Application Design - Project 2
24/10/2024 - 28/11/2024 / Week 5 - Week 10
Velicia Raquel Dewi Setiawan | 0369188 | Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Application Design
JUMPLINK:
- Lecture
- Week 5 Card Sorting Method
- Week 6 Introduction to User Experience (UX) Research
- Week 7 UI/UX Design Document: User Personas
- Week 9 UI/UX Design Document: User Journey Map & Digital Card Sorting
- Week 10 UI/UX Design Document: User Journey Map & Digital Card Sorting
- Instruction
- Project 2 UI/UX Design Document
- Feedback
- Reflection
1. LECTURE
Week 5 - F4F (24 Oct 2024)
1. Card Sorting Method
Card sorting is a method used to understand how users group and categorize information. It informs the design of navigation menus, website/app architecture, and content strategies.
Types of Card Sorting
Open Card Sorting
- Users create their own categories.
- Best for understanding intuitive groupings.
Closed Card Sorting
- Users sort cards into predefined categories.
- Useful for testing existing structures.
Hybrid Card Sorting
- Combines open and closed methods for flexibility and insight.
Purpose
- Flexibility: Lets users organize information in their own way.
- Insight: Reveals unexpected groupings and labels.
- User-Centric Design: Aligns structure with real user mental models.
Benefits
- Captures User Language: Helps create intuitive navigation and content structures.
- Identifies Gaps: Highlights areas where categories may be lacking.
- Enhances Creativity: Leads to innovative and user-friendly designs.
Pros
- Easy and Cost-Effective: Minimal setup with basic materials.
- Efficient Data Gathering: Quick collection of valuable feedback.
- Direct User Input: Ensures designs align with user expectations.
Cons
- Participant Dependency: Results depend on users' knowledge and background.
- Content-Centric Focus: Doesn’t assess task flows or interaction.
- Time-Consuming Analysis: Unique categorizations require detailed review.
Class Activity
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| Fig 1.1 Card Sorting, Week 5 (24/10/2024) |
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| Fig 1.1 Card Sorting, Week 5 (24/10/2024) |
Week 6 - F4F (31 Oct 2024)
1. Introduction to User Experience (UX) Research
UX research involves understanding user behaviors, needs, and attitudes through observation and feedback collection.
Value of UX Research
User Benefits
- Provides unbiased insights, independent of company leaders or investors.
- Bridges communication between users and the company.
Business Benefits
- Speeds up product development.
- Reduces redesign costs.
- Improves user satisfaction.
Product Benefits
- Offers insights into user needs and usage patterns.
- Supports design decisions with direct feedback.
- Identifies pain points and opportunities for improvement.
The 5 Steps of UX Research
- Objectives: Identify knowledge gaps to explore.
- Hypotheses: Define assumptions about users.
- Methods: Choose research methods based on constraints.
- Conduct: Collect data using selected methods.
- Synthesize: Validate assumptions, fill knowledge gaps, and uncover design opportunities.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research
Qualitative
- Rich, descriptive data (quotes, observations).
- Identifies trends and insights into user behavior.
- Explores needs and pain points.
Quantitative
- Numerical data (percentages, averages).
- Validates hypotheses and measures usability.
- Provides objective feedback and comparisons.
Research Methods
Interviews
- Explore user attitudes and experiences.
- Analyze verbal and nonverbal cues for deeper insights.
Online Surveys
- Collect user preferences, demographics, and opinions.
- Efficient but may not fully reflect real user behaviors.
Usability Testing
- Observes users performing tasks to identify issues and assess satisfaction.
- Focused on qualitative insights, with smaller sample sizes.
Sample Usability Tasks
Account Management
- Create/log into an account, update profile, change password.
Navigation
- Explore the home screen, locate the menu, access settings.
Feature Usage
- Perform key actions (e.g., log a workout, search for a product).
Week 7 - F4F (7 Nov 2024)
1. UI/UX Design Document: User Personas
Purpose of User Personas
- Define and address real user problems effectively.
- Understand user needs, behaviors, and motivations.
- Guide strategic design decisions for more user-centered solutions.
Qualities of an Effective User Persona
Use Real Data
- Incorporate data from surveys, interviews, and customer stories.
- Ensure personas are based on current, accurate information.
Focus on the Present
- Back every detail with observed or collected data.
- Avoid stereotypes or assumptions.
Context-Specific
- Include relevant, product-specific information.
- Exclude unnecessary or unrelated details.
Avoid Biases
- Base personas on behaviors, thoughts, and motivations, not superficial demographics.
- Use neutral names and images to prevent stereotypes.
Key Components of a User Persona
Demographics
- Age, gender, occupation, education, income, and location.
Personality Traits
- Values, attitudes, and beliefs influencing decision-making.
Goals and Objectives
- Define success metrics and what the user aims to achieve (personal or professional).
Behavioral Information
- Habits, preferences, and interaction patterns with products or services.
Needs and Pain Points
- Identify gaps, frustrations, and problems the user wants to solve.
Scenarios and Use Cases
- Describe situations where the persona interacts with your product and tasks they aim to complete.
User Quotes
- Include direct quotes from interviews or surveys to provide authentic insights.
Week 9 - F4F (21 Nov 2024)
1. UI/UX Design Document: User Journey Map & Digital Card Sorting
User Journey Map
Purpose
- Visualizes the step-by-step experience a user undergoes to achieve a goal.
- Lists actions users take to accomplish tasks.
Benefits
- Provides an overview of the entire user journey for designers and stakeholders.
- Encourages empathy by highlighting user emotions and pain points.
- Identifies opportunities for improving user experience.
Creation Process
- Conduct user research through interviews, observations, or task analysis.
- Identify and arrange user actions in a chronological order.
- Build the journey map as a clear, visual document.
Structure of a User Journey Map
- User Persona: Define the user (e.g., Joselyn – a traveler planning a vacation).
- Scenario: The user's goal or context (e.g., planning a week-long trip to Italy).
- Goals: Outline the user’s objectives (e.g., creating an itinerary, booking, managing plans).
- Phases: Break down the journey into stages (e.g., awareness, research, booking, travel).
- Actions & Behaviors: List steps users take in each phase.
Week 10 - F4F (28 Nov 2024)
1. UI/UX Design Document: User Journey Map & Digital Card Sorting
What is a Site Map?
A blueprint that shows how each page relates to the web/app’s hierarchy, helping organize content meaningfully and guiding user navigation.
What is User Flow?
The step-by-step path a user follows to achieve a specific goal, from starting point to completion.
Why Use User Flow Diagrams?
1. Design Precision
- Maps the exact sequence of screens/pages for clear and logical navigation.
- Ensures users know their current position and next steps.
2. Proactive Issue Detection
- Identifies potential pain points before users experience frustration.
- Example: Detecting a step in a login process requiring excessive input.
3. Unified Team Vision
- Acts as a shared blueprint for designers, developers, and managers.
- Provides a clear visual language for cross-team understanding.
4. Facilitates User Testing
- Creates scenarios for testing user flows (e.g., a checkout process).
- Allows testers to evaluate ease of use and provide actionable feedback.
5. Refines User Experience
- Enables iterative improvements for maximum user satisfaction.
2. INSTRUCTION
3. Project 2 - UI/UX Design Document
1. User Research
Survey
For the survey, I based it on a previous student survey and adjusted it to fit my music app. After getting it approved by Mr., I sent it out on WhatsApp groups and Teams. I even resorted to messaging a lot of strangers in the Taylor’s Uni group to help fill the survey due to limited time. Most people didn’t respond, but it was enough to get more than the minimum of 50 responses.
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Fig 3.1 Survey, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
During the analysis, not gonna lie, it was very tedious to analyze every single question since I had made a lot of questions for the survey. I started to regret that. But after a while, I got the hang of it and finished it, though it took a lot of slides.
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| Fig 3.2 Survey, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
Interviews
For the interview with Jia, I’ll be honest, her answers were similar to mine—probably because we’re both design students and trained to recognize things like mismatched colors, layout issues, and so on. She suggested improvements from a designer's perspective, which makes sense because design students often fixate on visual aspects first before anything else.
For my next interview, I wanted to find people who don’t have much experience in design to see how they feel about it. So, I decided to interview people from other majors to explore how their background might impact their feedback.
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| Fig 3.3 Interviews, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
The interview with Keren, a Mass Comm student, gave me a lot of thoughts. She provided many suggestions, examples, and real-life references—fitting for a Mass Comm major. I asked a little about her life, and she mentioned often being tasked with impromptu presentations and public speaking. This interview took much longer than others, but I’m grateful for it.
English isn’t her first language, so I felt like she had some trouble explaining what she wanted to say. My English probably lacked clarity, which might also have caused her to misinterpret my questions. Unexpectedly, she talked about how the app’s Play Store preview (icon, visuals, and layout) can influence whether someone installs the app. This insight will be helpful for the user journey later. She focused more on the app’s features than its design aspects.
Although she wasn’t well-versed in design lingo (e.g., layout, fonts, colors), she used terms like “vibe” and “feeling” instead. It was up to me as the designer to interpret and translate her feedback into actionable improvements. She asked a lot of questions too and didn’t really provide the design-focused feedback I was looking for. She also kept complaining about the app, regardless of the question, which made me curious. I ended up asking follow-up questions, enabling her to talk more about unrelated stuff. She gave many suggestions about customization and extra features without being prompted and even compared the app to Spotify on her own.
One thing I learned from her is that, besides usability, personalization is a key aspect of a music app. Music is personal to users, and it would be good if the app interface could fulfill that need as well.
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| Fig 3.4 Interviews, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
The interview with Amrin, a psychology student, provided answers that I think most people would give—general and straightforward. She didn’t give much detail compared to the others. However, I was surprised by her ability to describe things like “cultured” or “stuffy,” which are terms I’d expect design students to use. Perhaps it’s a psychology thing—being able to articulate feelings clearly.
She seemed worried about offending anyone with different preferences, but I reassured her that the interview was focused on her own opinions.
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| Fig 3.5 Interviews, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
For the question “What do you usually do with a music app and what do you expect from it?” I intended it to help build user personas and specific scenarios.
During these interviews, I realized that people often answered my later questions before I even asked them—particularly when it came to comparing the app to others. This might be because the starting question asked what they used their current music app for in daily life. Naturally, they complained about the Music app having fewer features and less appealing design compared to others.
Another thing I noticed during the analysis was that I wished I had asked more in-depth follow-up questions for certain answers. Most of the issues mentioned were repeated across different aspects of the app. There were specific problems where I feel like interviewees could’ve provided deeper solutions, but instead, I had only asked for general suggestions.
User Persona
For the user personas, I based them on the interviewees’ desires and wants. The first one was based on Jia, the second on Amrin, and the third on Keren—though their characteristics were pointed toward specific traits. Mr. also suggested that I add pictures to the personas, which I did later on.
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| Fig 3.6 Interviews, Week 9 (21/11/2024) |
User Journey
For the journey, I chose scenarios that could mostly be achieved with features already in the app. I used Miro because I figured it was easier to list multiple short points in each section rather than writing long paragraphs. It also looked cleaner and more structured.
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| Fig 3.7 User Journey, Week 10 (28/11/2024) |
2. Information Architecture
Card Sorting
For the card sorting, I finally got all the respondents near the deadline due to my procrastination. I decided to do two-step card sorting because the app has quite a lot of features. The analysis wasn’t too bad—it was straightforward—but I was disappointed that there were four ties in the number of responses, which made it confusing where to place certain features. Most respondents scored features as 5 or 4, which isn’t far from half of the 7 respondents, so there’s a chance the preferences might be inaccurate.
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| Fig 3.8 Card Sorting, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
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| Fig 3.9 Card Sorting, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
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| Fig 3.10 Card Sorting, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
Information Architecture
Building the information architecture was a bit tricky because I gave more categories than the app initialy have. This led to a lot of overlap, and the architecture ended up being more complex than I had expected. Despite this, I used the results to organize the app’s features and structure.
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| Fig 3.11 Information Architecture, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
User Flow Chart
For the user journey, I actually made it based on the current app before doing the card sorting because I knew there wouldn’t be enough time if I put it off later. The problem was that I had to rearrange most things due to the card sorting results, which messed up my carefully placed arrows, so I had to redo them. This made the Miro chart very confusing, even with the grouping help.
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| Fig 3.12 Information Architecture, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
3. MVP Features
MVP Features
I identified the MVP features through the survey and interview findings. The key features that users found most important were: Personalized Recommendations (including online search and downloads), Playlist Management, Social Sharing, and Community. These features reflect what users want most in a music app and will form the foundation for future app redesign.
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| Fig 3.13 MVP Features, Week 10 (2/12/2024) |
4. Final Submmision
Survey
Interview
User Journey Map
Card Sorting
Information Architecture
User Flow Chart
4. Feedback
Week 9:
General Feedback:
- The interview only needs 3 people, not 5.
- Mr. said to add a conclusion for each section of the survey.
- The user journey needs a possible solution added to it.
Specific Feedback:
- The questions for the survey and interview are good. I can continue with it.
Week 10:
General Feedback:
- Add the interview video and Miro flowchart link in the slides.
- The MVP features will be the base for the scenario in future user testing, so I need to take them into consideration.
Specific Feedback:
- The conclusion for each section of the survey needs to be more structured.
- Mr. said I needed to make my survey conclusions more structured and add pictures to the user personas.
- He also emphasized that the personas should be based on the interviews.
- For the user journey, since my app relies on another app to be useful, Mr. suggested some pain points and solutions to include in that section.
5. Reflection
1. Experience
Overall, this experience has been quite tiring due to my own fault, but during the tedious parts of analysis, creating the user persona, and flow charts, I really began to understand the reason behind all this user research. When I start to make the app wireframe later, I will already have the app structure and features in mind. I now know what is more important and what is not as essential. I’m really grateful for this assignment.
2. Observation
The user research that caters to the users really proved to be true when I did my research. Even though Mr. already presented us with a whole PowerPoint presentation on what we should cater to and ask the user—not the designer—when making a design, I still thought that my own opinion and preference would be enough. After all, I listen to music every day too, so what I want would probably be what other people want. But from the research, I found that people use their music apps for different reasons and have preferences that are different from mine.
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