18/10/19 - 08/11/19 (Week 8 - Week 11)
Piyaphon Inthavong (0337589)Design Research Methodology
Research Implementation
INSTRUCTIONS
LECTURE NOTES
Selecting a Method of Data CollectionPrimary & Secondary Data Collection
Visual Analysis
Interview request email template
RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION
Week 8 | Oct 18th, 2019From the research articles and literature reviews, I learned that mixed methodology is the most common approach among most researchers in this field of UI/UX and web aesthetics.
I planned to use a questionnaire/survey of mixed types of questions as my method of collecting primary data. Due to its convenience, this method will open up doors for me to reach for a wider audience. People, in general, do not have the time and will most likely be unwilling to sit for an interview or spend too much time on a matter that is irrelevant to them. Preferences differ throughout each mind and the same image can be perceived or understood in various ways, that is why it is very crucial to collect data from a flexible range of numbers rather than the limitations of ideas. Due to how subjective the web UI/UX is and how different design aesthetics may be perceived, both types of research methods (quantitative and qualitative) questions are to be asked, for both opinions on text questions and images.
1st method
Strategy: Quantitative
Instrument: Questionnaire
Who should be involved: Wide range of people regardless of their design background, and nationality (to cover the subjectivity).
2nd method
Strategy: Qualitative
Instrument: Interview
Who should be involved: People from different backgrounds, people without a design background preferred
Cons of other research methods
Observation? Requires quite an amount of time; Difficult approach which is not too suitable in this environment because people are often busy with their work/schedule; This method requires a certain amount of skill set from the researchers (which I lack).
Week 9 | Oct 25th, 2019
This week, I start analyzing the questions I may want to consider asking in my survey, and these are the notes I have taken during the process of drafting questions:
Questions and topics to consider asking:
Navigation
What do you feel about the hamburger menu? More complicated menu, cleaner menu, depends?
Color
What is the most suitable color for this interface?
Do you prefer black or white theme interface?
Typography
Using the right font
Landing page
Interface
A very simple website that get my tasks done are: dull, exactly what I need, cool but needs decoration
Web necessity
Do you think a website is a necessity for a company?
What do you feel about a company without a website?
Aesthetics
Are the aesthetics really necessary?
Web quality
Qualities you look in a webpage: To get what I need done, to stay and find out more, both
What's more important? To get what I need done/find the info I need or enjoy a little
What do you dislike most about a website?
What is your favorite website? Why? (1 quality you love in that website)
What would be the first thing you would click on?
Topics/problems I may consider addressing for my primary research
The hamburger menu (navigation)
Light or dark interface?
Types of interface layout
Landing page variations layouts (first impression)
Case studies, Google (why do you use Google over other search engine?)
Google’s aesthetics
Web satisfaction (Do you like the way it is?)
Pick an interface for a *business company* (why did you pick it? The colors?..)
Which of the following is more appealing or captures your attention
Ease of use and aesthetic appeal
Comparing design variations
What’s good about
For Qualitative
5 seconds test (QL) to test the first impression of a landing page without being bias.
Reasons
Case studies
Pictures (Visuals keep people interested, engaged)
Name (who answered?)
Course (do they have design background?)
Age does not make a huge difference and is not a notable factor for web aesthetics as individuals’ preferences doesn't depend on it
Intro (keep them informed regarding how long it would take to complete this survey, to keep them informed and also slightly reduce the chances of dropping off.
Structuring the loads of the survey (Start with easy questions move to the complex ones and end with the light ones)
Interface design comparison (identify the qualities that users look for-subjective)
As I still feel confused about what to do, I didn't want to waste my time further and implemented everything I knew for my first survey as link below:
https://forms.gle/6CG8c24WUWvuvnG48
The initial survey had undergone through a few user testing and was fixed multiple times
Week 10 | Nov 1st, 2019
This week, I focused on reading more and expanding my knowledge in order to create a more reliable survey questions for a better research finding. The following are few notes I took while reading the articles as listed in links below.
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Visual appeal is an extremely important aspect of website design. It has the power to help you build lasting relationships with your customers and differentiate yourself from the competition. However, it’s essential that you put the functional foundations in place first. Your website must be findable, usable and accessible. Once that’s nailed down, you can then add a few stylistic touches to make you look the part.
https://medium.muz.li/3-good-reason-why-you-might-want-to-remove-that-hamburger-menu-from-your-product-69b9499ba7e2
https://uxplanet.org/website-design-aesthetics-vs-functionality-8d429dd09f8a
https://medium.com/coffee-and-junk/design-psychology-aesthetic-usability-effect-494ed0f22571
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#2 Micro Interactions are God
The basic rule of micro interactions is Action-Reaction, as the basic rule of physics that states that every action has a reaction. This applies to design as well. These small interactions make the design look more organic and responsive.
https://medium.com/nyc-design/7-rules-for-creating-visually-aesthetic-ui-6ac0fe8856f
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Design Principle Aesthetics
Final thoughts: First impression matters. When we perceive beauty with more of our senses we feel deeper pleasure from the design. Aesthetic design gives users pleasure from the start!
Testing Visual Design
All the methods described above focus specifically on visual impressions; but the reality is that people do not encounter visual design in isolation, but rather as part of a holistic experience which also includes content and interaction.
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Desirability studies: “considering and ultimately measuring how much certain designs evoke certain responses relative to each other.”
https://www.xdstrategy.com/desirability-studies/
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It is a hundred times cheaper to fix usability problems discovered early in the project rather than at its end.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/recruiting-test-participants-for-usability-studies/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
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Light or dark UI is based entirely on different contents and environment. White background is generally preferred for reading because of its strong contrast, however, dark UI prevents eye-sore from extended use (especially for programmers).
Dark UI is preferred at night or in the evening. Spotify, Steam, Netflix uses dark UI as they are often used for entertainment purposes after work. Some companies like Twitter gives option, while some like Google Maps automatically switches depending on the local time to enhance the usability. Apple music however, wants to keep their brand color while featuring the pop of colors from album art.
https://usabilitygeek.com/light-dark-ui-usability-perspective/
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Surveys consist of majorly two types of questions:
Closed Questions: These questions get the quantitative data from the users. It doesn’t tell us about the context, the motivation, the cause for the response. These questions are accompanied with the checkbox, radio buttons. The data obtained can be easily visualized with the help of graphical representations.
Open Questions: Open Questions are qualitative data about a user’s behavior or action. It tells us how the user thinks about a problem. These questions required a text box to explain the cause. The Qualitative responses tend to take a lot longer to analyze.
https://uxplanet.org/this-is-all-you-need-to-know-to-conduct-a-ux-survey-50400af45920
Week 11 | Nov 11th, 2019
FEEDBACK
Week 8 | Oct 18th, 2019General feedback:
The research objective is too complicated, and requires a big amount of time. The 3rd research objective is the most realistic and achievable (Understand how successful web designers designed an efficient website by applying the fundamental principles of UI/UX into web page.) Be firm with objectives by today.
Specific feedback:
Please describe, express your thoughts is the qualitative and quantitative methods.
Justify the reasons for the research methods, the instruments chosen, the amount of questions, the target audience, and how the chosen questions will fulfil the objectives.
Week 9 | Oct 25th, 2019
Specific feedback:
Regarding the target audience, it is better to reach out for a wider range of ages. Specifying the age range and limiting them to only the millennials can lead to a bias result. Do not mold the answers while asking them; It’s good to be specific while asking, however, asking questions such as “do you think the page is too empty?” already shape the reader’s thoughts into thinking it is empty. It is better to provide variable of choices in that case. Make use of empathy and ask with a more welcoming language like “please” rather than instructing them to explain their answer it in details.
Week 10 | Nov 1st, 2019
Specific feedback:
Write a brief description for the opening of the survey to inform people of what you’re doing. It helps participants to understand the reason why I send out the survey in the first place. Again, apply more empathy to the way the questions are asked. Use “Please select your age group” instead of commanding them. Add numbering to the questions to be more precise. Use the word homepage instead of “webpage” because it may sound misleading or unrelated. Use the word “engaging website” instead of “approachable.” Test the survey first before sending them online.
Week 11 | November 8th, 2019
General feedback:
Start the data collection process as soon as possible. Time is short so don’t over spend time on the questioning. Interviews and questionnaires must be sent out to receive and collect the data within a week.
Regarding the target audience, it is better to reach out for a wider range of ages. Specifying the age range and limiting them to only the millennials can lead to a bias result. Do not mold the answers while asking them; It’s good to be specific while asking, however, asking questions such as “do you think the page is too empty?” already shape the reader’s thoughts into thinking it is empty. It is better to provide variable of choices in that case. Make use of empathy and ask with a more welcoming language like “please” rather than instructing them to explain their answer it in details.
Week 10 | Nov 1st, 2019
Specific feedback:
Write a brief description for the opening of the survey to inform people of what you’re doing. It helps participants to understand the reason why I send out the survey in the first place. Again, apply more empathy to the way the questions are asked. Use “Please select your age group” instead of commanding them. Add numbering to the questions to be more precise. Use the word homepage instead of “webpage” because it may sound misleading or unrelated. Use the word “engaging website” instead of “approachable.” Test the survey first before sending them online.
Week 11 | November 8th, 2019
General feedback:
Start the data collection process as soon as possible. Time is short so don’t over spend time on the questioning. Interviews and questionnaires must be sent out to receive and collect the data within a week.
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