Blog 5

 Evaluating the UI with Heuristic Evaluations:

Once the medium-fidelity design was completed, we reviewed Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics to refresh our memories of what they consisted of. With the heuristics fresh in our minds, we were then able to think about how we could improve upon our project based on this design format. From that point, I would say that we used Nielsen's heuristics as a tool to help push us in the right direction. For example, we would compare a heuristic like visibility and then refer back to our project to make sure that it was easy to follow visually, and also to make sure that, from an intuitive standpoint, it was easy to follow from page to page. As we went through each heuristic, we discovered that some were more challenging than others. For me personally, I would say that the most challenging heuristic that we had to work on for our project was user control and freedoms. I felt this was the most challenging because of how far along our medium-fidelity app was. Since it had limited functionality, users were somewhat forced to move along in a certain direction. We fixed this by adding more features and buttons to our high-fidelity app, like more features from the driveway owner's perspective. I noticed a lot of small things that needed some tweaks in our app, but one thing that really stood out was the lack of information about what some of the buttons do. Also, suggestions on what to do on each page. This is something that would also fall under the visibility heuristic. The heuristic that I would say we tended to focus on the most was recognition rather than recall. We felt that we were on the right track using common buttons, map layouts, and a way to choose a time to make an appointment. This made the app feel more intuitive and thus easier for the user to use. We didn't want the user to have to guess what does what. To kind of sum up what the users' experience was once the changes based on the heuristic design were made, I would say that our low fidelity was like a lump of clay with a shape. It was just a basic idea. Then our medium-fidelity was a developed piece of clay that a user was able to use. Nielsen's heuristics were the tools that rounded out the edges and really leveled up our medium fidelity ideas.

Refining Our Design Based on Evaluation:

One critique that we took into consideration was the visibility of system status. It was said that our app's styling was lacking consistency in the colors and the themes. I, too, felt that something was off, but could not put my finger on it. Once this was brought to our attention, it became apparent that it was lacking in consistent styling. This is something that we tackled head-on when it came to working on our high-fidelity app. Something else that was brought to our attention was the navigation bar. It was said that it was confusing. This, I would say, falls in line with the consistency and standards heuristic. Confusion was the major thing that we tried to avoid when it came to the design and flow of our app. That is why this is another critique that we took very seriously and tried to fix. Overall, I would say that our changes did align with the goals that we had set for the user experience. Any critique or recommendation is always useful, and it helps push our app in the right direction. Piece by piece, it was great to see our app progressing and taking shape.

Learning from the Process:

I feel that using the heuristic design made it easier to design something with the user in mind. Without the heuristic design, our app was just being made to be able to function. When we created our low-fidelity and medium-fidelity prototypes, we were just making something that worked without taking other important things into consideration, like using correct words or phrases to match between the system and the real world. As we began to implement the heuristic design, there were many things from that point that I had to keep in mind. I feel that moving forward, I will utilize this design process as another step in completing an app that is not only functional but also something that is easy and appealing for users.

Reflecting on My Career as a Digital Product Designer:

Working on this app has taught me a lot along the way. Before taking this course, I had always been interested in app design, but I did not really know where to start. Now, when I have conversations with my friends outside of school and the topic touches on app design, I reflect on the things that I have learned in this course so far. I describe to them what kind of work is involved, such as initial ideas and feedback then the initial design and then more feedback back and then continuation of this process of design and feedback. I would say that the biggest takeaway would have to be the importance of user feedback. For every step of the process, it is a must to get input from multiple people, preferably from different walks of life. This is because you need to see how potential users of your app will respond to your product. After all, if there were no one to use the app, then there wouldn't be a need for the app.