That being said, there's still a lot to learn and this class has presented new ideas and experiences to me. Although I had read about usability testing, I had never actually done it. Forcing yourself to watch your designs fail, even in the slightest, by having users, well, use them, is a very crucial step in understanding and making sure that you have a good design; that is, a design that accomplishes its goal of being for the user.
The class has also taught me the importance of multiple iterations, constant critique and feedback, and the importance of keeping the user salient. This class has made me push even further into the importance of re-iteration as the result of the feedback from getting constant critique. It's important to accept constructive criticism because it's not against the designer, but, rather, the next step in assuring that you have an optimal product.
By keeping the user salient, the designer is able to cut out unnecessary features. I feel like this is one of the hardest lessons to learn. We often want to provide as many cool features as we can think of. It's related? Throw it in! Why not!? No. That is not what good design is. Good design is sifting through all of the "cool" features and only keeping those that truly help the user and aid them in what they're doing. Too many features make designs more difficult to use.
There are a ton of things that go into design, so I know I'm just at the beginning of learning, but I'm excited to dive deeper into the field. It's an incredible thought that every thing surrounding us, whether its brilliant or awful, was designed by somebody. Every little detail was thought out (or perhaps not in the case of poor design). That's just incredible to me. I hope to contribute someday as well.
I also didn't realize how important usability testing is for design. Every project so far I have been surprised, at least once per test, by the information gained by the usability test. The results really allow you to design purely for the user and not what you think is good or right or necessary. Adam mentions iteration being such an important part of making good designs. Coming into the class, I didn't really realize how many times we would be designing an redesigning based off user's input. The more you iterate, the more you learn about how efficient your design is. I agree with Adam about the "cool" features of a design. Coming into the class, I had this idea that the programs with the most features are the best and most liked programs. What a terrible thought! Taking this class has really opened my eyes to the designs around me. On a daily basis, I catch myself looking at something and questioning it. Why is that feature there or could that button be placed somewhere better. I will continue to try to understand the whole game.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are on the right track! It sure can be frustrating to notice little design improvements where every you go.
ReplyDeleteOne design strategy I've been practicing is to create lots and lots of versions of the same application. You'd be surprised how often you'll find minor benefits in some sketches that can be adapted to your final design.