Heuristic Evaluation

Hello You Beautifully Realistic World, 

This week has been about learning and applying. usability.gov and nngroup.com, went over the importance of good design by teaching its' readers the ten heuristic principles. For instance, when considering a good design, it is good to consider not just how the user will interact with the system/software but how the system/software will communicate with the user. While conducting an heuristic evaluation on an assignment, it was demonstrated how imperative it is for users to be are able to seamlessly get through a web site, with minimal confusion. 

For instance, one of the things that I addressed was the lack of help and documentation being offered to the users. It did not offer FAQs and the help that it did offer was a "Contact Us" form; As Kevin Kelly mentioned, society is looking for immediate responses (an hour to twenty-four hour wait is too long). Instead of "Contact Us" forms, I would suggest to do a chat option that shows status as to when it is read and when it is being responded to. Another issue that I came across was that it took too many different web pages to get to a particular task (which was to submit a paper). I think that the mid web site was unnecessary and if any necessary information was on it, it should be address on the origin page or the destination page. 

Confirmations shown via web page and email portrays visibility of status, google date imports makes it that a user can save a date to a calendar with a minimum of two clicks. Errors were communicated  to the user when required fields were not filled; when re-registering, it was able to state that the email was already associated with a previous attempt. The homepage highlighted the conference through effective graphic design trends.

While going through this evaluation, it does make sense that it would take more than one person to participate. It does take more than one pair of eyes to point out different violations; some may believe that certain characteristic may not be a problem but others might. It could be that some may suffer from expert blindness and that could keep them from thinking as an average user. 

"We have to accept human behavior the way it is, not the way we would wish it to be" 

Don Norman

Dreamweaver CSS and Web Design

Hello You Beautifully Realistic World,

This week has been a struggle so I'm sorry for my blog being typed up at the photo finish.

While reading this weeks' chapters in Dreamweaver CS5, I realized that I have already applied CSS and prematurely played with choosing layouts with multiple frames in Lab 1 and 2 (Chapter 12 of Dreamweaver). With the 2nd lab, it was very confusing because I did not understand the concept of different frames being their own pages, in a sense. It was only until I clicked on the Home Page link (without added a target) and my home page was nested in the side frame. I didn't like it at first but I did like how I applied it to my family page; if you click on one of my family members, only the mainframe will change and simulates being on the same main Mi Familia page.

Working within these last chapters, I was getting familiar with borders, fonts, px, creating classes, inline, tags, tables and much more; on my Lab 3 page, it looks like a mess but it applies much to what I learned with a mix of my sarcasm (I do like do give people something to lightly chuckle over).

The struggle I did have was in Chapter 8, in the section of "To modify your navigation" which was cause by my confusion with "Laying Out Your Page" section. I did not understand the logo situation in Step 6, which left that practice page a bit of a mess towards the end.

While researching and looking at the prototypes of Xiang Tea, I saw many web designs choices that embrace simplicity and minimalism while others were bold, confusing and alluring(Please click here to see some trends). A site needs to be easy to interact with, both readability and navigational wise. It needs to be attractive through its illustration, its font and multimedia features. With all of this being considered, white space needs to calculated. A site cannot be clustered or a user will feel bombarded and will not know where to start.

It was so much to take in but do NOT GIVE UP. Each week gets us closer to becoming fluent users.

Goodnight!

Images with Dreamweaver

Hey Beautifully Realistic World,

I'm here to post a bit of my Dreamweaver experience. Going through the chapters and the exercises, I felt myself becoming more skilled at creating the web page and I felt ease (with certain handlings) interacting with the software.

I actually did some modules on the freecodecamp.org so I undestood most of the coding side of the page (which I recommend everybody to do on their spare time). It felt like this class and that training came together and I was seeing immediate results.  I made my pages connect, multi-frames on a page (which was tricky at first), edit images and so much more.

My main freestyle lab work focus on our solar system and the wonders. I can't believe that I made an interactive map (which I shared with my husband and son and they taught I was a genius). I actually altered an image of a tree with Photoshop and realized that I might need to watch some more tutorials.

My struggles came along when I had to hunt down SFW and FLA videos in order to add that to the web site. I was not able to find a flash video but I was able to put animation onto my page. Another struggle was the positioning my images. The clockwise method did not work in my favor.

Overall, I like the hands on education and certainly hope that I am able to get better at it, as well as get more exposure to the software.

Hoping for a hopeful future; stay safe and good night!

Hello You Beatifully Realistic World

Hello You Beautifully Realistic World,

My name is Dominique (most call me Michie) and I am a nerd and a geek.

I love learning, anime, cartoons (I even watch some with my kids), video games, comics, and I go to different conventions. 

I have heard the following growing up (and recently):

"Isn't anime for kids?"

"Why do you play video games at your age?"

"I can't watch something that I need subtitles to get through."

"You're too old to like this type of stuff."

ANIME AND VIDEO GAMES ARE FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS (and I hope the people in the back row can read this). I know a few games and anime that many would drop their jaws over and ban your kids from watching. They're also places of knowledge.

Anime has taught people the benefits of having loyal people by your side (One Piece).

Anime has taught that through despair, you need to still reach for hope (Danganronpa).

Video games has taught me that you can't run from your past (Red Dead Redemption).

Video games has taught me that with patience comes great reward (Sims).

Cartoon has taught me to forgive and let go (Amazing World of Gumball).

These hobbies have brought together the old, the young, beginners, veterans, and all races under one roof.

If you call me a nerd or a geek, I consider it a compliment and wear the title as a badge of honor!

Goodnight!

UX and Methods

IT and Informatics is basically the technical focus of customer service. In order for me to create this blog, I had to follow a few directions in order to make sure that I logged in, set up my blog page and to start creating a blog. Even as I type, I am surrounded by familiar icons that make this platform a welcoming environment; even if I was unfamiliar with any of the icons, hovering over them with the mouse will reveal their function. Site/app designs focuses on their users and their ability to seamlessly navigate a web page with little to no effort on their end to find information and/or perform a task.

UX/UI focuses on understanding the audience and business goals. Factors that drive UX drive the success of web/mobile app (useful, desirable, usable, valuable, accessible, findable and credible). Designing needs to focus on the predictability and adaptability of users when it comes to layout and site level structure. Users will subconsciously compare a web site or mobile app to the thousands of web sites that they have previously visited; the customer should be able to find the information that they need and/or complete a transaction with little or zero assistance.

On the business standpoint, creating a web site/app follows the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle) via Project Management cycle. It involves feasibility analysis/project planning (communication and confirmation of goals/requirements, budget, scope, resources, technology, team members and their responsibilities, scheduling etc.). It works on user search (use cases, user scenarios, marketing research on other designs, accessibility, focus groups, etc). In the design and development phases, it works on aesthetics of the page and testing throughout the process (logical and physical DFD, visual designs, interactive features, how the information is presented, how the data is collected, site and file structure, wireframing, user input, follow-up interviews, prototypes). Implementation and maintenance focuses on user and business feedback and upgrading (evaluation, reporting, updating).

Page design and construction doesn't end once the site has been built; a business could add another process that can be automated. A new trend is sweeping the field and the page needs to stay with the tide. Hyperlinks may need to be updated and processes may need to be deleted. Maintenance is part of the success of a web site.