Blog 5

http://www.rocketmedia.com/blog/article/website-design-how-much-is-too-much

How Much is Too Much?



This is a small article on how much is too much in web design. I have always wondered where the line is when adding too much. This short article was helpful in finding that line.

The most important thing to do before making a huge list of all the things I want is to simply focus on my goals. This seems to be the theme and any design advice. The article talks about implementing features that will facilitate my site goals.

When it comes to having too much on a site, of course it will be a bad thing. When things become clustered the user will no longer know where else to go but back. What I find as a great point that the article pointed out is that bare is bad as well. Sure if things are easy to find then the user will be happy. It is very important though for the user to stay on my site. If my site does not have much content to "hook" the user, then he/she will quickly become bored and leave.

The last advice the article gave was on adding things that do not frustrate the users. Sure it looks cool to have a flashing banner or other images, videos, javascript, flash, etc., and things that look cool would seem to make the site cool, but if these things are hard to work or take too long to load then the user will not care if it is the most boring site in the world at that point and simply want what he or she came to get and get out of there.

Blog 4

Site Architecture And Navigation Through Research - Article given in doc sharing

The most important part of designing is doing the research. Before ever picking up a pencil, or going in to Photoshop, it is important to know why I am doing what I am doing. Part of that is by sitting down with my client and know exactly what the purpose of his/her or their site is. It is also important to know what the user wants out of the site as well. If I mix together what the company and user wants, I am beginning to get somewhere. It is important to get an idea of what the user is expecting and give the user just that when arriving.

It is also very importnat to not only know the goals of the client and the user, but to know the product itself. If I am going to be helping the client sell shoes, I am going to need to know about these shoes. The article talks about visiting the shoe store and becoming a shoe expert. Also, it would help to interact with employees to emerse myself in that world. Once all of this is combined, I can then begin to consider constructing the site. 

There are different things to consider when working on the site's structure and navigation. Unless the site is less than 12 pages, I should not have a link to everywhere on my site. A good solution to this is to have collapsable navigation where when I hover over a link, it will give the user more specific options.

It is important to stay consistent. This can be accomplished by using the same colors on every page. The same colors and grid structure helps the user know that her or she is still on the same site. This is also important when it comes to brand. A clean and easy to use navigation will help the users stay away from constantly having to click the back button. It is important in all of this to have continuity so the user can feel comfortable when navigating at all times. 

Blog 3

Article was recommended from ecompanion

Interaction is More than Looking at Screens

I thought this article was definitely a good read. It puts the importance of interaction design mixed with today's world in perspective. The internet use to be a time of experiment. It has now shifted towards work and everyday use. Being as important as it is I begin to see why interaction design becomes so important. If people become use to interaction design and all of its advances, I need to stay current and constantly stimulate and stay ahead of the curve.

Another thing that was mentioned in the article was the mixture of computers and nature. I thought this was a very interesting part. It is true that we as humans see that we are loosing resources by building such a big world. Instead of making computers bigger and increase volume we need to find ways to make them more useful and innovative. With where we are headed, the natural world and the interactive design world will begin to work as one. Side note: This makes me think of the new show Revolution that is coming out where all of electricity goes out. It shows how nature has taken over. Sort of makes me think how important technology really is.

Week 2 - Complete Beginner's Guide to Interaction Design

This is the article that I read: http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/complete-beginners-guide-to-interaction-design/


Interaction design takes regular design to a different level. Interaction design takes user needs and the relationship those needs share with business needs in to account. Interaction designers can help solve problems with creative solutions.  Interaction designers are focused on the interactions between the user and the computer.

It is paramount to conduct research when designing for the user. Knowing your user goals can help you give him or her a clear path to where he or she wants to be. It is also important to know what my constraints are. This will help me to understand what I can and cannot do.

The article that I read talked about using "Interface as Magic." What they meant was that the user should never realize that he or she is being guided by an interface. The entire process should be thought free and free of any grief. Do not make the user think.

A great way to guide a user and let him or her know where he or she is at is to use affordances. Affordances gives the user a clear understanding at all times what is what. When there is a link on a website, make sure the user know that it is a link. If there is a button, make sure the user knows that it is a button. Clearly marking things will help the user greatly. Affordances can slightly go along side of learnability. Learnability is making sure that the users will be able to learn and keep up with the uniqueness of my site. Know that if a user is use to clicking a button after filling out a form that I either put a button there, or something similar that the user can easily figure out.

Lastly, it is important to stay current with interaction design. The market is constantly changing and there are users who constantly face changes in the way they surf the web. I need to at all times stay on top of what is going on by practicing and learning new technologies. 

Week 1 - Visceral, Behavioral & Reflective

I know the assignment is to only talk about one of the three emotions, but the product that I want to talk about seems to have all three emotions attached to it (assuming that I correctly understand visceral, behavioral & reflective). 

The Product: Samsung Galaxy SIII

Visceral: The first time I saw this phone I just felt I had to buy it. I had not even heard about the specs, but just the sleekness of this phone made me feel like it was going to be a phone I would be very happy with. It has beautiful rounded edges with a large screen and a shiny white body. Regardless if this phone had poor hardware and software, the look of this phone made me want to buy it.

Behavioral: In the Ted video that we watched in class, he referred to behavioral as a subconscious thing that we do not think about. It is something where we feel very comfortable doing. This phone is unlike many other phones that I have used in the past. This phone has made small changes from its previous models that cater to my needs. These changes are not large, but simple to make my experience more at east. Because of all of the amazing features and upgraded hardware, my phone runs amazingly smooth with zero lag. I feel very comfortable at all times and am now using it without even thinking while feeling completely in control. An example of an amazing behavioral emotion that this phone provides is the water drop sounds it emits whenever an option is selected. This is a very well known sound that is universal for relaxation. Using my phone and hearing this sound makes me feel relaxed and happy at all times.

     

      Reflective: As Ted said in the video, reflective is that little voice in my head saying that is good or that is bad. I have no control over it. That voice tells me whether or not people will like what I have. It will make me question if it will have a good "reflection" on me. Every voice in my head gave green lights on this phone. Viscerally I was drawn to the design of this phone. Behaviorally this phone made me feel safe and comfortable with its use and now reflectively this phone has made me say yes and makes me feel comfortable showing it off to other people. There are certain phones out there people will buy that will do the best job in which these people expect it to regardless of how the phone looks. This phone, to me, does everything I need it to and is still something that I am proud to show others. My hat goes off to Samsung for making this incredible product.