delirious deliberations

Reflections

2008-04-27T02:49:00.002-07:00

What is one word to encapsulate how I feel/ think, now that this module is over? WOW.

WOW because i managed to survive. I wouldn't say that this module is the easiest I have ever gone through and it certainly gives me a whole new perspective on the area of design.

I still recall the very first lesson - Mr Reddy told us that design is a whole huge area that people often overlook as just something creative, or art. The normal attribution to the word "design" is often visual design, like the design of an advertisement or interior design, or fashion design. But everything is essentially a design. I would think that design is a thought-process which either helps or kills us. It can allow us to enjoy what we're engaging in, or seriously feel like thrashing it and wish we never saw it. (haha so extreme)

And I suppose that's essentially what the whole design experience is about. It's not so much about an object, but more of the user using the object and the likes and don't-likes about it. It moves from just designing something like a cup, to designing how the user can use the cup instead.

I like that we learnt a few methods to do user research. I personally felt the laddering method was insightful, and at the same time enjoyable to engage in. Perhaps it is because it brings the researcher to a more personal/ informal level with the user to try to probe them into revealing what they really feel. Of course, researchers would have to be so thick-skinned as to continue probing. In my own experience, my friend was really getting a little exasperated when I kept probing him about his lecture theatre experience. Often, the answers would end up as "I don't know!"

Looking back, I still find that one of the solutions that Paul, Mike and I came up with for the lecture theatre experience improvements is quite feasible! (Of course, not taking so much of cost into the picture as yet.) It is the solution which tries to tackle students being unable to find seats until they go into the lecture theatre and look around for seats. We proposed that there be a weight sensor on each chair which will correspond with an LED screen outside the LTs - if the chair detects a weight above a certain indicator, the corresponding chair will light up on the LED screen. As such, students will know which seats are taken and which are still available. Of course this targets latecomers but inherently latecoming is already an age old problem that is tough to fight, so might as well design something to work around the problem :)

One thing very different about NM 4210 is that it brings us away from just the designing (since we can already do that in NM 2208) but more so on the idea conceptualising, focusing on the users needs and wants, the clients needs and wants and how to match both expectations. It was such an eye-opener to the many different ways of analysing users - personas, the 4 kinds of pleasures, circumplex of emotions and heuristic testings, to name a few.

My horizon is greatly broadened.

So this marks the end of NM 4210 but I never know if this will mark the end of user experience design for me. Albeit being a commercial tool, it's been a great lesson for me as a student. I may not be the best student around, but we all try to be :)

Final Project

2008-04-27T02:49:00.001-07:00

A need. That was like, so specific yet so generic. I was thinking, everyone in life needs so many things. But thinking a little harder, they became more like wants rather than needs. In this consumerism age, who can really pinpoint an exact need that hasn’t already beeen met and commodified? And anything beyond that becomes a desire rather an a necessity.

ANYWAY.

So Paul, Mike and I thought through a few ideas and even came up with needs like, entertainment for men when they go shopping with females (mother, wife, girlfriend, sister, friend etc) -- Paul and Mike's woes; how to shorten/ speed up queues at female toilets -- My woes..... and many others.

The Need
One danger we always faced was that when we thought of a need, we would be thinking of how to solve it already. And that was specifically what Mr Reddy warned us against! Being (intellectual) thinking beings who need to find reasons and solutions, I guess that came so naturally for us. We had to keep reminding ourselves not to fall into that trap :/

So we thought of one need that we deem is still pretty unmet:
BREAKFAST.
We all know breakfast is important and there have been many reports of statistics that breakfast is good but people are not having it. Breakfast is so important for people to start the day right. But it is the meal most people overlook because they are rushing to work, or they wake up late, or they have no appetite, or they are on a diet, and the list goes on.

But imagine waking up to glorious breakfast which look like this:

Coincidentally, a F&B company called 12 Hungry Men contacted us to help them design something that will help them reach out to the non-breakfasting/ unhealthy-breakfast-eating crowd. So that started out journey of user experience design.

Research
Through our primary and secondary research, we discovered that the crowd that does not eat breakfast most of the time is the young working adults. These are the people who do not have much time as they are usually rushing to work each morning and most of them lead hectic lifestyles due to career and success demands (both corporate and personal). We found that people with children have a greater tendency to have breakfast as they will make it a point to eat breakfast together before the children go to school and they go to work. Additionally, there are some people who eat breakfast but they eat really unhealthy food like kueh which are high in sugar and oil/ fat content. In the long run, this will be very detrimental to the body.

Target Audience
As such, our chosen target audience are the young working adults who are single, or married without children (or expecting, for that matter). These people do not eat breakfast. If they already do eat breakfast (on an everyday basis or from time to time), the food they consume is often not healthy for the body.

Our Product Idea
Our product will enhance the entire experience of waking up to great breakfast to start of the day. Our aim is that the users will feel a sense of excitement waking up early because they look forward to having breakfast. Perhaps it could be served to them or delivered to their doorstep. Most importantly, it has to be healthy. We have decided to target the organic foods industry. Knowing it is very niche, we maintain that this will still be a suitable market to target as there already is such a market.

The potential users expect food that are delicious and different from the typical breakfast available outside. In addition to that, they want a breakfast that not only taste good but is also healthy. At the end of it all, the users do not want to, nor can they afford the time to prepare such a breakfast. These are the needs and expectations that our product have to address.

Convenience is Key
With that in mind, we created our final product:
A website that will provide a platform for people to order breakfast, which will be delivered anytime, anywhere that is cooked to perfection by our resident chief.
This website aims to be:
- efficient - ordering food will be fast and frills-free
- Intuitive - able to find what you need/ want
- appealing - in design and approach

To go a little further, our target audience was refined to:
- affluent, upper class
- single or married without children
- enjoys a lifestyle of luxury
- no time to make breakfast but do not mind spending a little more to have someone else do it for them
- eat at restaurants regularly (i.e. 2 - 3 times a week)
- health oriented/ conscious - consumers/ believers of organic food

User Expectations
Our service must encompass great quality breakfast, food variety which is regularly updated to satisfy our users, the provision of nutritional value upon request, breakfast on demand and importantly, exude an air of exclusivity. (aka "atas" in colloquial terms!)

Product Requirements
Our website must be straightforward with no frills and unnecessary information clutter. There will be valuable information available but only for those who need it. i.e. We will provide information in "read more" links which users can click on to find out more about each food item and the nutritional values. However, for those who do not want that information, it will not be a distraction or clutter frustration.

Another specification that our product must have is to be able to select food in less than 3 clicks. This will lead to development of memberships, logins, registrations and storing such data into our consumer database.

There must be graphics to show the high quality of our breakfast items which will speak volumes over words. There is overall no time wasting - as such, we wish to do away with ideas of flash introductions.

The main goal of our website is to educate briefly about breakfast and make it readily available. We found that although form is important, users should feel that they are experiencing function over form, meaning the website should be efficient in carrying out their orders.

Low Fidelity Paper Prototype
Wishing to test for user feedback, we tested four users. We used the observation method where it was a two-to-one testing (one facilitator and one observer taking notes). In all our tests, we asked users to buy one non-daily special meal and a drink. Probing was also done to elicit more information. Questions asked included:
What do you like about the website?
What do you dislike about the website?
Was it hard to navigate around the website?

All users managed to finish the given tasks in less than 3 minutes. A few qualitative feedback were given that the registration/login option was not obvious and it would be great if a shopping cart could be added as well. Some also commented that there was no "back" function.

Low Fidelity Paper Prototype Design

High Fidelity Prototype/ Final Product
We changed our initial design of the document and the final website can be found here. (For the "statistical" details, it's in the report)

Heuristics Testings
The method we adopted to carry our test out was based on Jacob Nielson’s 10 Usability Heuristics:
Meet Expectations
Match the Real World
Consistency and Standard
Help and Documentation
User is Boss
User Control and Freedom
Visibility of System Status
Flexibility and Efficiency
Errors
Error Prevention
Recognition, not Recall
Error Reporting, Diagnosis and Recovery
Keep it Simple
Aesthetic and Minimalist Design

The general results from the user testings were that the website was overall pleasant to use and aesthetically delightful. The system status feedback of the entire purchase process gave clear indication of actions taken and actions to come. This increase the sense of security in one user (Terence). In addition, the "read more" option was very insightful and useful. Jeanette also commented that the website conveyed a sense of professionalism, different from the previous prototype.

The feedback of the highlighted links when mouseovered was greatly appreciated. The links are all arranged at the top and the left hand side and this consistency adds greatly to the efficiency of the site.

The general response was positive :)
Of course there are still some teething problems but these are due to the technical and time contraints that we face!

Our Functionality Creep
We were warned against it yet we still managed to fall into its trap :/ We intially thought of adding in lunch and dinner services, on top of our (already-magnificent) breakfast idea. This was perhaps a great idea to us at first, since we knew we already had the chef and transport system capabilities. However, after user testings on the paper prototype and feedback, we discovered that these services actually added to the information clutter that the users had to go through to seive out the appropriate information they wanted. It turned out to be counterproductive in our intention on focusing on providing breakfast.

Experience Strategy
Through our primary research, we discovered that there are no other companies that offer breakfast delivery in Singapore, apart from MacDonald's. Of course we are kind of worlds apart in terms of target audience, food provided and healthiness. Even so, we recognised that we needed a strong unique selling point. Here, we recommend the employment of our celebrity chef, Emmanuel Stroobant, who will certainly add that needed creative edge and culinary expertise to our breakfast experience. You can wake up each morning feeling wonderful you did, simply because you had a wonderful breakfast from 12 Hungry Men's Divine Breakfast Service.

User Research Smoke & Mirrors

2008-04-27T02:46:00.000-07:00

by Christopher Fahey (2006)

I find it so intriguing, the way Fahey approaches the subject matter, and the way he writes, of course. Seemingly casual upon first glance, he actually takes my reflections to a deeper (more intellectual) level by critiquing the real value of research in designing for users. Truly, it was as if I could feel his burden for subjectivity imposing its weight on results and therefore biased design experiences.

I suspect that a lot of user research in this industry is a sham.
That line really takes the cake. I like his style :)

There are many methods which seem to not be such an issue but turn out to be the parasites of each research:
1. small samples
absurdly crafted test cases
methods which have passing resemblences to science
misinterpretation of data
subjective studies
and subjective studies which are made to look objective

Fahey brought up one point which made me think, "Back to basics!" He wrote that people are giving "greater credence to (expensive) pseudo-scientific processes than to common-sense good design principles".

I found that this is so common-sensical, if I may abuse my limited vocabulary for description. It is so true that people start to go for all the empirical evidences and design technologies/ advancements that have appeared in the market, that they are giving the common-sense a miss. Perhaps it rises from the need to supercede the self and the constant need to prove something - and that stems from the inherent competitive nature of human beings. That's just my take.

Given the example of the Eyetracking tool which tracks the eye movement of viewers of websites, I agree that the system only tracks what people are looking at but can we really find out what they are seeing? "Seeing" takes it one level further from "looking". "Seeing" implies processing the information and applying it in a suitable way. And the analysis discovered that good conclusions seem to be the same conclusion that a good UI designer would go by just pure design instincts, whether they make use of tools or not. It's about the feeeeeel....

Such tools just scratch the surface in knowing what users really want, think, feel and need. Sure, they help, but they are just aids in giving the designer an area to pay attention to. For instance, the example giving in the article is about the Eyetracking tool showing that users look at the company logo the most. Does this mean that the logo needs to be changed? I think the inherent assumption that people have from interpreting data from such tools is that whatever element the users look at the most, there is where it is the most problematic. That is nonsense! It doesn't mean that looking at something means it is erronous and incoherent with "nature". (Men like to look at pretty girls, so is there anything wrong with pretty girls? hahaha) So is that something interesting or perplexing?

This would then be a great stepping stone to probing what is the issue behind the attention paid to certain elements. It could be a positive or negative response. And that is for the designer to find out. Don't assume! I think we still got to get to the root of the issue and that can only be elicited by going to the root of the issue - the users.

But there's always redtape and bureaucracy like in any capitalist society. And knowing creativity and design is a flair that not everyone has. Like how not everyone has scientifically-tuned brains which could possibly think up concepts like gravity.

So the emphasis is that research can be a good means to justify design decisions especially when the other party is not well-versed in design but are stakeholders (and where the money is coming from). But research just cannot do it they simply give the illusion of a level of authority and accuracy that simply does not exist (as in the Forrester case).

I like it when Fahey describes graphic designers as professional communicators whose experience and talent largely define their effectiveness and that it is a waste of time and money to request for justifications for designs that stretch the limits of credibility.

I personally have a preference for qualitative research over quantitative research. True, quantitative results can give us statistics to base our arguments on. They are facts as collected from our researches and observations. However, I question the truth of surveys because they are basically just surveying human beings and how true can the "true" results really be? It is not a general phenomenon nor can the single truth ever be formulated. I find that personal experiences and stories as narrated by people are great indications as close to the "truth" as possible. They can be subjective; that we cannot discount. However, as people give their honest (trust their integrity here) feedback and accounts, there will be instances to elicit much necessary and useful information for design processes. But is this the case and belief of everyone out there?

Fahey mentioned that it is easier to defend science than to defend opinion. This is the point exactly; the essence of scientific cold hard facts as supporting data for decisions, versus the feel and the instinct of something considered superfluous like design and creativity. It seems to be a battle between the tangible and the intangible. People find a need to explain things so they will feel more at peace with the world and themselves. This is one way people seek to gain control over their surroundings. And science comes along with the promise of solution. But we cannot ever discount that, as Fahey puts it, it'll appear to just be "psuedoscience" - science for the sake of being science.

Being able to prove something is right has its own dangers because it means that it will also be able to prove something is wrong.

Experience is experience, not fact :)

Emotional Design Probe

2008-04-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

For this assignment, we were tasked to improve the learning experience in lecture theatres.

For more information, please refer to Paul's blog as our work has been uploaded onto his site :)

Give the Man a Handphone

2008-02-04T10:26:00.001-08:00

Physio-pleasure
- Jamie loves the outdoors. He likes to go cable-skiing with his friends on some weekends. He managed to persuade them to wakeboarding at Punggol once before. – Appreciation pleasure

- He used to play soccer for his secondary school and junior college.

- He doesn’t mind working a sweat on his treadmill in his room at home – Appreciation pleasure

- But no matter what he does each day, he never forgets to do at least 50 push-ups before going to bed each night – Need pleasure

Socio-pleasure
- Jamie has a group of closely bonded friends with whom he hangs out with regularly – Need pleasure

- He is able to work them (clients or colleagues) to a comfortable level before discussing whatever needs to be settled

- They all also have relatively well-paying jobs now, except for Joe, who resigned from his most recent job as an engineer at a local software company after some complications arose that might implicate his career. Jamie finds no qualms in helping Joe through this rough patch, supporting him both financially (if Joe ever needs) and morally.

Psycho-pleasure
- After work and in his free time, Jamie likes to head down to pubs and chill with his friends or colleagues. – Appreciation pleasure

- He especially likes the pubs that have live jazz bands. – Appreciation pleasure

- His music preference also stretch to lounge and a bit of bossanova. He is beginning to listen to Oliva Ong more these days. – Appreciation pleasure

- Other than music, Jamie also rears bettas, Japanese fighting fish. He buys them from a local breeder and takes very good care of them. His bettas are all produced by selective breeding. Before he goes to work and when he comes home each day, he loves to look at the brilliant colours of the fishes' fins.

- He tries to have a short weekend getaway to Bintan with his friends to sip cocktails and just soak in the sun – Appreciation pleasure

Ideo-pleasure
- Despite his busy schedule, Jamie tries to go home at least 2 - 3 times a week in order that he'll be able to eat dinner with his parents. His only sibling, a brother, is 10 years younger than him and is currently serving his National Service. Therefore his parents are often alone in their Bukit Timah bungalow along Sixth Avenue. He tries to spend more time with them.

- When playing with stocks, Jamie does not like to take too much of a risk and always plays safe. – Need pleasure

In summary:

Product Benefits Specification

I propose that Jamie would use a handphone that is very functional i.e. behavioural, yet it has to be reflective as well. Upon first look, it might appear cool and does not seem have too many features to it – just like its owner. However, interacting more with the product will lead the user on a journey of wild discovery of dynamism and practicality.

This mobile phone will have depth in its reflections of its user. We might say that Jamie is in fast lane, with his highly competitive work environment in an advertising firm and his elite family background with his equally-elite friends. This phone will have to reflect the “aristocracy” of his lifestyle and job and how he handles both.

In terms of functionality, Jamie requires a handphone that allow him to stay connected no matter where he is – in East Coast cable-skiing or suntanning in Bintan. As the advertising industry is very demanding, Jamie needs a device that will allow him to respond to clients’ whims and fancies at any time possible. He requires work-on-the-go capabilities.

As he also has a band of friends whom he loves to hang out and chill with, Jamie does not lack in the social aspect of his life. Therefore, a phone that allows him to take good quality photographs will create avenues of capturing enjoyable moments with his friends. Jamie also loves music, so a phone with an MP3 player feature installed will be ideal.

With that, I introduce the closest phone to ideal for Jamie:
Samsung G800

There are some basic specifications that this phone and all other phones have in common so i shall not include them here. However, I will pick some specifications out to elaborate on them:

3G network: HSDPA 2100
Size: 101 x 51.1 x 18.8 mm
Weight: 134 g
Display type: 256K colors
Display size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches
Ringtones: Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 - customisable as well.
Phonebook memory: 1000 entries
Memory (Card slot): microSD (TransFlash), 160 MB internal memory
GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
Bluetooth: Yes
USB: Yes

Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS reader
Camera: 5 MP, 2560х1920 pixels, autofocus, video, xenon flash, 3x optical zoom
- Java MIDP 2.0
- MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+/WMA player
- Stereo FM radio
- Face Detection
- T9
- Bluetooth printing
- Document viewer (Word, Excel, Power Point, PDF)
- Built-in handsfree
- Voice memo
- TV out

Talktime: Up to 3h 20min

Fulfilling Jamie's Appreciation pleasure:
The Samsung G800 is 3G enabled and is relatively light for its features/components. The phone comes in Titan Grey and this colour exudes an air of masculinity and strength. It also expresses strength and coolness.

The phone also has an music player and this delivers music right to his doorstep at the most convenient time and method, thus appeasing his love for music.

Having a 5 Mega Pixels camera in the phone also brings to mind the appreciation Jamie would have for a device to capture his fun with his friends when he goes out.

Fulfilling Jamie's Need pleasure:
The amount of memory space (it is possible to buy extra memory too) will also provide space for Jamie to store all his information and data.

The phone has document viewer features too and this allows Jamie to work on-the-go. The WAP-enabling allows him to check his email whenever, wherever. The battery life also enables talk time to go up to 3 odd hours. This definitely serves him right in his job where he has to continually link up with clients and deal with their satisfaction.

Additionally, the phonebook allows up to 1000 entries. This will surely aid in Jamie's vast social networking and contacts he'll have to keep of clients, friends and acquaintances who might come in handy one day.

Basically, this phone is not what you see is what you get. One glance and it doesn't show much. But it arouses your curiousity. Then upon interaction, you're addicted. Much like the owner.

Assignment 2: Four Pleasure Analysis

2008-02-02T20:18:00.001-08:00

In our classroom activity, we were required to come up with a user profile of a chosen item shown in a picture. Paul, my trusty partner ~~(in crime)~~ was unable to come for Tuesday's class so I did this assignment with another classmate. (I'm sorry I didn't catch your name!)

This was the picture my new friend chose: a watch.

We were intially quite puzzled by this picture. Honestly, the watch looked quite dreary upon first glance. For a while, the both of us were pretty stunned. We had no idea what type of user might use such a watch as it could both tend towards the traditional, old fashioned (chinese: lao tu) type of user, or it could actually be some form of cutting edge technology that we were clearly unclear of.

As we discussed, we came up with a target user profile of this item and this was what we boldly proclaimed to the class (only to find us digging our own grave as we went along, as you'll discover later):

"Imagine a person standing before you. He is average looking with average hair and an average face. He is neatly dressed with hair combed to the sides. This man works in an office - a 9 to 5 desk job. He is hardworking and goes by the book. He doesn't talk much and is more of an introvert.

He does not like to dress in audacious colours - more like white, brown, grey. Nothing bold and bright. Yes, he goes for duller colours.

(So this is when we start to go downhill)
He is around 58 years old and the family man, the sole breadwinner of the family. His wife is the same kind as him - not loud or audacious, but supports her husband silently. He does not like to break out of the mold and is the mediocre kind of guy in life. He doesn't get angry easily but he is firm. You could say he is non-descript. However, he has inner strength and is very resilient. He goes to work on time but he never does OT (over-time) as he always goes back home to his family.

In fact, he is already on the look out for retirement plans.

In his free time, he likes to read newspapers and listen to the radio, or sleep. He brings his family to the kopitiam to eat. No picnics, nothing extravagant. He lives in a three to four room flat, somewhere in either Toa Payoh or Queenstown, where the older HDB flats are.

And, he will die without a ripple. At his funeral, his friends and family will be there. But that's about it."

Well, the whole class is laughing and they seem to appreciate it. I even see Weiwei nodding his head (did he?). Then the voice of truth sounds. Mr Reddy looks in amusement and says, "Actually this watch is a top designer watch..."

And our world crumbled.

So to save myself, we actually did think of that at first but then we were too unsure to carry on down that path so we got carried away by our family man with retirement plans.

Let's try again.

"Jamie, 29, is a Brand Executive in Saatchi & Saatchi. He studied in Singapore Management University (SMU) and obtained a first class honours in Business, minoring in Corporate Communications.

Jamie has been working in Saatchi & Saatchi for the past 3 years, ever since he was headhunted by the company during a business competition organised by SMU.

Upon first impressions, people might think Jamie is laid-back and even aloof. However, he is the total opposite when it comes to his work. Jamie always delivers and does so beyond expectations. He has a lot of inner strength and is very resilient to whatever challenge thrown his way. Jamie is also very confident in all that he engages in - each business deal, each client and every of his colleagues. He is able to work them to a comfortable level before discussing whatever needs to be settled. Despite being dubbed "easy-going" at time with his friends, Jamie is firm when it comes to his work.

After work and in his free time, Jamie likes to head down to pubs and chill with his friends or colleagues. He especially likes the pubs that have live jazz bands. His music preference also stretch to lounge and a bit of bossanova. He is beginning to listen to Oliva Ong more these days. Other than music, Jamie also rears bettas, Japanese fighting fish. He buys them from a local breeder and takes very good care of them. His bettas are all produced by selective breeding. Before he goes to work and when he comes home each day, he loves to look at the brilliant colours of the fishes' fins. He often goes online to check out more about both his music and fighting fish interests.

Despite his busy schedule, Jamie tries to go home at least 2 - 3 times a week in order that he'll be able to eat dinner with his parents. His only sibling, a brother, is 10 years younger than him and is currently serving his National Service. Therefore his parents are often alone in their Bukit Timah bungalow along Sixth Avenue. He tries to spend more time with them. Jamie's parents love to have him back for dinner but the same question always pops up during each dinner, "When are you going to get married? You're not getting any younger? Girlfriend also don't have?" Jamie does not have a girlfriend currently though he did date one or two girls back in his Junior College and University days. But he was never serious about any. He maintains that he just has not found THE ONE yet.

Jamie has a group of closely bonded friends with whom he hangs out with regularly. The five of them are all relatively affluent. They all also have relatively well-paying jobs now, except for Joe, who resigned from his most recent job as an engineer at a local software company after some complications arose that might implicate his career. Jamie finds no qualms in helping Joe through this rough patch, supporting him both financially and morally. Other than Joe, Jamie and his other friends like to dabble with stocks from time to time. Jamie, however, might appear as a "wet blanket" at times as he does not like to take too much of a risk and always plays safe.

During the weekends, Jamie loves to head outdoors. On some weekends, he goes to East Coast Park to cable-ski with his pals. He managed to persuade them to go wakeboarding at Punggol once before but they prefered to stick to cable-skiing as it was slightly safer. His love for the outdoors stemmed from his younger days when he used to play soccer for his secondary school and junior college. Jamie and his close friends also try to have a short weekend getaway to Bintan for relaxation - to sip cocktails and just soak in the sun. On other weekends when his friends are too busy to go out with him, he doesn't mind working a sweat on his treadmill in his room at home. Then on weekends when he is too busy with work, he just works. But he never forgets to do at least 50 push-ups before going to bed each night."

Does it work better now? (:

Assignment 1: Pleasure with Products

2008-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

Robert Rubinoff attempted to quantify "User Experience" as a "concept that places the end-user at the focal point of design and development efforts, as opposed to the system, its applications or its aesthetic value alone." (Jesper Rønn-Jensen's write-up) He then went on to explain that UX, in his opinion, is made up of four components: branding, usability, functionality and content.

However, to go a step further, Norman argues that the "emotional side of design may be more critical to a product’s success than its practical elements".

Assignment 1: Pleasure with Products
This assignment set me thinking of a certain item that we see everyday - Spectacles. Whether it be short-sightedness or long-sightedness or simply a call for vanity, it is a very common sight to see (no pun intended!) people wearing spectacles. (However, with Lasik, it might be a different story nowadays! But let's ignore that for now..)

However, I decided to choose sunglasses instead of spectacles. Sunglasses may be simply accessories to some. But people do use them in sports and importantly, to shield against the rays of the sun. Of course the plea for vanity is still as strong and many sunglasses are becoming aesthetically more pleasing (or not). Whether it be frolicking at the beach, window shopping at Orchard Road or scaling up mountains, guys and girls alike don these items as accessories or basic necessities.

Sunglasses

Visceral
Emporio Armani sunglasses

Source: The Specs Place

Visceral:
Upon first impression, this pair of sunglasses exudes an air of difference from the "norm". (I put it in inverted commas because the concept of "norm" is very subjective. But I'd like to believe and let's assume that the "norm" would be a basic functional pair of no-frills sunglasses). The pink colour of the lenses and part of the frames expresses atypicality. It is contemporary and modern in style. The sunglasses also speak of a daring and edgy fashionista who dares to dare. The working assumption here would be that it is worn by a female (biological female, that is). However, if it were worn by a male counterpart, hmm, that would be a different story :/ Anyhow, the brand of the sunglasses is Emporio Armani and that says alot for itself. It is veryvery branded and therefore very expensive. The letters "EA" at the side of the sunglasses gives it away and this ties in with one of the four components of UX as suggested by Robert Rubinoff - branding.

Behavioural:
With the assumption that the basic function of sunglasses is to shield the eyes from the sun and protect them from harmful UV rays, these EA shades do not have this fundamental capacity. True, these shades may shade the eyes from some bright sunlight. However, beyond that, this particular pair of shades is nothing more than an accessory in all its pink glory.

Reflective:
Very much like the visceral analysis, this pair of sunglasses reflects much of the user's social status. These aesthetics of the shades, coupled with the (very branded) brand and the price, goes to show that the user (or buyer, be it the one and same person or different) is reasonably affluent and of high status. The connotation of the user wearing this pair of shades is that she is up-to-date with fashion and concerned about appearances. (Of course, there is a correlation, whether established or not, between the wealthy and being up-to-date with fashion.)

Behavioural
Oakley BOTTLECAP sunglasses

Source: The Specs Place

Behavioural:
When we talk about usability and functionality (Rubinoff), we understand it to be very much coinciding with the Behavioural aspect of Emotions. I have chosen this particular sunglasses to be an example of a Behavioural response to a product as it is fundamentally very functional and user-centric. These Oakley shades are built to fit and aid its users in the activities engaged in. Naturally, such sunglasses are used in sporting activities like mountain climbing or competitive cycling, where the sun's UV rays are one of the biggest enemies. Oakley sunglasses are reputed to be reliable and long-lasting.

The source website described the sunglasses as: An open-edge design of lightweight O MATTER® frame material, BOTTLECAP offers an unobstructed field of downward view. Patented XYZ OPTICS® maintains razor sharp clarity, even with lens curvature that opens peripheral vision. BOTTLECAP is especially well suited for small to medium-size faces, due to contouring that eliminates the wide corners of conventional frames.

In a nutshell, this pair of sunglasses is lightweight and "surrounds" the user's field of vision - even downwards. This non-obstruction allows the user to be able to catch and see all objects in their pathway, whether it might be a threat or not, while still being shielded from the sun. This particular version of the model, BOTTLECAP, also includes transition lenses which really helps when the user experiences a change in strength of sun rays and brightness.

Visceral:
This pair of shades impacts me as something hardy and forceful. These expensive sports sunglasses gives a feel of aggression and purpose.

Reflective:
The word "action" comes to mind when I analyse these sunglasses. It seems to give the user a sense of dominance and strength - both physical and mental strength. The brand, Oakley, is very trustworthy when it comes to sporting events and activities, especially those of challenging and rough nature.

Reflective
Bulgari Swarovski sunglasses
Source: Lifestyles of the Rich
Reflective:
Costing around US$400, this pair of Bulgari sunglasses with precious Swarovski gems speaks much the user. It could possibly boost the status of the user in that these shades expresses much sophistication and class. I mean, in order for the user to be able to afford these shades is one thing, of course! But to be able to carry it off (and not make it look like a fake), the user has to instrinsically have an air of elegance and confidence to her. Again, we assume that people who possess male orientation both biologically and character/personality-wise will "generally" not choose such shades to wear :)

Tested against time, the brown hue and pattern of the frames has been a long-standing design associated with class. I find that it is very much associated with the wealthy (and probably, older) women. Much like "tai-tai"s! Think printed scarfs matched with these sunglasses!

Incidentally, actress Sharon Stone did buy one pair for herself too :) And they were hand-made and hand-printed specially for her.

Behavioural:
Honestly, I would be a bit worried each time I wear these shades out. The precious gems down the side of the frames would be a huge cause for precaution. Knowing how expensive they are, I am pretty sure the user would have to be extra careful each precious stone is still intact at the end of the day. Furthermore, the lenses of these shades do not really do much shading per se. The UV rays would still be a threat.

Visceral:
One look at the sunglasses and I naturally associate them with the uptown crowd. The intricate design of crystals at the side, plus the fact that the frames are brown, give it an air of elegance and class.

My Reflections

There are times when I look at a product and I feel immediate liking for it where there are also times when I just have no inclination towards any positive feelings for certain products. I thought it was just simply because I "like" and "don't like" them. Now I know it's more than just that. It's about the emotional response to these products. Each person goes through the three different stages of analysis cognitively.

Like how Don Norman writes that the visceral design is more about the appearance - for instance, the EA sunglasses. It boasts of class and difference. With the behavioural design, the functionality and usefulness are priority. The process of using the Oakley shades is pleasurable and ensures satisfaction. Finally, the reflective stage of analysis goes a step further and engages the intellectual mind to think and rationalise its design.

Norman also went on to suggest that other than emotions, there are other components of our response that are important as well: aesthetics, attractiveness and beauty. Imagine if the Oakley sunglasses, no matter how branded and how splendid the performance is, is aesthetically unpleasant. Imagine if it doesn't flatter the user's face. It is highly doubtful that it will be of high demand.

However, at the end of the day, "without emotions, our decision-making ability would be impaired" (Norman). No matter what, we can never escape the fact that our emotions have a part to play in everything we do - whether it be shopping, playing soccer or studying.

There is always a beginning

2008-01-20T22:11:00.000-08:00

User Experience: The overall quality of experience a person has when intereacting with a product or system. There is a shift from object production to user experience building.

So essentially, when designing/ building the object, the user is right smack in the middle of the process.

Assignment 0: Bad Design

(Sadly) the candidate chosen for this exercise is my Creative Zen Stone, albeit it being rather trusty at times. The MP3 player is incredibly small and extremely handy, especially when it comes to accompanying me on my jogs. It is also able to fit nicely into all my bags, whether big or small since it's so tiny and light. You can probably see from the comparison below between the Zen Stone and the human hand. The storage is 1 GB in size and it is pretty conve

On the Creative website (http://uk.europe.creative.com/welcome.asp) for the United Kingdom, the player is described as "Incredibly tiny, with incredible sound". Ok, it is true that the sound is great! However, the problem comes with the interface.

This is my own Creative Zen Stone player in its glorious red (: Given as a birthday present from my godbrother.

As seen in the picture, this is all there is to the interface. At the width of the player there is actually a slider with three options. The three options are basically indicated by three icons. They actually refer to the "repeat all", "shuffle" and "skip folder" options. However, I had no clue these were such until I read the Quick Start manual.

I interview a few of my friends and here are their feedback and response:

Their feelings towards the product

Christine:

Upon her first look at the product, the first thing she commented on was that there is no display screen. She felt it was too light and it looked like there was no weight. This was an issue as she felt it would be fragile and easily damaged.

Ming Feng:

He found the Zen Stone "a bit too ridiculously small". One great problem for him was also the fact that there is no display screen. However, he felt the player looks nice.

Kumar:

He also pointed out the fact that there was no screen, contributed to its non-friendliness in terms of usage. However, he felt that this is due to the price factor. Priced at approximately SGD $69, he felt that the interface and design was constrained by its very price.

Lessons they learnt from the interaction

Christine:

She felt that it was really quite confusing. She did not really know exactly how to navigate around the product and use it. Even after giving a brief explanation to her about how the LED works and trying her own hand at it, Christine still had her doubts. If she had a choice, she would not purchase it.

Ming Feng:

When Ming Feng picked up the player, I asked him if he knew how to turn the player on. Notably, it took him a while to figure our how to turn it on. He felt that there was not much feedback in terms of what was going on in the player as he interacted with it. However, he thought it seems "pretty easy to understand and get used to".

Kumar:

The lightness of the product struck him as he held the player. It did not seem "real" to him i.e. he felt it was like a toy. "It's so small that I can hide it in my palm!"

However, the same problem persists as he found it slightly challenging to find a particular song in the whole playlist. He felt that since there is no display screen, he will not know the song he is listening to and will not be able to find a particular song either. In addition, with the battery level being indicated by a blinking LED, he mentioned his worry regarding the usage of the battery itself.

Their impressions on brand

Christine:

She felt that for a local brand, the Creative Zen Stone is "not too bad". However, she generally finds that Creative is not very reliable. She (inevitably) compared it to Apple and felt that Creative has "less class" as compared to Apple.

Ming Feng:
Contrary to what Christine said, Ming Feng felt that Creative is reliable. Although he is currently a user of an Apple iPod Nano, he felt that Creative is relatively "alright" and would not mind using it.

Kumar:

He compared the Zen Stone to the Apple Shuffle (as it has no display screen either). Assuming both products were of the same price, Kumar actually said he'd choose to buy the Creative Zen Stone as there are more colours to choose from. Colour-wise, Apple is rather limited (not counting the patterned skins available at stores for purchase).

Here's a pictorial comparison between the iPod Shuffle and Zen Stone. Both have no display screens. The shuffle is even smaller!

Your reflection on the product and user reaction

When I began using the Zen Stone, I practically slept with the Quick Start manual. The basic feedback that the player gives is via a LED on the left hand side. There are different coloured lights i.e. green, red and orange. They would either be blinking, be a steady light, or blink 1-3 times. Each different type of blink/ steady light meant different things and called for the user to react differently. For instance, if the LED was blinking red, it would mean there is low battery level and requires the user to charge as soon as possible. No one, absolutely no one, would know this at all! Even for me, as I studied the manual like a textbook of an examinable module, took some time to be used to each indication. In fact, till now, I am still slightly confused!

Just like my friends, I do wish for a display screen to be present! I recall one day when I wanted to listen to this particular song in the whole list of 1GB-worth songs. I had to keep pressing the "right" button (no pun intended!) and listen to the starting of each song before finding that particular song. It contributed to a whole lot of time and energy wasting. By the time I finally got to the song I wanted, I had exhausted the entire playlist and was, myself, too exhausted to enjoy the song.

However, owing to the price and the incredible size of the player, I understand fully why there is no display screen. Perhaps that's why Creative did come up with other Creative Zen Stones with display screens: the Creative Zen Stone Plus. (The latest even comes with built-in speakers now!)

And that's mine, in red, with the display screen (: