Happy Hour iPhone app Personas

Thumbnail sketches Happy hour app

Happy hour app

Thoughts on elements needed for Happy Hour app:

Device :            iPhone 4

Screen specs:

Portrait:            640 x 960 pixels

Landscape:            960 x 640 pixels

Device orientation: vertical primarily but can be used horizontaly

App software type: iOS app            iOS SDK to run natively on iPhone4

What is the primary task?

·      Help users locate nearby happy hours as well as specials offered.

What page elements need to exist to perform this task?

Main page

·      Local map that shows locations of nearby happy hours

·      Locations shown by drink icon

·      Rating system on rollover

Selected Location page

·      Bar/pub info:

o   name

o   location

o   hours

·      Deals: separated into food and drinks

·      How to get there:

o   Directions (nav style?)

o   Distance- estimated walking time

·      Community feedback

o   Comments

o   Ratings

o   Enter feedback

What elements need to be highlighted in order for the user to be able perform the main task easily and efficiently?

Main element is the map that is generated from user location data and database of happy hours. The rollover effect will give the user a snapshot of feedback and the best deal from the bar.

What are secondary tasks that can be performed with the app?

The secondary tasks are aiding the user decide on which of the nearby locations would their best option, based on happy hour times, the deals available, and user feedback ratings. After deciding on where to go the user will get help in navigating to the location. Finally the user may leave feedback to help other users in their happy hour decisions.

Ideas for iPhone app

Concepts for iPhone App:

1.     Dive bar app- An application that allows you to locate dive bars nearby, by using your location to ascertain the closest dive bar. Also allows you to rate the dive-iness of different bars and keeps a scoring system so you know how the bar you want to go to rates among dive bars.

2.     Event finder app- An application that syncs up with web calendars from sites like Seattle Weekly, The Stranger, Seattle Times, seattle.gov, ticketmaster, brown paper tickets, events.king5.com, www.cityofseattle.net, www.iloveseattle.org. The app also allows you to do searches for events as well as sets reminders for items such as: event date, as well as times when tickets go on sale. The app will also allow you to purchase tickets and will display the barcode for scanning when entering an event.

3.     Happy Hour app- An application that allows users to locate the nearest happy hour. This app is time and location focused so you will know when and where the best happy hours are. This app has a rating system so users can give feedback for other users. The app also gives ballpark drink pricing to help users find the best happy hour.

Week 8 Readings

Steven Krug’s final chapter “Help my boss wants me to _______” was one of my favorite chapters because he lays out how to explain to the upper brass in a company why their ideas may not be the best for the website that you are developing for them. I agree with his reasoning that too much personal data is invasive and makes me feel dubious of the website I am visiting when they are asking for this excessive information. “Are they selling this info? Will I get tons of spam?” these are some questions that come to mind when I am asked for more that the essentials in terms of personal data. I also agree with the notion that upper brass wants websites to have excessive pizzaz when this is not always necessary. The extra flashy elements can be a distraction as  well as increase load times for web pages. I like how Steve used a generic email format to address these questions. It seems that these two problems are very common and having dealt with a boss that wants something added to what you are designing that is not necessarily in sync with the design that you have been developing and having to tell them this is difficult.

http://www.microsoft.com/business/en-us/resources/management/employee-relations/how-do-you-tell-the-boss-hes-wrong.aspx#Howdoyoutellthebossheswrong

http://www.wikihow.com/Disagree-with-Your-Boss

http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Human-resources-and-labor-relations/How-to-tell-your-boss-hes-wrong-Emotional-maturity-an-important-executive-quality.html

Week 7 Readings

I found the iOS Human Interface Guidelines to be very helpful when laying out the concepts for our iPhone app project. I find it interesting how specific Apple is when setting out specifications for app developers. This makes sense since Apple and the apps all have a very similar feel. What I found really useful was how to go about conceptualizing the app based on what the user needs to accomplish. I found that having this as a starting point really helped with decisions of what were the primary task and what we would need to incorporate into the app for the user to have a successful experience. The element user guidelines really helped with how the look of elements needs to be consistent to fit within the Apple feel. The custom icon and image creation guidelines really help to take a lot of the guess work in term of what elements need to be sized to and how they will be incorporated into the app.

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/iPhone/iOSGetStarted00.aspx

http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/10_useful_resources_every_ios_developer

http://oleb.net/

Week 6 Readings

Steven Krug’s chapter 10 “Usability as a common courtesy” was about the reservoir of good will that people have coming into a new site and how to avoid depleting this reservoir by doing things that are helpful for users and avoiding things that will annoy users. The reservoir idea reminded me of this x-girlfriend I had that would talk about as she called it “The trust bank”. It is basically the same idea as the good will reservoir but based around trust. You add to the bank whenever you do things that are considered trusting and you withdraw from this bank whenever you do things that are negative or untrustworthy. I think the illustration on page 162 was a good way to illustrate this but what I found to be missing was that the last two images could have been stronger if the bar went below the neutral line and actually turned red to show a level of anger or frustration for the user.

Steven Krug’s chapter 11 “Accessibility CSS and you” is about how CSS (cascading style sheets) can be used to design websites for people with accessibility issues. It also describes how design for accessibility is not just about making websites that visually challenged users can access but about how a well designed website s easier for people with disabilities as well as for normal users.

http://www.nyargle.com/2010/04/is-your-web-site-helpful-courteous-and-well-mannered/

http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/image-alt-text.shtml

http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

E-commerce project statement

Develop an organized website by containing Ling’s eccentricity to a section of each page. Incorporate textures, materials and themes from the auto industry into site elements.

Ecommerce Wireframes

Ecommerce thumbnail sketches

Week 5 Readings

Steven Krug’s chapter 8 “The farmer and the cowman” is about the different personnel involved in creating a website. These different individuals have backgrounds that influence the way they believe a website should work. Individuals like PM, Developer, Designer, and Marketing have their own set agendas that needs to be evaluated when coming to a consensus in web development. Most web teams have a myth that there is an “Average user” and that if they can design to meet the needs of this user then the website will be functional. The truth is that there is no real “Average user” and that everyone uses and interacts with a website differently. This is why the next chapter on usability testing becomes such an important factor.
Chapter 9 “Why didn’t we do this sooner” is about effective yet inexpensive ways to do usability testing. Often teams try to do usability testing towards the end of a project when the site is about to go live. This is not the correct approach. It is better to do even small amounts of testing very early because this can have more of an impact in saving time and money by correcting mistakes before the mistakes are really entrenched in the website. The author was also very adamant about making a distinction between focus groups (small group of people asked to give reactions to a design or ideas) and usability testing (one on one testing of the functionality of a website). Many development teams still feel that usability testing is cost prohibitive but this is not the case. You can run test with 3-4 (anyone) people multiple times rather than with costly (representative) that must be recruited. The main point of the chapter is test early and often with smaller numbers of testers rather than one time with large numbers of testers.
http://www.infodesign.com.au/usabilityresources
http://www.noupe.com/how-tos/usability-testing-toolkit-resources-articles-and-techniques.html
http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/09/10/usability-tools-podcast-5-second-usability-tests/

portfolio website pdf

Jesse

E-commerce Mood Board

Week 4 Reading Comments and Links

Steven Krug’s chapter 6 ”The home page is beyond your control” is about, as you can probably guess, the homepage. Primarily how the homepage should function in order properly use all the different components that the homepage has to accommodate. All homepages are different but the following should be included in a well-designed home page: site identity (who am I), site hierarchy (what’s important), search (where can I find), short cuts (sub-nav for things that are most popular in the site).
Also depending on the type of site a designer will include: registration (members login), deals (what’s on sale now), special content (the topic of the day/week). With all this different type of content location becomes key. The better real estate is above the fold where users will not have to scroll down to find additional content. Tag lines can clue a user to what the site is by giving a general brief statement that describe the site. Directing a user with clear and consistent navigation makes it easier for the user to perform tasks within the website. Also laying out a site with clear starting points for users will also make it easier for the user to perform tasks within the website.

http://www.yahoo.com/

http://www.apple.com/

http://www.amazon.com/

Week 3 Reading and links

Steven Krug’s chapter 6 “Street signs and bread crumbs” is all about navigation. The street signs part of the title primarily deals with site navigation in how a user navigates within a website. How a website is navigated I dependant on whether or not a user is a search first “ user or if the user is more of a “find it myself” user. Search first users locate and target the search function on a homepage as their first priority. They then enter their query information into the search query field in order to locate the information they are looking for as quickly as possible. Depending on the complexity of the site and the complexity of the search, this may be the easiest way to locate information. Users that are “find it myself” users are more dependent on categorized layouts. Layouts may have top bar navigation (sometimes laid out in tabs), sidebar navigation, and lower bar navigation. As a user navigates deeper into a website they need to know where they are incase they need to go back. Breadcrumbs are a way to orient a user by adding a string of text (usually linked to other pages an located at the top of the page in smaller text) that shows the user where they have gone within the site hierarchy. Breadcrumbs are a websites “you are here” locator.

The links below show navigation as well as breadcrumbs as I have clicked into the websites.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Computers/270/cat.html

http://www.soccer.com/Navigation.process?Ne=284&Srp=24&N=4294960675+4294959027+4294960152+285

http://computers.shop.ebay.com/PC-Laptops-Netbooks-/177/i.html?rt=nc&Type=Laptop%252FNotebook&_dmpt=Laptops_Nov05&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

Week 2 Reading

Its seems that one of the main themes in Krug’s “Don’t make me think” book is how users  are just zipping through pages and need information in the easiest manner available to process by scanning. The importance of a good hierarchy can aid users in determining what information is higher level content and what information is lower level content.  Designers can also aid users by creating layouts based on conventions that the user is already familiar with. Conventions like placing logos and home page or navigation buttons in the same location throughout the website creates a familiarity between the user and the site. By placing clear easy to understand choices among selection options, you reduce the amount of time a user spends trying to figure out what choice fits their need. Added needless words, happy talk and pointless instructions become text noise that if properly reduced can increase the impact of information hierarchy because there will be less information trying to compete for the users attention.  

Link to sites related to the reading:

Visual hierarchy-

http://webstyleguide.com/wsg2/page/hierarchy.html

Website conventions –

 http://www.nvcc.edu/home/ataormina/wdc/readings/convention.htm

The persuasive power of repetition clarity simplicity-

http://smartalicewebdesign.com/wordpress/navigation/the-persuasive-power-of-repetition-clarity-simplicity/

Moodboard

Thumbnail sketches

Project Statement and Creative Brief

Project Statement

Jesse Diaz is a graphics designer that provides digital illustrations and imagery for the digital arts and web industries. Currently a student of The Art Institute of Seattle Jesse Diaz is underrepresented within the larger graphics arts community. The goal of creating a website is to extend the capacity to generate recognition by allowing easy access to previous work. By creating a well designed an easy to navigate web portfolio Jesse Diaz can easily showcase work and capabilities for future clients and employers.

Creative Brief

Background:

More and more employers are asking for web portfolios in order for quick access to a potential hire’s work.

Target Audiences:

Graphics design firms, Branding agencies, Graphics artist peers, and future clients

Objectives:

Upon seeing this online portfolio, clients and employers should get a sense of a must have or must work with this person.

Obstacles:

Starting from zero and generating a brand and presence

Key benefits:

Access and visibility

Support Statement:

See above project statement

Tone:

Clean, easy to navigate, fresh, clear and concise

Media:

Digital portfolio generated with Iweb, Dreamweaver, and/or Flash

Creative Considerations: Designed towards individuals that have a lot of experience with graphic design as well as non graphic designers

Inspirational websites

I find the following websites to be very inspirational and would like to be able to encompass the feel of each website for the following reasons:
www.hutchhouse.com - I like that this website has different themes that can be selected. Once a user selects a theme, the webpage changes along with some of the content to reflect the theme.
www.blkmtnstudio.com- I like how simple and clean this website looks and functions. It is a flash based website so there is interesting interactivity in the gallery sections. I'm not super jazzed about this interactivity aspect of the site but it is kind of cool.
www.louisbeaudoin.net - This website is also very clean with neutral colors that don't distract the user from the content. This designer is from Canada so the text is in French.

Week 1 Reading

What is most striking in reading the first chapter of Steve Krug’s book ‘’Don’t make me think” is how much of a difference there is in how designers create web pages to be utilized by  users and how they actually get used. Users don’t like to think about processing the information on a page but would rather have the information pre-digested and distilled so that they can find what they are looking for in the shortest amount of time. Rather than trying to decipher creative names for objects, users would rather have obvious names that decrease the likely hood of user error in selections. I don’t know if this can be attributed to laziness but rather the speed at which people go about using the web in their busy schedules. As stated in chapter two, people don’t read pages they scan a web page until they find what looks like what they are searching for. Since users can just back track there is no risk involved in an erroneous selection. Users have become accustomed to information on demand and anything that requires less than instant gratification is less desirable. With a better understanding of user interaction, designers can create web pages to take interaction into account and generate a better user experience.