dreamie's UX Experience Lounge

Reflections On NM4210

2008-04-24T18:47:00.001+08:00

Time really flies. In just a blink or so, we have reached the end of this semester. I still remember clearly the 1st lesson that I had. “What is User Experience Design?” Before that, I only think that user experience design is just to design certain application or products according to the needs of the customers. But after attending this module, this turn out to be entirely different from what I think it is. It is more than satisfying the needs of the customers.

The main focus is actually on the users whom will be using the system, rather than to cater for the customers’ requirements. What the customers think the users need might not turn out to be the exact needs of the users. Involving the targeted users in the process of the design is a better way out. “A good design doesn’t mean that the users will also have good experience when using it.”

“Good experience” is always tied down with “Emotion”. The latter means that one’s experience of a product is always based on his/her emotions when using the product. I feel that this is very true as, for example, a product can be very appealing in appearance but there are times when it does not serve its primary uses; “Appearance VS Functionality”. Thus, there is a need to seek for a good balance between the two so as to achieve the “Maximum” experience for the users. This really enlightened me that having an outstanding and appealing appearance, is not the main vital requirement of designing a product. Maximum experience for the users should be the top priority instead.

Next, I’m introduced to the 4 different types of “Pleasure” which will incur when interacting with the product or application. Wow! Even there are so many types of “Pleasure” that can exist; “Physio-pleasure”, “Socio-pleasure”, “Psycho-pleasure”, and “Ideo-pleasure”. It is really a great exposure for me. Designing a “user-based” product is such an “authentic skill”. This requires time and experience before one is able to come out with a satisfied product.

Besides that, product marketing and branding are also important factors that will influence users’ perceptive of choosing and using the product. It is now then I realized why most people will tend to prefer iPod to Creative players. It is the aesthetics and the branding of the product that made it so successful. People will tend to buy products of a particular brand despite of its high cost, when compared to the other brands that also provides the same specifications. This is also true for me; I prefer to buy Japanese Pop music CD from Japan, to buying it locally, as I believe that the aesthetics and the marketing strategies and the sound quality from Japan attracts me more. It is the “TRUST” of the brand that made one feel confident to buy its product.

Last but not least, I really feel that I have picked a lot of skills. Like looking and choosing products not only based on its aesthetics or specifications alone, it will be better to seek a balance or incorporated the two in a product. Marketing strategies and branding are as equally important as functionalities and experiences that a person will acquire throughout the process of interactions. I feel that this really helps me in designing any products or web applications in the near future. I feel that this is a must module to take up if one wants to know more about designing, in regards of any fields, as these concepts will come into handy somehow. I do enjoy the learning process throughout this course.

I would like to thank everyone for making such a nice “learning experience” for me. All the best! =)

Reflections (User Research Smoke & Mirrors)

2008-04-24T18:43:00.001+08:00

After going through the article, “Smoke & Mirrors”, I think I have a better understanding how certain company, like design firms, works. Most of the concepts discussed in this article, has already been covered in this module, thus, I am able to have a better or clear understanding of the concepts being discussed.

There are certain viewpoints that I feel are quite true in nature. For example, it is stated that many web designers & consultancies tried to make “scientific” user research, but in actual fact, many tend to pretend that they did use some of the research method. I feel that this is quite a relevant point as I have personally encountered it before when I was working part-time in a company. Although the company did conduct some research, there are times when they pretend that they did do some marketing research, where actually not.

Besides that, I agree that it is very hard to keep a balance between “Design & Science”. Misinterpretations of research data for the “Design”, if one interpret according in the “Science” context. Thus, one can’t map research directly to design as design is usually an emergent activity in nature. Misinterpretations can be avoided if the research data us interpreted by people with the appropriate skills in that area of field; design skills in this context.

Another point that I agree with is that, even if a designer is able to have good suggestions for the design, he/she must be able to gain the support or trust from the superiors/boss to acknowledge his/her expertise. If this is achieved, then the designer must be able to explain the user interface design strategy to stakeholders, peers, and bosses effectively, so that the strategy or plans could be carried out efficiently.

Last but not least, although expertise of a designer is required, and the cooperation with the boss or superiors is essential, the contributing factor is still the research upon the customer or users’ experiences.

Although the viewpoints discussed are well supported with relevant evidences or examples, I personally feel that some of them are only true to a certain extent or to very specific situations.

To sum up, I personally feel that there is a need to conduct user experience research, either in terms of “scientific” or in “design” concepts. There should exist a trust among the developers and the users; such as the report should only reflect those research methods being conducted. And like any other areas of jobs, the developers or designers should be an expertise in his/her field, so as to portray “professionalism” and to feel proud of what he/she has developed. Maybe someone may think that I am out of mind or my views are too unrealistic, but I personally feel that everyone should take pride in their work. This way, we will be able to build trust among our colleagues or even a strong bond with the customers.

Final Project (Summary)

2008-04-24T18:29:00.002+08:00

“GITA” – Graduate-In-Time-Application, is the proposed prototype for my team’s final project entry. It’s a system that enables students to do upfront planning of their roadmap of the modules that they want to take throughout their life in school, so that they will be able to graduate on time.

As such, this system is most appropriate to be linked to the school’s database so that the retrieval of all the modules information will be the most updated. The targeted users are definitely the students, but the school administrators are also part of the users. This is true as they will be able to forecast or foresee the “popularity” of a particular module in a semester, so that all the hassle of approving appeals of modules will be minimized.

We believed that this all-in-one application for students and administrative staffs will be essential in helping them to handle everything that is related to students’ path to graduation.

The key element of this application is the module planner, or roadmap, to aid students to plan their modules preferences, in order to graduate in time with the least administrative hassles. Moreover, this application will encourage students to plan out their modules upfront, so as to avoid frantic bidding during bidding periods if there are any last minute changes, which will in turn result in desperate appeals to faculty administrations. Goal setting of CAP scores for each semester will enable to system to estimate the grades for each module in order to meet their targeted goal.

Administrative staffs will also benefit from it. There will be better communication between students and them, and there will be reduction in repetitive and mundane requests pertaining to graduation and the necessary requirements. The staff will then be able to have a better awareness of the modules’ demands by students, and so able to make all the necessary arrangements to avoid unexpected circumstances.

The details of the “User requirements” are as such. First, to keep track of each student’s graduation requirements, the modules taken and the grades attained for each, easy access of each module’s information (i.e. workload, schedule), the pre-requisites requirements of certain modules and modules preclusion. It will be an effective and interactive application that allows the students to plan and save their personalized roadmap. This in turn will inform administration about the bidding intent for that particular semester.

“Functional Requirements” include verification of student’s ability to graduate on time; link with the school’s database will enable the students to know their progress at each stage/semester and the ability to store each student’s roadmaps for easy retrieval through the school’s network or database. The administrative staffs will also be able to gather and tabulate data/information based on students’ roadmaps for administrative purposes.

Next, we are expected to develop a low-fidelity prototype of our application and then to do “Heuristic & User Evaluations” on it. This is to enable the users and the experts in this area to do some quantitative testing on the system, so as to get some crucial and important feedback before developing the high-fidelity one.

To end with, I personally feel that I have learnt a lot through from developing this high-fidelity product/application. Besides learning all the concepts for constructing a product based on user experience as the core functionality, time management and developing low-fidelity prototype, etc, are also new and interesting concepts that I have taken with me from this module.

Lesson 12 (Evaluation)

2008-04-19T14:53:00.000+08:00

This is the last lesson for this module. Time really flies fast. =) In this last lesson, we are introduced to the concept of “UX Evaluation”. This involves the measurement of “Emotions”; “Pleasant & Unpleasant Emotions”. Moreover, there are also emotion variation – pleasantness and activation (Physiological). This is known as the “two-dimensions of emotion variation”.

There are also other methods of evaluation of UX. For example, “Experience diaries”, “Reaction checklist, Questionnaires”, “Field observations, Interviews”, etc.

“Experience diaries” is a method for recording a person’s activity, and his/her evaluation of this activity. This method allows the capturing of infrequent events in inaccessible places, like use of laptop during a journey. In short, it’s a record of a user’s lifestyle. “Reaction checklist” is a checklist of potential reactions that a person may have to a product. The reactions may include those in the 4 pleasure categories – “Physiological pleasure”, “Psychological pleasure”, “Sociological pleasure”, and “Ideological pleasure”.

Last but not least, it is the presentation of our high-fidelity prototype and heuristic evaluation and user evaluation. =)

Lesson 11 (Design - Looks)

2008-04-19T14:06:00.002+08:00

This lesson is on the “looks” of a product. In other words, it means the aesthetic (usability) effect of the product. This is one of the important element is design as it has significant implications regarding the acceptance, use, and performance of the design. This is true as people do judge books by its cover, so impression (entry point to a system) of a system greatly influences subsequent perceptions and attitudes, and even the quality of the quality of interactions.

Attractiveness bias also plays a major role, as there’s a tendency to see attractive people/elements as more intelligent, competent, moral, and sociable than unattractive ones, and they tend to receive more attention compared to the latter.

Next, we are introduced to “Berlyne’s model of aesthetics”. In short, this relays the message that people don’t enjoy products that are either too simple or too complicated; like those that are moderately familiar and will be averse to the novel and the over familiar. Besides that, there’s also a trade-off between flexibility and usability of a system. “Flexibility is inversely proportional to Usability”.

To enable users to have a perfect experience of using a product, there must be “perception management” (looks, function and feel), and to take care of the “touch points” (Product, packaging, brand, distribution, retail, office, support, media). This involves “Usability Testing”, which compromises of “Heuristic Evaluation”, and “User Evaluation”. The 1st component is performed by an expert in that particular field of the product, while the latter involves the interaction of the users and how they feel about the product.

Thus, this means that a high-fidelity prototype, and heuristic and user evaluations must be ready for next week final presentation.

Below is the interface of the low-fidelity prototype that we have developed.

Lesson 10 (Design - Stage 2)

2008-04-19T14:03:00.001+08:00

This is the 2nd part of “Design” lecture. In the previous lesson, we were taught on the different techniques on how to create “perception of pleasure”, and different methods to define structure of the content layout.
In this lesson, we are exposed to the 2nd stage of “Design” – Prototype. The 3 main key elements are, “Concepts”, “Interaction/Interface Design”, and “Sensorial Design (color, visual design, perception, visual thinking)”.

First, we have to know the concept of “UI” design, which compromises of “Usefulness”, “Effectiveness”, “Learnability”, “Satisfaction”. In short, this means to have an early focus on the users’ needs, allow them to involve at every stage of design decision and evaluation, so that there will be constant evaluation by the users on the initial prototypes and to make all the necessary amends.

Usually the initial prototypes are “low-fidelity” ones; which means that they are fast and cheap to be constructed, rather than “high-fidelity” ones that takes more time and resources, where the appearance is very close to the finished product.

The more common type of low-fidelity technique used is the “Paper Prototype”, where it is faster & cheaper to build, and able to get feedback from the users earlier. In this technique, the designers are able to concentrate more on the users’ needs & requirements. As such, the designers will be able to get constant feedbacks from the users, and to do the necessary amends immediately. This means that we have to come out with the concept generation, low-fidelity prototype, and the users’ evaluation (walkthrough of the prototype), for the next lesson’s presentation.

Last but not least, it’s the presentation of the last week’s assignment. Our group has changed our product and targeted users to students, whom are very concerned about their studies and to do upfront planning. Our product is to ease the students to do planning of roadmap for their modules throughout their studies in NUS. This means that the students or even the school administrators will be able to access the school’s modules and the administrators will be able to know the students’ preferences on certain modules on every semester without much hassle.

Our product name is GITA – “Graduate-In-Time-Application”.

Lesson 9 (Design - Stage 1)

2008-03-22T02:56:00.001+08:00

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)

2008-03-16T14:41:00.001+08:00

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)

2008-03-16T13:15:00.001+08:00

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)

2008-03-16T13:07:00.001+08:00

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)

2008-03-04T00:03:00.005+08:00

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. =)

Lesson 5 (Lesson From Marketing)

2008-02-18T22:44:00.001+08:00

Today’s lesson is on experience based on “Marketing” perspective. This involves events that occur in response to some sort of simulation (marketing efforts before & after purchase). It also involves direct observation and/or participation in events (real, virtual). Experiences are usually self-generated, not induced. In other words mean the marketing’s point of view of the product.

The key factor of it is “Value”. There are 2 types of values, objective value & subjective value. The first one is based on criteria such as availability, size, quantity, hours, etc; in turn decides the price one has to pay for the product or service. The latter one is more elusive; which means on the benefits the goods can provide (comfort, pleasure).

Next will be “Expectations”. This implies the “Give & Take” from the users where they “Give” the time, money & effort to buy the product; in return, they expect to “Take” back some rewards (Experience).

Moreover, we are also introduced to “22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” & the “4 Es of Perception” (Educate, Explore, Elevate, and Entertain).

Last but not least, we are given the final assignment (project); an interactive one that should have a purpose/goal.

Lesson 4 (Understanding User 2)

2008-02-17T02:54:00.001+08:00

Today is the 4th lesson for NM4210. After going through the previous lesson on RMA techniques, I realized that designing a product is a very “demanding” process. “User Experiences” is the most important factor of designing a product.
In this lesson, we are exposed to 2 more new concepts or approaches to Experience Design. First, it’s “Laddering”, which is a very popular marketing technique that has very powerful procedures for eliciting the values a person holds. It involves direct links between specific features of the product and aspects of pleasure of the user.

The other is, “Ethnography study”, where culture probe could be clubbed under ethnography. “Probe” is to capture signals & samples from places where human researchers cannot go. The final design proposals were inspired from and based on the data collected using the cultural probes. “Ethnography” is naturalistic, where its studies should be of real people & their activities, operating in their natural environment.

Besides that, we are also introduced to a framework for analyzing experience with technology, which consists of 4 intertwined threads of experience (Compositional, Emotional, Spatio-temporal, Sensual), and six sense-making processes (Interpreting, Reflecting, Appropriating, Recounting, Anticipating, Connecting).

Last but not least, we are given the next assignment, “Emotion Design Probe”, on improving learning experience in lecture theaters, which will be due 2 weeks later.

Assignment 2 (4 Pleasures Analysis)

2008-02-02T15:15:00.000+08:00

Into Sakura's World

Based on the RMA profile that we had developed during the classroom activity, we must now come out with a detailed version for the targeted user. Here is how the story goes…… “Into Sakura’s World”!

Sakura has just stepped into the age of 21 this year, which is a turning point or a new starting point in her life. Since young, she had been leaving in a beautiful island in Japan, Okinawa. It was only on her 12th birthday that she had come to live in Singapore due to her father’s commitment in work over here. This means that she had been living in Singapore for at least 9 years, so she is bilingual not only in Japanese and English, but also in Chinese.

Currently, she is working as a retail assistant in a toy shop, after graduating with a diploma in fashion design not long ago. She is a happy-go-lucky person who knows what she really wants; she wants to be in the entertainment line, if not, a successful fashion designer. But right now, she just wants to lead a lifestyle that gives her more exposure to the different fields of work.

Till now, she still finds no problems in her current job, in fact, she really enjoys it. This is partly due to her character. She is a very outgoing person, friendly & always full of confidence & laughter. Maybe because of her small-size and “cute” looking features, she is always mistaken as a teenage student by the customers. At that same time, she can click very well with the children coming into the store. They always call her, “Big Sister”. Ha-ha! She is always devoted in anything she is doing; that’s the reason why she’s well-liked by her boss.

Besides working in the toy shop, she has a “side-line” job too. She has an online forum, selling & sharing cartoon & anime figurines and products. Since the age of 10, she had developed a liking to this hobby, after receiving a very attractive “Hello Kitty” keychain & teddy bear from her father as her birthday gift. From then on, she had started her collection. Till now, she has a collection of over 50 products, ranging from clothes to household furniture. Thus, it’s not surprise to see her room “decorated” with all the cartoons products, especially “Hello Kitty”, which is her favorite.

She likes to dress up in her favorite outfit to work or even when she goes shopping with her friends, but it is only in the latter situation that she will dress like what she used to when she was back in Japan. From the local people point of view is the “kawaii” (means cute in Japanese) type of dressing. This is also one of the reasons why she is well-liked by the children & attracts a lot of male customers to the shop at that same time. Ha-ha!

Besides having hooked online & shopping, she also likes to take photographs, even of herself, and upload to her blog to share with everyone; her blog had attracted more than 10,000 viewers. Wow! Her favorite camera is the one that she has just bought recently from Japan; with “Hello Kitty” design. Moreover, she is also into “Cosplay”, where she will dress up like any character from the anime. Her favorite is to dress-up like “Sailor-moon”.

4 Pleasure Analysis

Physio-pleasure

• At the moment, she is very pleased with the work she’s doing now, although she has a dream or goal to achieve in the later stages of her life.

• She is particular in the way she dresses on occasions. For example, she will have sets of guidelines on how to dress up on formal occasion; i.e. job. While she goes shopping with her friends, she has another set of guidelines. A person who is very concerned on her image. She knows when to be serious & when to be “crazy”. (Needs Pleasure)

• At the moment, she just wants to try to lead a care-free life if possible. (Appreciation Pleasure)

• She doesn’t show much concern to her diet as she is the type of person whom will not grow fat easily. The only work-out she has is only during her working hours in the retail shop and not to mention, shopping. (Appreciation Pleasure: in terms of keeping healthy by shopping)

Socio-pleasure

• Her hobbies, which are shopping & taking photographs to upload to her blog, are the more important ones as it is only then that she feels her presence when with her friends or through the responses in her blog. (Needs Pleasure)

• She likes to take photographs of herself & friends or even on her favorite products, and to share them with everyone or even to her friends in Japan. (Appreciation Pleasure)

• On the other hand, participating in “Cosplay” is just a way where she is able to experience a very different way of presenting herself. As “Cosplay” function is not held regularly in Singapore, thus it is just another form of relaxation for her. (Appreciation Pleasure)

Psycho-pleasure

• Her work as a retail sales assistant gives her a sense of belonging & recognition of her skills from the customers & her boss. This gives her a boost in her self-confidence level as this is her 1st job. (Needs Pleasure)

• At the same time, interaction with the customers gives her the opportunity to learn how to deal with all the customers. (Appreciation Pleasure)

• Her online shop & forum lays the foundation for her dreams; of opening a shop that sells these types of products; as she will be able to know how to manage her own shop & all the necessary responsibilities required. It also gives her sense of fulfillment (Needs Pleasure)

Ideo-pleasure

• Her long term goal is to enter the entertainment line, if not, as a fashion designer & boss of her own shop & brand. (Needs Pleasure)

• To share her experiences & happiness to the less fortunate children, who are unable to know how the cartoon products will look like; through her blog & photographs. (Appreciation Pleasure)

Her Ideal Hand-phone Specifications

I think her ideal hand-phone will look like something that is stylish & suit her image of “kawaii”. Size of the hand-phone is not key factor for hers. She’s a person who is not into the functions or enhanced features that a hand-phone can give her. Maybe one that enables her to view her blog or forum when she needs/wants it; can be through GPRS or WIFI. Moreover, it should be a one that can support Japanese text so that she is able to communicate with her friends in Japan when using SMS. A plus point will be one that comes with a good built-in camera. A plus point because, anyway, she will have her favorite camera (“Hello Kitty”) with her. He-he!

A recommended hand-phone would the “Hello Kitty OKWAP C150T. (http://www.intomobile.com/2007/10/26/its-another-hello-kitty-phone-hello-kitty-okwap-c150t.html)

I think this suits her well….. =)

Lesson 3: Reverse Marketing Analysis (RMA)

2008-01-30T18:04:00.000+08:00

It’s the 3rd lesson. Today’s lesson is on “Understanding User”. I think that RMA means to analysis a product based on the design, so as to able to portray the characteristics or profile of the potential user.

The focus is on 4 different types of “Pleasure” in UX design.

First, it’s “Physio-pleasure”. After going through this lesson, I personally feel that it’s about the immediate feedback of the user interacting with it, or his satisfaction on the product. Next, it’s “Socio-pleasure”, which I feel it means, the satisfaction or enjoyment the user gets that is very different to the rest of the people/users. Then, it’s “Psycho-pleasure” which will be the experience of accomplishing something well; example, able to pick-up certain skills fast. Last but not least, it’s “Ideo-pleasure”, where I feel that it’s about accomplishing something based on the initial ideas/goals that one has set at the beginning.

In order to prepare for the upcoming assignment, we were given a short classroom activity base on these concepts where we had to construct a target user’s profile based on the product that we had picked. We had lots of fun & laughter during the short presentations. Everyone was able to come up with very “fanciful” scenarios for their target user. For my group, we had picked a “Hello Kitty” camera. Ha-ha!

The upcoming assignment for us is to expand on the RMA profile that we had constructed in the classroom exercise. Then to come up with a hand phone design or specifications based on the RMA profile that will well suit the targeted user.

Last but not least, I would like to share something that I totally agree with the lecturer; that is to design something that cater well for a targeted user rather than come up with products for the generic. Because it’s hard to be certain that there will be someone out there who will purchase this generic product, but a customized product will definitely have 1 consumer.

Assignment 1 (Pleasure With Products)

2008-01-27T08:09:00.000+08:00

This is the 1st assignment for this module. In this assignment, we will have to find 3 examples of “visceral”, “behavioral”, and “reflective” design.

The most challenging part is to scale down to a particular product which can satisfy all 3 requirements. After days of brainstorming & searching, I have decided to focus only on products that I have used before. The reason is that I feel that only through physical interaction, then the experience that I wish to convey will be more sincere and real.

Finally, I have decided to focus on a daily product that everyone will be using; That is, wrist watches as I have quite a few that I feel can be categorized into these 3 sections. “Visceral” – A formal & stylish watch. “Behavioral” – A sporty & functional watch. “Reflective” – A unique, stylish, special and casual watch.

Watch *1: Casio Watch
(Sporty)

• Visceral Design?

 My 1st impression of this product is, very simple. The reason for choosing this watch is that it’s cheap; which costs only $15. Besides that, it serves its purpose during that time & till now as it had been through my National Service (NS) period, which is full of “challenging” encounters. It’s not much of “visceral” design as it is a very simple watch which will not attract anyone’s attention on the 1st look if one is looking for a watch.

• Behavioral Design?

 I feel that it serves its purpose as a very simple “sports” watch, with all the basic functions embedded in it.
• Illuminated Backlight
• Dual Time (Time for 2 countries)
• Stopwatch
• Alarm: (5 alarms to wake the lazy bum (me) up)
• 10-year battery life
• Water resistant up to 50 meters

 Thus, as a whole, I feel that this is a simple and yet a functional one.

• Reflective Design?

 One look at it, tells everyone that it’s a very simple watch for everyone. It doesn’t have any special features or unique in design. It’s just a watch used for sports. The most important thing is that it’s cheap. Ha-ha!

 A very simple & cheap watch for anyone who wants a cheap and yet functional sports watch.

Watch *2: Kenneth Cole Watch
(Formal & Stylish)

• Visceral Design?

 My 1st impression of this watch is that it looks like any other “chain” watch or formal watch. But after having a closer look, it turns out that it’s not only a “simple and normal” formal watch, it’s embedded with a stopwatch function.

• Behavioral Design?

 A watch that is not chosen for its functions. Moreover, it doesn’t have a backlight to enable one to know the time in dark places. The date & time shown is not specific as one is unable to know the exact date (date, month), and time (morning (AM) or afternoon (PM)).

 But, it comes with a stopwatch function; the top & bottom buttons.

• Reflective Design?

 A watch suitable for casual & formal occasion. Maybe can be seen as stylish & status-showoff or self-image.

 (Costs between $300 - $400)

Watch *3: Fossil Watch
(Unique, Stylish, Special & Casual)

• Visceral Design?

 The 1st impression of this watch is that it’s a unique designed watch (rectangular in shape), with a genuine leather strap. It’s a gift from my friends on my 21st birthday.

• Behavioral Design?

 A watch with no additional or enhanced functions. It only has a knob for a adjusting the time.

 One that does not enable someone to know the time in the dark; no built-in backlight but the hour & minute hands are illuminated or will glow in the dark.

 No specific date & time indication on the clock face; so one is unable to know the specific time (AM or PM).

• Reflective Design?

 I feel that it’s of a very unique design, at least to me, as I don’t have this type of watch before.

 A very special & meaningful watch to me as it’s a gift from my friends.

 It has a very special feature, which I don’t consider as a function.

- A press on the top left button will enable one to see green alphabet letters “falling down” the screen; just like the Matrix advertisement where green words moving horizontally & vertically. It’s of the same concept.
- Those letters formed words, “Happy 21st Birthday”. It’s so cool. He-he!

Lesson 2

2008-01-26T15:06:00.000+08:00

Today is the 2nd lesson. This means that we have to do a short presentation on our assignment 0. As usual, no one would take the initiative to present first, but it turns out well after a few rounds. I’m quite surprised that the design that I thought as a bad one, are also regarded as “bad design” by 2 of my classmates. Does this means that it really have a bad design? No one knows, as there is no definite answer to this. Because, “experience” on any product varies to individual. It took a long while, about an hour or so, for everyone to present his or hers.

After a short break, the actual lesson begins. In this lesson, we were taught on 2 main concepts, “User needs” and “Emotion & design”. “User needs” means to know what the needs of the people are involved, so as to design any product based on their requirements, whereby then, then they will be able to get the “full satisfaction” out of it.

The latter concept is the more important one as our next assignment will be based on it. That is, to find 3 examples of the same products that is either “Visceral”, or “Behavioral”, or “Reflective” in design. “Visceral” means the initial impact, to its appearance, i.e. first impression. “Behavioral” means the look and feel (total experience) of using that product, i.e. functionality of the product. “Reflective” means ones’ thoughts afterwards, or how it makes one feels; based on brand name, prestige, and self-image; i.e. how to convey the message to other people about the product.

Wow! Sounds interesting, but confusing. I think I will have to do some research or look through the reference links to get better clarification.

Assignment 0 (2nd Bad Design)

2008-01-20T10:20:00.000+08:00

A Unique Seat

Users’ Reaction

• User’s Feelings:

 This happens in when I was waiting for the MRT train a few months back. A gentleman’s gestures caught my attention. He was sitting on a seat, “slipping” or “sliding” off from the seat once a while, and getting back to his seat again. I was quite surprised by his movement & continued observing his actions. (He-he, it’s my nature to find out the reason behind anything that fancies me.)
 Not long after, a middle-age lady sat down on the seat, from the gestures that she had made, I realized that she also has difficulty to “stay put” on the seat.

• Lesson Learnt:

 After a few tries of “sliding” off and getting back to the seat, finally, both passengers gave up on it.

• Impression on the brand:

 I assume that he does not have the “full sensation” from using this product. I think that they would rather stand on feet rather than to “challenge” this seat. I made this comment because they would rather remain standing even though the next train will only be arriving in 4-5 minutes.

My Reflections

Out of curiosity, I approached the seat to have a clearer look at the seat. To my astonishment, I found out that the seat’s surface is slanting downwards and the surface of the seat is very “smooth & slippery”. I begin to “challenge” the seat.

Wow! Although my feet are able to touch the ground when I was on the seat, I was still counterattacked by the seat – “Slipping & sliding”. It is then that I understand those passengers’ difficulties. After a few minutes of observations, I realized that no one is sitting on this type of seat. I presumed that all of them have faced the same problem too. A look down the platform, one is able to see that all the seats, of the same type, are left empty. Passengers can be seen waiting for the train without taking a seat. This is quite an unusual sight. Thus, I feel that this type of seats does not serve its purpose even though it looks special in the design.

I did approach my friends & relatives to ask if they have found the same difficulty when taking the train. Most of them gave the answer that I have expected while there are others whom commented that this type of seat is not for seating, but for people to lean on it. But to me, the height of this “seat” is quite high for anyone to lean on it, if not, for me, I would not think for leaning on it where sitting on it is more comfortable.

The suggestion that I thought of is to replace the surface of the seat to a flat one, rather than a slanted position. This will prevent anyone from “sliding” off from the seat.

Actually, I have difficulty finding this seat recently as most of them have been replaced. I think the reason is that the staff of the company has also realized that this type of seat is not feasible. But I am still determined to find them as I feel that this really affects everyone, and also that, this is a very, very special design to me. He-he! Finally, I am able to find it in one of the stations just yesterday. Maybe, next time when anyone takes the train, one can keep a look-out for this type of seat, if one can still finds it, and have a try on it. It’s really “fun”. He-he!

Assignmnet 0 (Bad Design Product)

2008-01-20T09:55:00.000+08:00

This is a warm-up assignment for this module before the actual race commences. Ha-ha. In this assignment, we are supposed to find a product that we or other users think that it has a bad design, and to capture the users’ reaction towards that product, and our reflection on the product & the users’ reaction.

Wow! This sounds interesting but how are we going to do it. Suggestions? Well, I think I just have to look through previous semester’s work.

Well, actually I have thought of a product. That is contributed by my family & friends. But I believe that anyone will also have an experience of it too. It is the FM radio function of a Nokia hand phone. However, I think that this is quite common, thus, I’m still keeping a lookout for other products.

Nokia’s FM Radio

Users’ Reaction

• User’s Feelings:

 My family & friends feel that it is a chore to use this function. The reason is that every time when anyone wants to listen to the FM radio, he/she will have to connect the headset to it, regardless of using the headphones or the speakers function in order to activate this function. They feel that it is a very troublesome step.

• Lesson Learnt:

 This means that if anyone wants to use this function when on the move, they will have to bring along the headset, if not, they will not be able to use it. They commented that if they had forgotten to bring along the headset, then they will have to do without it.
 While there are also others who feel that this doesn’t really affect them as they still prefer to use other portable device for music, like mp3 players.

• Impression on the brand:

 They feel that this doesn’t have much effect on their impressions of the brand as they still think that Nokia’s phones are still very user-friendly and easy to comprehend.

My Reflections

Basically, I feel that it is also quite redundant to connect a headset to the hand phone every time when I want to use the FM radio function. Why can’t it be like the mp3 player function where one is able to choose whether to use a headset or the speakers? I believe that this will be a better choice. This is my personal thoughts as I have been using Nokia hand phones for the past few years.

Thus, I’m able to understand the frustrations of my friends as I also faced the same problem too. Forgetting to bring along the headset, means that I will not be able to use the FM function and the journey to any place means – no entertainment. This implies that this function will be of no use or become “disabled” without it.

Up to now, I think all users, including me, have already been used to this type of “unique design” and bringing along the headset has become a habit of mine, if I want to use this function.

Introductory Lesson (1st Lesson)

2008-01-20T09:04:00.000+08:00

Today is my 1st lesson of NM4210, User Experience Design. It’s an early day for me as this lesson commenced at 0900 hrs. At first, I thought that this class would be a small-sized group, but I found that this time-slot’s group size is larger than that of another’s. The reason for my assumption is that, normally, people will try to avoid taking an early class.

Frankly speaking, I actually have no clues or ideas what this module is all about. “User Experience Design” – sounds easy but actually not. After attending this 1st introduction lecture, I have a better understanding what this module is all about.

However, I still can’t digest the cheese of it – “To look at a problem broadly, instead of an in depth discussion of a problem.” Hmm…. Sounds sophisticated. This statement really catches my attention.

But there’s one thing that I am certain of. I think I begin to like this module already. I believe this module will take me to another world of looking at things that are evolving around me. This will really help me not only academically but also the way of handling things & people around me. =)