MMPR30023 Research ProjectArtefact 3

Tanya Wood N0407623

For my third artefact I wanted to interview someone that is working within the industry. I want to find out about their design processes, how they test their designs. And their thoughts on the importance of aesthetics and usability in web design.

I chose to interview Oliver for a couple of reasons. Firstly he is a recent graduate of NTU but also more importantly he is a Front end web developer which is not only the type of position I am interested but it relates well to my research project.

Can you please summarise your current role (key tasks and responsibilities) I'm a front-end web developer at Inlight Media in Melbourne, Australia. My key tasks involve converting designs (usually from PSD's) into static HTML files that are browser compatible and usually develop responsively if the budget allows. This involves the use of HTML, CSS (incl preprocessors Sass/Less/Stylus) and Javascript. These would then be passed on to the back-end developers to make it Dynamic, at this company using NodeJS / MongoDB / AngularJS

The company I work for appreciates that I am a junior in the field, and so whenever possible try and get me learning something new. They also understand I have a design background so I often work close with the designer. With the designer coming from a print background, sometimes I can contribute some useful advice to the user experience.  . 

Do you conduct any form of user testing of your designs? (please elaborate) I do not test on users. Usually the team have a good idea of all that stuff and if the client thinks otherwise, we can always add/remove/change as desired. But as heavy internet users ourselves, we usually know what works and what doesn't

What do you think are the most important aesthetic elements of a website? Difficult question to answer. I don't think there are 'more important' elements on the page. It's a package. See a website as a product. You wouldn't design a nice interior of a car and then leave the outside without being painted and smoothed down. Likewise, you wouldn't design a beautiful header and then leave the rest to default browser styling.  

Do you have a certain design process? (if so could you briefly explain) 

Outside of work I still design a little bit. My process usually involves sitting down and writing exactly what I or the client wants to achieve, goals, ambitions and targets. From there I will think about file/page structure, sometimes writing out a site map. Afterwards I may consider wire framing, but more often than not I jump straight into Photoshop. 

In Photoshop I first consider aesthetic 'modules' and base styles. By that, I mean playing around with typography, colours, buttons etc to get a feel for what I could use, without other elements possibly swaying my decision. 

From there I will then design a layout using a grid, usually 12 or 16 columns. My projects have been small so I haven't designed specifically for mobile, and just done what I think looks good in the browser - and there is often value to that. 

Do you consider aesthetic design more important than usability for the web? Can it not be both? With the trends of flat / minimal design, I believe we can get the best of both worlds. 

Have you any other advice for designing for the web? Consider the context. Would we like a flashy, beautiful, experimental site that tells a story? Yes it would certainly enhance the experience. 

Would we like a flashy, beautiful, experimental site when all we want to find out is when the hairdressers closes tonight? Probably not. 

I wanted to compare Ollie’s answers with someone else who works within the web industry. Jason (below) works at Adtrak as a senior web designer. I posed the same

questions to him.

Can you please summarise your current role (key tasks and responsibilities) I am a Web Design Team Leader working at Adtrak in Nottingham. My role primarily involves taking a web design brief through design to code. My Team leader responsibilities involve managing the team and the individual, distributing work, providing training and guidance. I also head up the Email Marketing department for my agency.

Do you have a certain design process? (if so could you briefly explain)I would work on a rough framework for the layout, taking into account the brief and main USP’s. Once the layout is figured, I would go ahead and begin design work in Photoshop. The design may go through a few feedback stages from the other designers and management before it’s sent to an account manager to be pitched to the client.

Do you conduct any form of user testing of your designs? (please elaborate) We have a separate Internet Marketing and PPC Department that often complete testing on our websites to determine which approaches work. A lot of the clients we work with are smaller businesses so unfortunately we don’t have the full freedom or luxury to conduct testing on all of our designs. Much of our design work is based on shared knowledge and experience between the designers.

What do you think are the most important aesthetic elements of a website? Imagery, typography, colour and proper use of grids.

Do you consider aesthetic design more important than usability for the web? No, usability is more important but of course this should really be a fine balance between the two. Something can of course be overdesigned which could be detrimental to the usability of the website. I believe this can also depend on the context, often a website may call for something that is just beautiful and that’s its purpose. In relation to the industry I work in, the core of it is certainly about getting the user from A to B which is why I would consider usability to be first and foremost.

What do you think is the most important factor of usability for the web?

Being uncluttered and easy to navigate I would probably say in a nutshell.

 

When designing for the web what factor do you consider first, the usability aspect, the design or a combination of both?

As I have previously mentioned, I would say it’s a fine balance between both. If I were to pick, yes it would be usability. Our clients have approached us because they are looking for results so making sure the user is easily able to get to the information they need in as least steps as possible is more important than a fancy looking slider.

 

What do you think is the most important thing to consider when ensuring a website is usable?

The navigational elements, these also include any “call to actions” that push a user through the site. The user needs to feel on top and in control, the site needs to allow them the freedom to feel like this.

 

Have you any other advice for designing for the web?  

Consider the “user story”, this represents the mind-set of the type of audience that would visit your website. What would draw you in? What elements of other similar sites work/doesn’t work? What’s the primary goal you want to accomplish on the website? It sounds simple but can often be overlooked

Conclusion

Interviewing Oliver has proved to give a useful insight into a creative professionals view on design processes and aesthetics and usability for the web.

Although Oliver does not undertake any targeted user testing himself, he explains that the rest of the design team usually undertake that responsibility and their direct contact with the client informs further design/usability iterations.

When discussing aesthetic design elements of a webpage Oliver feels that they are of equal importance and come as a ‘package’. He gives the example “You wouldn't design a nice interior of a car and then leave the outside without being painted and smoothed down”.

Conclusion

Oliver feels that both aesthetic design and usability are equally important and feels that the current trend of minimal design combined with the current trend of flat design can deliver the best of both worlds.

Steve Krug’s book ‘Don’t make me think’ discusses the importance of designing for the user. A key factor which is highlighted is to NOT make them think! When a user visits a website the site should be self-explanatory. A user shouldn’t have to spend their time trying to decipher what the page is about. Steve points out that a good site shouldn’t leave the user with loads of questions in their head, such as can they click on this and is this the navigation? The job of creating a site that works is one that removes/reduces these questions.

The reason why questions are bad when a user is visiting a website is that it distracts them from the task at hand and could potentially put them off visiting the website again.

Conclusion

Jason however feels that Usability is the most important factor as he explains for the majority of clients he works for the main aim is to get the user for A to B. However Jason does acknowledge that ideally you try to get the balance between something that is aesthetically pleasing but also usable. He mentions that if something is over-designed it can have a detrimental effect on the sites usability.

Jason feels that the most important thing to consider when ensuring a website is usable is the navigational elements. As this is the main element that walks the user through the site, whilst giving them the sense of being in control.

Conclusion

Whilst in earlier artefacts I have established the importance of aesthetic elements in a website such as colour and imagery  Krug discusses how designers can often concentrate too much on what the site looks like visually because that’s their main interest and focus. Compare this to developers who are likely to be more interested in cool site features. This as a result leaves designers wanting to build something that looks good and the developers wanting to create cool, new and original features – not to mention the business side of things. This ultimately can lead to a conflict of interests and makes it difficult to establish design priorities. This is a great example of when purely aesthetic elements can conflict with usability.

Rather than asking questions like does a drop-down menu look good – Steve suggests asking the right question ‘does this pull-down menu create a good experience for the people who are likely to use the site? Although this sounds like common sense it is something I am guilty of. Several times when designing a site I am too focused on what it looks like rather than the experience it will give.

A good example where the design has taken complete control over the websites navigation and its usability as a result is the website below by Creative with AK . It is not clear at all on the website as to what is clickable and what isn’t, which is a major usability issue as its confusing and time consuming.

Creative with AK, 2010. Creative with AK Homepage. [image online] Available at: http://www.creativewithak.com/ [Accessed 5th February 2014].

Conclusion

The subject of usability testing is also discussed by Krug, 2006, reminding us why it is a good idea to test out designs “Testing reminds you that not everyone thinks the way you do, knows what you know, uses the web the way you do”.

Steve also says that its better to test one user than no one at all as that will at least provide you with someone else’s opinion and feedback.He also points out that it is far better to test users early on in the websites development as things can be easily changed at these stages. The whole purpose of testing is an iterative process making, testing, fix and test again.

As I have shown an example of a website which as a result of its design has poor web usability I wanted to provide an example of a site that provides a good user experience. The overall design is not the most attractive but the design is functional and works well for its purpose.

There is a clear search engine, what to watch menu along with recommend viewing. It provides clear routes for users to navigate to content they seek, and avoid any unnecessary confusion or misleading navigation issues.

Conclusion

Artefact 4: Whilst I wish to continue my research on usability and user testing I also want to look at Web Credibility as this is an important factor. Many users make their minds up about a website within the first few seconds of viewing it.

I want to look at this topic in more detail, I aim to include examples of a what makes a website credibility and what doesn’t and the impact this can have on the end user.