Lesson 9 (Design - Stage 1)

In this lesson, we will be learning the 1st stage of Design. This involves Information Design/Architecture (information visualization). IA is a term used to describe the organization of information, the content, functionality, navigation and usability of a website.

There are a few methods to define this structure’s content; “Persona Design & Scenario Development”, “Ethnographic Research”, and “Card Sorting”. The latter is a technique that explores how the users group items, so helps the developers to develop structures that are more logical & meaningful to users.

Besides that, the difference between “User experience goals” and “Objective usability goals”, is that, “User experience goals” are concerned with how users experience an interactive product from their perspective, while the latter one is more of assessing how useful or productive a system is from its own perspective.

After going through today’s lesson, we were then asked to present on our last week assignment, “User Research”.

Lesson 8 (User Research)

In this lesson, we are introduced to know the user, and ways to know or understand the users better. First, we will have to define the design problem. A design problem can be summarized as follows in the lecture slides. “Have no definitive formulation of the problem”, “Formulations of problem are solution dependent”, “Proposing solution is a means of understanding the problem”, and “There is no definitive solution to the problem”. In short, a good design statement results in a good solution, because solution is part of the problem.

Next, we will have to define the targeted users; by creating user profile – List of user characteristics, and creating personas – Narrative of user characteristics. It will be better or more effective to create a product or design targeted to a specific group of users than to create for general users, as “A compromise design pleases no one”.

Moreover, when designing/creating personas, we must keep in mind the cultural & social factors involved in categorizing the users and developing personas.

After the lesson deliverables, we are required to present our “Need Analysis”, which we have done. “Need Analysis” includes what and why we are creating this product, what are users’ wants, needs and expectations, and what are our brand and business objectives.

For my group, we have decided to focus on an online local food portal. The reason is that there will be people trying to search for cheap & good local delights. This portal enables them to find what others people feel about some food stalls that they had been to, and to give some feedbacks after visiting. This portal is also a user-generated portal. Besides introducing the stalls, there are also specific road directions to get to their desired stalls. We were also thinking of incorporating delivery services for the busy people whom they have the time to go to the stall or to spend time queuing up for food.

The most important feedback we get is that, we will have to brainstorm of how does the revenue of maintaining this portal comes about and how different or unique our portal is from the others, so as to attract consumers. These are the two main immediate factors that we will have to consider and to make the appropriate decisions.

Lesson 7 (Designing For UX)

In this lesson, the main points for this lesson are the “product value” of designing for UX, what is “Simplified UX Model”?

For the 1st point, it consists of 4 main points. They are “Perceived usefulness” – functionality, “Perceived ease of use” – usability, “Perceived hedonic quality” – pleasure/fun, and “Perceived visual attractiveness” – aesthetics.

“Simplified UX Model” consists of “User Values” & “Organizational Values”. “User Values” includes hedonic quality, usability, and functionality of a product, while “Organizational Values” includes marketing, branding, business communication, and everyday operations. All evolve around “Human-Computer Interaction”.

Besides that, interactive products are considered as interfaces or touch-points between user/customer and organization/company. There are 2 main factors to take note – Experiences cannot be created, they are constructed by the user and perception of each user’s experience is very subjective. This means that we have to know the targeted consumers so that the products will be sold well, and the brand will be established.

Last but not least, we were told to present our ideas for the final project, which is to come out with an interactive application that targets the needs of specific consumers. My group comes up with 2 ideas; a web-based interactive learning experience of the importance of computer security, and a web-based brochure that introduces our school (NUS). In another words, it means to come out with a more interactive website for everyone. The feedback will get from the lecturer is to have the “needs” of our targeted consumers, then to come out with the product. It is this “needs” that is the most crucial part of this project. Thus, we will have to brainstorm or know our “focused needs”.

Lesson 6 (Lessons From Brand Management)

This lesson is a very special one. It is an online lecture, where students & lecturer contact through online interfaces, like forum. In another words, this means no school today.

This lesson will be delivered through a set of power-point slides that is incorporated with the voice explanation. The deliverables are; what exactly is a brand, the 5 disciplines of branding, and brand & design. All revolve how to create a popular brand and design so that it will attract consumers.
“Brand” is not a logo, not an identity, and not a product. It is a person’s GUT feeling about a product, service, or organization. If there are enough people arriving at the same GUT feeling, a company is said to have a brand. A famous brand requires one key factor, Trust. “Trust” = “Reliability + Delight”.

The 5 disciplines of branding are, “Differentiate”, “Collaborate”, “Innovate”, “Validate”, and “Cultivate”. “Differentiate” means to know its “focus”, filtering out irrelevant information. “Collaborate” refers to the brand that best fits in its given space, “Survival of the FITTINGEST”. “Innovate” is a design, not a strategy, that ignites passion in people. “Validate” means to have feedback from research groups or the targeted consumers, so as to design products that best suit their needs. While “Cultivate”, I think it’s the experience of people and then they tell others. It’s a never-ending process of a living brand.

As for brand and design, I personally feel that it should satisfy the most needs of the customers, so that this will drive positive feedbacks from the customers, where in turn, will result in good brand loyalty for the products. This in turn will attract more customers.

Assignment 3 (Learning Experinces In Lecture Theaters)

In this assignment, we will have to conduct an “on-site” survey or analysis on the learning experience of the students & lecturers in lecture theaters. It’s some sort of an open-ended problem where there could be no solution or if there is, the solutions could be technological or cultural. This means that we will have to attend a lecture that is to be held in a lecture theater, to do our analysis.

Usually, we will have to upload our analysis onto our blog, so that we will present it on the next lesson. But it’s different this time round. This is due to the “E-learning week” that will be carried out next week. “E-learning week” means that all students & lecturers will not meet face to face for lectures & tutorials, instead communicate through online facilities and forum. As a result, for this assignment, we will present our analysis using PowerPoint slides and then upload it to the module’s work bin, where the students & lecturers will be able to download and share with one another. Any questions should be posted on the online forum for discussions and clarification.

Thus, I have attached screenshots or picture files of it in this issue. Please feel free to look through it & I really appreciate everyone’s comments. If anyone wants a detailed explanation, please leave a message by posting comments. Thanks. =)