Tradeshow

Seeing people respond well to Expressit and quickly and easily create unique content was rewarding, especially as this was our intended goal with Expressit. Our choice of colour scheme paid off well with branding and attracting attention which would prove effective if the site were introduced to the public.

Users enjoyed creating multiple images during testing, both on desktop and on mobile and gave feedback for future iterations and overall the response to Expressit was positive and had an element of fun. This in itself made the journey of development worth it.

UQ staff and students can view the final product here.  

Some Expressits produced at the Tradeshow:

Based on feedback and viewing the creations, changes going forward would include choosing different fonts, increasing the size of the text (or resizing if we can find out how to do so) and a standard size for images.

I enjoyed the tradeshow experience and am proud of the efforts of the group.

expressit update

This week I have been focusing on CSS fixes and creating error messages and screens. At present, the design  issues are minor but detail is of high importance in terms of our minimalist design, as anything out of place can throw off the balance.

Key issues fixed:
- editing menus, background and Text colors were all white, I managed to fix this
- creating warning screens when users would navigate away from image editing the they would lose progress. The screen must still be included in the journey
- a back to categories link that takes users from image browsing to choose a new category
- padding, margins and alignment in editing menus as well as browsing

Still to fix
- Centre image during editing
- Centre output image and create sharing screen
- move loading bar
- fix wrapper sizes; some browsers have lower layer visible. 

Update

After the progress report, coding developed further. 

The search terms were completed, but based on our success criteria of fast delivery, loading times were far too long. With the help of Arturo, I learned to use php more effectively and we decided to use a different approach and load 8 images at a time to reduce waiting time, and add a next button that would load the next search terms within that category. This could take a bit of coding, but a good approach may be to implement an array for each category where clicking "next" or "previous would shuffle through.

Progress Demonstration

Based on the Paper Prototyping, our user journey has been simplified and finalised. 

TASK FLOW DIAGRAM

WORK BREAKDOWN

Progress Update

Finding images on Trove is simple, but finding beautiful images that Expressit users might actually use involves a bit more than typing "happy".

In the physical design of Expressit I have been working on defining the categories, and the search terms that go along with that category (mood). I have had to use a lot of search operators. Mostly OR and NOT operators, as well as filtering the results to come only from a specific library (nuc:), such as Flickr ("YUF").

Searching for "happy"

An example can be seen above, where up to 10 of the returned images are great for "happy". SEARCH: (sea world) -(middle OR 40 OR aerial OR unbalanced OR wall OR topsy OR connie) (nuc:"YUF") With "happy" filling up and as we learn to navigate html5 canvas, it looks as though Expressit will soon be ready to say a thousand words!

Paper Prototyping

During Paper Prototyping testing in the contact session, I acted as an Observer and conducted user tests and walkthroughs.

User tasks

Task 1 - Create and share a basic Expressit without publishing to server.

Task 2 - Start a new creation, spend time editing text, publish to server and download to device.

Task 3 - Start a creation and change your mind.

The tasks were kept broad to see if the interface was intuitive and users were encouraged to think aloud and speak their mind. This allowed for useful feedback and those who tested the prototype were generally verbal. Some asked a lot of questions, and others tended to comment on what they thought would happen.

When I give feedback to others, I tend to tell them what I expect to happen when I do something and then how I feel about the task that happened as I think this is the most useful feedback I would like from a user.

Our prototype was shown as though on a phone screen to make users feel that they were using a touch screen device. The tasks provided were clear and not too directional, allowing freedom to explore. We made several options available for the user to explore which was helpful in terms of response. These factors all contributed to the responses by users. 

Next time, I would adjust the tasks slightly to make them more personal to the user to get better feedback and facilitate the testing by adding an element of what the app is about. Task 1 - You just thought of a funny one-liner to reply to your best friend's message, quickly create and share a basic Expressit with them without saving to the Expressit server.

Task 2 - It's your cousin's birthday, send them a birthday Expressit and take time to explore the editing options. Publish your Expressit to the server, and download the photo to send to your cousin the next day.

Useful User Feedback & Suggestions:

1. When the user clicks “Start New,” warn them that they will lose the current image (“Are you sure?”)
2. On final screen, “Home” and “Start New” lead to the same screen.
3. Be more clear about “our gallery” (use logo or “expressit”)
4. Combine the publish and share screens (look at the app “Path” for inspiration on the sharing options)

These were the most useful findings because the users identified issues we had not considered, or had overlooked (point 1 and 2) and also helped clear up an issue we were worried about and debating as a team - the sharing message and screen (point 3 and 4).

Facial expressions, hand movements and pauses were also useful in the testing process, helping to identify areas that slowed down the flow of interaction when the users did not mention it by thinking aloud. It is also helpful when users state what they expected vs. the reality.

Other Feedback that did not serve useful was usually a result of asking users a question in too much of a leading way. For example, I asked one user why they paused at a certain screen and they responded in a way they thought I wanted to hear but when I rephrased my question, they explained the issue well.

Summary:

• 4 out of 6 testers were slowed down by the Text screen

- 2 typed and waited, then realised to click Next

- 1 clicked enter then when nothing happened looked for Next

• When creating a basic Expressit in the first task, 5 out of 6 users wanted to explore editing functions

• 4 out of 6 users were confused by adding to expressit gallery

- 1 user said they thought it was an error message at first

- 2 users thought it meant their device gallery

- 1 user said they always skip as a reflex

• 3 out of 6 users mentioned that they liked the flow

Progress - Week 7

Since the design process is ongoing and iterative, sometimes it's good to be reminded of the big picture.
User personas and goals, as well as stories are useful in stepping back and having a benchmark to align to. People are going to be using your technology so how people work should be the biggest picture in your design process.

In terms of the design of the text over picture editing app, I have been looking for more design inspiration and I feel that we are on the right track in terms of the design process. 


I like the proposed logo design, and decided to make a colour palette based on it for possible use in the project.

I am not sure why, but my original idea was never uploaded, Went through a rough 2 weeks and must have been a bit out of it, I had the draft for the blog but I thought I would put it up here. Individual concept:

presenting: express it

During the workshop this week, all the teams presented their concepts that use Trove content.
The other teams had broad topics and while ours felt a bit smaller in scope, I believe it is a good fit our target audience and is achievable in our time frame for this project.

The presentation did draw attention to the fact that we need to include Trove's name, which we had considered but not included in our design documentation.

A possible solution could be to change the browsing page to read "images from Trove", with a link to the Trove website.

The team is adjusting to working together and being involved. As many have been working on their own as business owners or entrepreneurs, it took some time for the team to find a harmony in working styles and accountability.

Expressit Personas

Primary target user personas

Our target audience is users aged 15-34 as this is currently the most socially active audience online in Australia. Our target uses social media often and is constantly connected to others. Our target’s primary browser experience is mobile.

Secondary target user

Given the simplicity of our application, the high penetration of social content sharing in Australia and the fact that Expressit is a web-based (mobile-first) application, Expressit can be used by anyone who would like to create social content to share digitally.

Teamwork Quiz

After completing the Belbin quiz, the following results transpired:

Strongest role: Coordinator category 
Adept roles: Monitor-Evaluator, Completer-Finisher and Company Worker 
Adequate: Shaper 
I did not identify with the other roles in any significant measure.

• What did you learn about your attitudes to working in a team? Which Belbin roles did you identify with?

Based on past team experiences, I know I am good at adapting to different teams and different roles well. The quiz seemed to confirm this with the variety of adept roles to support my strongest role.

• Were you surprised by either your Leadership or Team Score following the first quiz? Why/why not? You don't need to specify the scores that you received - rather was it higher/lower than you expected.

I was not surprised, during my undergraduate degree I coordinated many projects but was also in charge of compiling and finishing or monitoring and evaluating other processes if I did not fill the coordinating role. I am very adaptable when it comes to the roles where I received higher scores. I also do not mind taking a worker role if I am not in a leadership position, as I like to support and facilitate teamwork. I can take the role of a shaper (task-oriented leadership) if a people-oriented leadership approach does not seem to be working, but I do prefer a less authoritarian approach.

I was also not surprised that I got low scores in the Plant, Implementer and Resource-Investigator roles as I usually take a big-picture collaborative approach to projects and those are more focused on details, which is something I would like to develop. 

• Did you identify with any of the causes of conflict? Is it something you have a tendency to do or something you have experienced from previous team projects? How will you manage this if it occurs in this team project?

In a measure I could relate to some of the weaknesses but I did not relate to the weakness of the coordinator to delegate work, as sometimes I feel I take more of a completer-finisher approach and try to do more than necessary. During this project I will be able to avoid this in the early planning stages through planning and assigning tasks and responsibilities to each person. This will ensure that I do not take on more than is expected, as I do tend to have high expectations on myself.

• What is important to you when working in a team?

It is important that everyone agrees on the end goal. I also believe that any conflict should be addressed as it arises, as I like working in an open, honest environment. Getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses is an important part of the process as well as learning to adapt to different personalities and group dynamics. 

Analysing ideas using the Six Thinking Hats

Last week's workshop had us in groups discussing and analysing our ideas. I had a few concepts that were roughly formed but presented my favourite - the Map Slider.

The idea:

Have a map of Australia that can zoom in, and also a slider at the bottom of the page representing a timeline. Scrolling through the timeline would change the map to correspond with older versions of maps of the country.

After going through the six thinking hats, the following suggestions were raised:

• Make the maps specific
• water
• population
• farming
• data-specific
• history (e.g. story of settlement)
• Select an audience or context
• school children - history/geography site for learning
• history enthusiasts - museum exhibit

I love the idea of using the map for history stories to make history come to life. A museum would be a great place to install an exhibit like this.

It would be a good way to present Geography as well as history to people, where the subjects usually involve a lot of writing and dates, or only maps, this concept combines the two and makes the data a visual representation that is simpler to understand.

The other concepts I had are still broad and under development.

Great Expectations

Based on what I know of this course, I expect to be learning more about the design process and web design this semester.

I look forward to to experiencing the full design process from start to implementation.
I’m worried about doing any JavaScript and I hope that I can improve in that area.

My expectations are to adapt and grow in my approach to design and to effectively communicate any ideas. I hope to refine my skills in web design and other programs and wish to gain valuable insights into the design process.