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100 things Every Designer Needs to Know about People

This is book written by Susan Weinschenk. The aim is to help designers understand people and how can improve your designs. In this book there is a combination of both science and research with examples to give the designer an ultimate guide to design. There is a lot of points you can take away from this book and use in real world.

This book will therefore help you the designer to design more innovated and appealing apps, websites and products that will meet users needs through a way they think, decided, and behave.

This book answer particular questions such as:

What grabs the user’s attention?

How to make my products stick in people minds?

Are some fonts better than others?

This book goes into depth about all your queries.

I would highly recommend reading this especially if you are student or new frist time UX or Graphic designer/ developer. It is a very good book and may give some great tips to improve greatly your design. This book is visually appealing and breaks down the content easily to help people understand.

I’ve learned so much from reading this and will continue looking out for similar books on this topic. This has helped me to enhance my knowledge in this area and hopefully can take it into my own designs.

Aesthetic-Usability Effect

Another common Law of Ux design is called “Aesthetic-Usability Effect.”

This law states that users often perceive aesethetically pleasing design as design that’s more usable.

Key points:

1. An asethetically pleasing design creates an postive impact on users and make’s the overall design seem better
2. People are more tolerant of minor issues when a product or service is nicely design.
3. Visually pleasing design can mask usability problems and prevent issues being discovered by users.

Origins 

In 1995 researchers Massaaki Kurosu and Kaori Kashimura were the founders of Law. They carried out study by testing users to rate each design on the use and appeal of a website. They discovered users rather a visual appealing interface, even if they had underlying problems. 

Reflection

Aesthetic-Usability Effect is important to consider in design. This can determine why other products or sites are perferred over yours. Its important to use this law effiectly in order to make my site/ or app eye catching and visually effective to my targert audience. The more interactive effects, colour and images I use the more likely user will continue to view my site and keep them interested.

Gestalt Principles are principles that describe how humans group similar elements, recongise patterns and simplify complex images when we perecieve objects. UX Designs commonly use the principles to orgainse content on a websites to make it visiually appealing and user friendly.

Origin

These principles were discovered in the 1920s by germany Pyschologists Max Wertheimer,Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. According to this “the mind informs what they see by perceiving a series of indivual elements as whole”

The Word Gestalt is German for “Unified whole”

Today graphic and UX Designers have adopted these principles to help them with their overall designs to help capture the eye of the users by adding in visual elements.

The main principles are:

• Promoxity
• Similairity
• Continunity
• Closure
• Perception
• Organization
• Symmetry
• Common Fate

Reflection

As a Ux Designers it’s important to know these principles and I will do my best to try to incorporate these into my design work in order to improve my user’s expereince. I will do my best to make my users feel comfortable when they first click on my website by creating a lasting impression. The users needs are essential in industry. We must strive to towards satifying their needs. These principles will help us to acheive it.

Tesler’s Law

Another law to look at in UX Design is Tesler’s Law which can be found in the Laws of UX Book.

Tesler’s Law states that “any system there is a certain amount of complexity which cannot be reduced.”

Key points to takeaway are:

1. Is such a function required
2. Balance the difficulty
3. Reduce the burden on users during the design and development stages of your design
4. Make sure the system is simplified to a point.

Origins

During the 1980’s Larry Telser a computer scientist discovered the way in which users interact with an application, was just as important as the application itself. Larry Telser said in an interview that enigneer should spend time reducing the complexity of an application rather than making users spend alot longer using a program.

If an application is simple to user they will continue to use it and attempt more complex tasks.

Above is a diagram which explains the basics of Tesler’s Law

Reflection 

I think this Law is very important in UX Design. I will learn from this law and reduce the complexity of my webite and application to help improve my user’s experience using this product. I will make a huge effort to work hard during the design and development in order to make it smoother and simplifer process for users to use efficently.

Today’s lecture was preparing us for the final push on Healhcare App Project in order to have it handed in by the deadline.

Paul started off class running through a tutorial on, “how to create our own buttons or compontents. He advised once we made them we could build up a component libary and reuse them in furture projects. By doing this you can keep the same button but change the colour and design easily.

Laws of Ux

Users often perceive aesthetically pleasing design.

The design is not just what it looks and feels like. “Steve Jobs”

Orgins 1995 by Kurosu and Kashimura.

Daniel Kahneman- “Thinking fast and slow”

Task 1

For our 1st task in class, we were given sample text on Hick’s Law and had to structure the content according. Paul asked us to use the typescale guide on Material.io to help us with this to task.

Here is the design I came up with. I choose the quicksand typeface. I experimented with different shades of blue for the headings, background and buttons. I wanted to give the content a clean and simple look.

Automatic Cognitive Processing

System 1

• Intuitions
• Feelings
• Intentions
• Impressions

System 2

• Focus
• Research
• Searching Memory
• Mathematical Operations
• Suitational Awareness

Apple are a great example of using Automatic Cognitive Processing to interest their audience.

People will judge on the first 55 millseconds of seeing a product. Therefore it is important to make first impressions count.

Usability testing is great as it demostrate how a user uses my product.

Gestalt Principle was introduced in 1920’s. These include:

• Promoxity
• Simialrity
• Conitinty
• Closure
• Common Fate
• Figure ground

Task 2 

We were asked to create a card compotent with Google’s Material Design based on our favourite/ most recent book we read. The dimensions were 350px times by 480px.

Here’s my design I came up with. The book I choose was “Once Upon A Tyne: Our Story Celerbating 30 years together on telly.” I give a brief desciption of the book and creating two buttons.

Mental Models/ Congintivte load

What to take away:

• Carryout usability testing
• Content Audits
• Labbelling
• user Research
• User Interviews
• Card sorting

Resources

Material.io

Reflection

Overall after this week’s lecture I feel more confident creating buttons and structuring my work. This will help me with my HealthCare App become successful.

I read an article called “Tomorrow’s Narrative.”

The tomorrow’s narrative is a technique commonly used when brainstorming ideas for a specific project. When using this technique, it’s important to think outside the box and be as creative and innovative as possible in writing.

Tomorrow’s narrative is based on the idea of writing fictional articles that replicate the moment in which a product or service will be launched in the market. Consider how this service will be introduced to potential users. What values and features will be highlighted? Who is going to talk about it?

Writing and sharing articles with the project team during the ideation phase can help you explore different possibilities.

This article here can be replaced with a video or any everything to help communicate the project in the moment to the potential users.

Reflection

I feel this is an interesting technique I can use when during the early stages of my project. I may consider using this.

These empathy map were designed to get a better understanding of my users in what they think, does, sees and feels when using an app. By doing this I can tailor my product to suit the users needs. This App will benefit the patients and carers in order to help them provide better health care.

I now know what the user may be feeling when using a product before using my app and how I can ease their worries. I will make sure their process is easy and user friendly.

I hope by doing this I can make a app that reaches everyone’s needs.

PDF Empathy Maps:

Lorraine- Empathy Map

May- Empathy map

User Personas

I created three different user persona’s, based on my user research from three indiviuals that would benefit from a health care app.

I asked them their interests, influences, goals, motivations, pain points/frustrations, needs/expections from the app.

The First Person I asked was the carer.

Carer User persona

The carer wants to carry out their duties with the service user and is able to input information quickly and efficently so they can spend more time with the service user rather than taking ages using the app.

2. The Family Member

Annette

Following my research on the family member, Annette was looking for an app that was quick and easy to use. This means she could give feedback to the other family members on her mothers care.

3. Elderly Service User

Eldery Persona Mary

The elderly woman wants the best quality health care provided by the carers. This app can help them.

Reflection

I think this research gathered we help me design an app that would cater to all 3 of the users needs and meet their expectations and goals.

During my developing and planning phase of my health care app I designed a User Journey Map, Site Map and empathy Map.

User Journey Map

The User Journey Map talks about the different stages of user’s journey currently and while using my app. I explained about the actions, questions, pain points and opportunities of each of their users.

So I spoke about their current suitation at the moment before they needed the app. I broke down the different steps the user takes when caring for their patients. I thought their was an opportunity to improve the users experience by creating a user friendly app for the carers to help and care for patients/clients.

I looked at different suitations, possible questions and opportunities I could come up to help with planning idea’s for my app.

By doing this user Journey Map was able to discover things such as their happy moments and pain points. This allowed me to find out things the users likes and things I should include and try to avoid when creating my app. For example if the app was inaccture then user wouldn’t be interested in using it.

User Flow Map

Site Map

I first designed my sitemap on paper then developed it my figma. This is basically the breakdown of steps what the user will do to potenitally use this app efficently.

When designing my app it’s very important I make the process is and consider their needs. By doing this, I have clearer image in my mind of what the user will do when on my app. I started off by downloading the app, then go to sign up then login in and so on.

Component 1

Reflection

Once I completed this, I feel I have a much better understanding of the users which will help when designing my app. I discovered thing’s about the user and what I could do make my app as useful as possible

Todays class was a group crtique/ presentation. Each of us had a brief opportunity to talk about our work to class by showing the presentation slides. We also recieved some critical and helpful feedback.

From the feedback I received I have a good bit of work to do to improve my design.

Below is a screenshot of the feedback recieved from the class:

Reflection

I think the class thought my concept for my healthcare app was good but maybe i could work on body copy and content. I must make sure everything is aligned and stuctured apporitately. The user persona’s were good but make them more clearly and add a real life person. I thought this feedback was very useful and hopefully help improve my overall app and design. I’m really pleased Paul liked my idea. Obviously there is bits and pieces I need to improve and brush up on but I’m confident I’ll get there.