Prologue
This week we looked at sketching, it is one of the fundamental things any designer should do and constantly doing them can and will improve your workflow and overall quality of work. This is one of the reasons why we should do sketches as part of our workflow.
Sketching is has many reasons why it is a good idea.
- Great for communicating ideas
- Visually interesting
- It enables better collaboration
- Can help build up your drawing skills
- It can be quick and easy to draw simple layouts
Sketching Exercises
We were given a sketching task as a warmup exercise. We where given 6 icons to draw which where a camera, house, magnifying glass, speech bubble, a lock, and a heart. We would do 3 sets, all done in different times. First, we were given 20 seconds, then 10, then 5. This little task showed me how quick and easy sketching can be, even with 5 seconds per image they can still be legible to know what they are.
Next we were then given the task to practice sketching wireframes. Firstly we would do the Instagram profile page, then smartwatch screens, and lastly the Instagram layout on a desktop.
Millar’s Law
This week, we looked into another UX law, which was Millar’s Law. Miller’s Law states that the number of objects an average person can hold in working memory is about seven, also known as The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two. In 1956, George Miller asserted that the span of immediate memory and absolute judgment were both limited to around 7 pieces of information. The main unit of information is the bit, the amount of data necessary to make a choice between two equally likely alternatives. Likewise, 4 bits of information is a decision between 16 binary alternatives (4 successive binary decisions). The point where confusion creates an incorrect judgment is the channel capacity. In other words, the quantity of bits which can be transmitted reliably through a channel, within a certain amount of time.