframes, which are more focussed on the underlying structure and purpose of the software.
The visual appearance does impact on these, but can be created as a separate layer that is applied over the top.

UI would be a series of buttons and how they look

Focus on the way the functionality is displayed and the fine detail of how users interact with the interface.
They produce the visual comps and functioning front-end code.
This is very much about polished final production quality outputs.

| Designing for the USER

Successful user interface design improves product. In fact, in some ways the UI is the product, according to Jakob Nielsen, User Advocate and Principal of the Nielsen Norman Group
“If people can’t use a product, it might as well not exist,”
This concept is especially true in a world where every marketplace-from books to electronics-is highly competitive

| Common Characteristics

There are a couple of standards that identify effective design across the board (regardless of
media or discipline)
First consideration is determining who the user is
The design must be as broad or narrow as necessary to accommodate the intended user
There is no recipe that’s going to make your design appropriate for all applications and users
“There’s no such thing as good design,”- Nielsen
What to do? Listen to your users and observe them interacting with your design
Think ahead of who will actually be using your product and go from there
Graphic designers have been reared on a variety of formulaic methods and approaches for
successful design.
It helps to think of any designed piece as an interface, be it a book, shampoo bottle, retail store, or Web site
In order to make a connection with the user, the design’s interface must achieve its mission communicating information through the printed word, dispensing a product, projecting and
image or creating a space that’s easy to navigate
Changing the focus from the designer’s aesthetic to the user’s need allows the product to be designed in a way that helps the user succeed
From here, the aesthetic considerations can follow

| Golden Rules of Interface Design

Interface expert Nielsen identifies five usability attributes designers should heed when creating a design interface, no matter what their medium:

Ease of Learning
Efficiency of Use
Memorability
Minimize Errors
Satisfy the User

Do’s and Don’ts of UI | Design - Strong Logo Position

Don’t use radio button, instead use card | Use card instead of Radio button

Defining Project Goal

What do you want to achieve
What is your desirable outcome

Why?

What needs to be solved?

Input real user data

Where?

Type of OS (Ios, android, desktop etc)

Input real user data

When?

Draft your timeline

Who?

Who are experiencing the pain points

Success Metrics

State your Key Performance Index (KPI)

Week 3 | Introduction To User Experience Research

Apps Project Flow

Introduction To User - Experience Research

According to Design Modo, UX research is “the process of understanding user behaviors, needs, and

attitudes using different observation and feedback collection methods.”One of the other benefits of user experience research is that it helps us understand how people live their lives so we can respond to their needs with informed design solutions.

User Experience Research: The Amateur V. The Professional

Amateur UX designer-excluding end users from the design process.

Replacing the act of speaking with users—never a good idea.

Professional approach-to start the design process by listening to the end user.

Overall, UX research helps us avoid our biases since we are required to design solutions for people who are not like us.

Experience Research

“Insights that are received directly from user experience research are like muscle memory; the more you do research, the more insights you build up. But just like muscle memory, YOU have to be a part of the hard work in order to enjoy the lasting benefits of it that are specific to you. While it may be tempting to outsource research to a specialized team (and sometimes you can’t avoid it), you should try your utmost best to engage in at least a little bit of the research so that the insights grow under your skin instead of being handed to you from someone else who has sweated it.”

The 5 Steps Of User | Experience Research

Objectives - Hypotheses - Methods - Conduct - Synthesise

The Role Of Research In The User Experience Design Process

UX research is the starting point for a project. Research helps us learn about the users and their behavior, goals, motivations, and needs.
It also shows us how they currently navigate a system, where they have problems and, most
importantly, how they feel when interacting with our product.
UX research comes first in the UX design process because without it, our work can only
be based on our own experiences and assumptions, which is not objective.
As Neil Turner, founder of UX for the Masses told us, a good foundation is key to successful
design: “Good user research is key to designing a great user experience. Designing without good user research is like building a house without solid foundations—your design will soon start to crumble and eventually fall apart.”

The Value of User | Experience Research

In the current digital product landscape, the real value of UX research is its ability to reduce uncertainty in terms of what users want and need , which yields benefits for the product, the business,

and the users themselves.

Product Benefits

UX research provides data about the end user of the product, how and when the user will use the product, and the main problems the product will solve. UX research is also helpful when a team has to decide between multiple design solutions.

Business Benefits

UX research brings a lot of a value to businesses. By knowing the end users and incorporating design requirements upfront, businesses can speed up the product development process, eliminate redesign costs, and increase user satisfaction.

User Benefits

One of the greatest values of user experience research is that it’s unbiased user feedback. Simply put, UX research speaks the user’s thoughts—without any influence from outside authority. It also serves as a bridge between users and the company.

Experience Research

Usability Testing

Interviews

Online Surveys

User Personas

User Experience Research Methods: Usability Testing

According to the usability.gov website, usability testing refers to “evaluating a product or service by
testing it with representative users.”
During a test, participants will be asked to complete specific tasks while one or more observers watch,
listen, and record notes.
The main goal of this user experience testing method is to identify usability problems, collect qualitative data, and determine participants’ overall satisfaction with the product.

Why Do We Perform Usability Testing?

Helps identify problems before they are coded.
Reveals how satisfied users are with the product, as well as what changes are
required to improve user satisfaction and performance.
Usability testing is not 100% representative of the real life scenario in which a user will engage with your product
Doesn’t provide the large samples of feedback a questionnaire might.
Qualitative feedback you receive can be far more accurate and insightful.

How to Conduct UX Research with Usability Testing :

1. Identify what needs to be tested and why (e.g. a new product,

feature, etc.)

2. Identify the target audience (or your desired customers).

3. Create a list of tasks for the participants to work through.

4. Recruit the right participants for the test.

5. Involve the right stakeholders.

6. Apply what you learn.

User Experience Research | Interviews

Hire a skilled interviewer. A skilled interviewer asks questions in a neutral manner, listens well, makes users feel comfortable, and knows when and how to probe for more details.
Create a discussion guide. Write up a discussion guide (or an interview protocol) for all interviewers to follow. This guide should include questions and follow-up questions.
Get informed consent. Before conducting the interview, make sure to get permission or consent to record the session. It’s also good to have one or two note takers on hand.

How To Conduct User Experience Research With Interviews

1. Prepare a discussion guide, or a list of questions to ask participants.

2. Select a recording method (e.g. written notes, tape recorder, video).

3. Conduct at least one trial run of the interview.

4. Recruit the right participants for the interview.

5. Conduct the interview.

6. Analyze and report the results.

User Experience Research Methods | Online Surveys

A survey is a research tool that typically includes a set of questions used to find out the preferences,

attitudes, and opinions of your users on a given topic.

Data collected from surveys is received automatically, and the survey tool selected generally provides some level of analysis, the data from which can then be used for user experience studies further down the line to inform your product.

Why Do We Conduct Online Surveys?

Unlike traditional surveys, online surveys enable companies to quickly collect data from a broad (and sometimes remote) audience for free—or a low price.

Poorly worded questions can negatively influence how users respond.

Length can also be an issue—many people hate taking long surveys. This is why it’s important to create short surveys so users are more likely to complete them and participate in future research efforts.

How To Conduct User Experience Research With Online Surveys

1. Identify goals and objectives of the survey.

2. Create survey questions.

Note: Consider collecting information about how satisfied users are with your product, what

users like/dislike, and if they have suggestions for improvement.

3. Select an online survey tool (e.g. SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics).

4. Recruit participants.

5. Conduct the survey.

6. Analyze and report the results.

User Experience Research Methods | User Personas

A user persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. A persona is generally based on

user research and includes the needs, goals, and observed behavior patterns of your target

audience.

Why Do We Create User Personas?

Whether you’re developing a smartphone app or a mobile- responsive website, any user experience research job will require you to understand who will be using the product. Knowing your audience will help influence the features and design elements you choose, thus making your product more useful. A persona clarifies who is in your target audience by answering the following questions:

• Who is my ideal customer?

• What are the current behavior patterns of my users?

• What are the needs and goals of my users?

User Experience Research Methods | User Personas

Understanding the needs of your users is vital to developing a successful product. Well-defined personas

will enable you to efficiently identify and communicate user needs. Personas will also help you describe the individuals who use your product, which is essential to your overall value proposition.

Creating personas can be expensive—it all depends on how deep into user research your organization is willing to go. There is also no real “scientific logic” behind persona building, which makes some people a little more hesitant to accept them.

Best Practices

Create a well-defined user persona. A great persona contains four key pieces of information: header, demographic profile, end goal(s), scenario.
Keep personas brief. As a rule of thumb, avoid adding extra details that cannot be used to influence the design. If it does not affect the final design or help make any decisions easier
Make personas specific and realistic. Avoid exaggerated caricatures, and include enough detail to help you find real-life representation.

How To Conduct User Experience Research By Creating Personas

Discuss and identify who your target users are with stakeholders (e.g. ux team, marketing team, product manager).
Survey and/or interview real users to get their demographicinformation, pain points, and preferences.
Condense the research, and look for themes to define your groups.
Organize your groups into personas.
Test your personas.

Next Steps: Which User Experience Research Method Should You Use?

Now that you know more about the various user experience research methods, which one do you

choose? Well, it all depends on your overall research goals.

Behavioral vs Attitudinal Research

As mentioned before, there is a big difference between “what people do” versus “what people say.” Attitudinal research is used to understand or measure attitudes and beliefs, whereas behavioral research is used to measure behaviors. For example, usability testing is a behavioral user research method that focuses on action and performance. By contrast, user research methods like user groups, interviews, and persona creation focus on how people think about a product.

Qualitative v. Quantitative Research

Qualitative research methods (e.g. usability testing, user groups, interviews) are better for answering questions about why or how to fix a problem, whereas quantitative methods (e.g. online surveys) are great for answering questions about how many and how much.

| UI Documentation

Presented to stakeholders to explore the product and understand the context behind usability testing and design concepts.
Documentation
Handover : Engineer, Developer, Video Prototype
Summarize your UX documentation and include the project’s goals, objectives, and vision. Allows every stakeholder to read about the UX design process and how the product has evolved.

INSTRUCTION

PROJECT 1: MOBILE APPLICATION PROPOSAL

Look on some applications that we think the UI UX is bad.
Decide whether we want to design android or apple applications.

Students are required to create proposal documentation for their mobile application project. You are required to redesign an existing app that you find unsatisfactory in terms of the user experience or interface design and its subject to preliminary approval by the module coordinator. Students need to do surveys, interviews, market studies, and research on the selected topic.

Since I am a student who stay far away from hometown, As a tenant, I know what is the important for renting a room/ unit. So I decided to choose a renting apps, ROOMHUB.