Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Reflections

Reflections on article - User Research Smoke & Mirrors

The article argues that science and research do not have a proper place alongside design and the design process. In fact, the author thinks that business place too much importance on user research, data, numbers, and scientific facts. Not only does it add extra cost, but it loses focus and the importance on the actual designing.

The author is obviously taking an extreme approach in the matter to get across his point. He however, does make a strong case and backs it up with some extremely relevant scenarios. Some forms of research are definitely taking things to the next level, such as in the case of the eyetracking study. If you need to use/pay for this method in order to figure out why your design went horribly wrong, you probably don’t have a very good design team in the first place. And instead of wasting time and money analyzing where on the webpage people are directing most of their attention to, just having someone with a decent design understand look at your website, they could probably identify the numerous problems without any tools or instruments.

I disagree with the author’s take on research methods. Although the author does imply that research is useful, he states that it is only when it comes to the breaking red tape and overcoming company politics. Research is definitely a good foundation for design. It should not in any case replace the elements of design, but it helps create a good backbone. Without researching about a problem/need, you will never know if your product will be successful. You may have the best design and even create a need for the problem. However if you know beforehand that there doesn’t not seem much interest in the application you attempting to design then that research is a savior and can save a lot of time and grief. In the end of the article, the author does cave in and suggests the added value to design when using “less-rigorous methodologies” and research techniques such as – card sorting, focus groups, usability testing, and personas.

The end of the article, the author stated something that opened my eyes:

A user can miss everything you put in his path, and call you on it, and the user is never wrong, even if there is nothing more you could have done to help him understand. The user is never wrong because experience is experience, not fact.

In the end of the day, whatever you are design, whatever you are trying to create a wonderful user experience for, you are doing it for the user. No matter how much money you have invested in a design team, or the lengths to which you go using science and research as tools to help the design process. It is that end user, each and every one of them, which will tell you if you have succeeded in the design. There is no set formula that will get you the outcome you are looking for, however I believe you can not totally ignore the science or research element, as it will help create a stepping stool to find the perfect design.

Reflections on module - NM4210 – User Experience Design

It’s not just about having a good design anymore. Designers are focused on creating a user experience not just something that looks cool. By creating an experience that arouses the senses of the user, you have not only made a successful product, but you have altered the user’s way of thinking. The user will now always look at any product of the same brand and think of the amazing experience they had once with the original product. As mentioned so many times in class with Apple, they created a brand identity with the user experience of the iPod. Now without even having physically touched or seen with my own eyes, I know I want to buy an iPhone.

Coming from an engineering background, I was really bored and uninterested with the level of technical detail involved with the projects and assignments. I knew I wanted to gain some exposure to world of design and unleash some creative juices. Through this module I was able to learn the theory and methodologies surrounding design – emotional probes, ethnographic studies, laddering, four pleasure analysis, reverse market, card sorting, and heuristic evaluations just a few of the ones. Although there are so many different approaches or tools for design they are mainly used as aids, the main point stressed is that there is no set way to determining the perfect design experience. The user is the one who decides, they are god which you must please.

The blog assignments were a useful tool to exemplify how users think and act, in a way to help make the design process easier. Pleasure with products assignments, we broke down the affect of a product in terms of visceral, behavioral and reflective, seeing that products almost never are able to cross over all 3 realms. In the four pleasure analysis assignment, we were able to examine how designs can appeal to users at different levels – physiologically, psychologically, sociologically, and ideologically. In the hell assignment (improving lecture theatres) we utilized ethnographic studies to observe how users interact with a product. This assignment was difficult to pinpoint or gauge user’s reactions just through observation. One user’s viewpoint could be totally different from another’s, so it was hard to come up with one solution to satisfy the masses. The final project consolidated use of all the different methodologies we learned. The project was a lot more difficult than anticipated, having to consult the user at almost every stage. Although, when producing the end product, it is understandable why the user is needed at all stages, to ensure that you do not go off course with the design. Brainstorming and designing within out group was fine, but a lot of times we missed small and simple things which we later had to integrate after a session of user testing.

In the end, I believe this module did a successful job in illustrating the techniques needed to build great user experience. It is not easy to do as there is not set method to follow, or formula to calculate. Every user is different, and to try and create a product that appeals to everyone is the key to unlocking the power of user experience design.

No comments: