D – Describe objectively what happened.
In the first semester, after more than 3 months of study, I made a total of 4 projects and 9 blogs independently. During this period, I read academic papers and instructional videos on interaction design, and in the weekly Blog task, the teacher will let us learn about the thinking mode, methodology and some practical techniques of interaction design. I think these are right I am very helpful, let me be more in-depth study of this course. And I think this course is very practical. After the weekly tutor explains the knowledge points of the week, we will arrange homework and academic and non-academic articles that we need to read this week, practice and theory. This is a way of learning that I like very much.
During this period, I experienced confusion and self-doubt, perhaps because the first English teaching made me extremely nervous. I didn’t know what the teacher wanted to express during class. My brain was constantly switching from thinking in English to thinking in Chinese. Then switch from thinking in Chinese to thinking in English. However, during this semester, I gradually adapted to the teaching of English.
It is because I have slowly become accustomed to teaching English that I can understand the advice given to me by my instructor, so that I will not have a lot of doubts every time I make a project. Therefore, I am very grateful to my mentor, Andy, who is very patient. If I don’t understand what he means, he will patiently explain it. This makes me feel that the mentor attaches great importance to me. Moreover, when my project work is unreasonable, he will directly point out the problems in my project, so that I have a deep understanding of my shortcomings, so that I can continue to improve. Next, I will gradually introduce the four projects made this semester and my own experience.
I – Interpret the events.
Project one-personal map.
I was born in a small city in northern China. In order to receive a better education, I have been to Wuhan, Beijing, Busan and other cities. Every city gives me a different feeling, different humanities, different landmark buildings, and this experience is still deeply engraved in my mind to this day. These cities have witnessed my growth, and the footprints in the poster represent my growth, walking through the cities step by step. I use the outline of each city area to represent the city. The outline map shows the landmark buildings of each city. The color of each landmark building is different, just as I have a different feeling for each building. For example, Tiananmen Square is majestic for me and full of age. Every time I see Tiananmen Square, I feel a sense of awe, so I chose red as the main color of Tiananmen Square. This poster was produced after I modified it many times. I am very grateful to Andy, because I only made a collage at the beginning. He told me that communication design should pay attention to the interaction between the audience and the author, and let the audience understand yours. Intention, not as long as you understand it yourself. Design is not something you can do right once, but you can get it through continuous modification and continuous improvement.
Project Two-Affordable housing by country.
This project is about in-depth user analysis and training of user groups. The groups I choose are young people who are just entering the society and people who cannot afford houses. During this period, I chose to use the form of questionnaire to understand the user group, and the second survey helped me to better understand the user’s thoughts and pain points. It is not easy for young people today to buy a house on their own, especially in first-tier cities. Take Beijing as an example. It would take 30 years for young people who just started working to buy a house, which is a very scary thing. After my initial investigation, I found that the affordable housing provided by the government is a good solution, but at this stage, the long waiting time for review and cumbersome steps make many people have to give up. In this project, I used three user modeling techniques: persona, user experience map and story board. This is the first time that I have used relevant user modeling techniques. Even though I encountered the problems of being unskilled in these techniques and inaccurate user positioning during this period, I will continue to use these techniques in future projects to help me create creations.
Project Three-Weather APP.
This project is about designing an APP for cyclists to assist them in riding, helping them to know the weather conditions of the road ahead in real time. I think the difficulty of this project lies in how to balance riding safety and riders to get the latest weather reminders. During the design of the APP, there was a problem that always entangled me: whether putting the mobile phone on the mobile phone holder will affect the safe riding of the cyclist. During this period, I rented a bicycle by myself and put the mobile phone on the mobile phone holder. I found that if I only check the information pushed by the mobile phone, I rarely operate the mobile phone by hand, which basically does not affect the riding safety. In order to verify my feelings, I joined a cycling club, asked more people, and finally verified my conclusion. Therefore, I changed the interface design three times in total, and finally selected a simple operation interface and voice operating system to help the rider ride more safely, and combined with the use of a mobile phone holder, it can make the rider feel like driving a car.
Project Four.
The project I am currently working on is about food waste in supermarkets. In the previous survey, I like to go to the supermarket very much and buy some fresh fruits and vegetables. I found that when I go to the supermarket at night, many fruits and vegetables will be sold at a discount, Although people like to buy this kind of discounted food, a lot of food is thrown into the trash before the supermarket close, because these foods are past the best eating time, the supermarket does not want to bear legal responsibility. Based on these backgrounds, I researched many different types of supermarkets and searched for various academic papers. I designed a questionnaire to conduct field research. Randomly distributed questionnaires to different age groups and income groups to understand the people’s attitudes towards the behavior of large amounts of food waste in supermarkets, understand the people’s suggested methods, and make corresponding persona. Through the above research, I made an app for people in need. Three hours before the supermarket closes at night, the app will post information about the food that will be discarded. If someone wants to pick up these foods, they can bring the bottles they don’t need. Exchange these foods. In this way, the people who need the food can get the information quickly, and a channel for information transmission is established between the supermarket and the food demand side. The channel is online and timely. People do not need to go to the supermarket to inquire, thus saving the cost of obtaining information. Supermarkets distribute information directly online, thereby saving on labor costs and in line with the need to reduce human contact in an era of fashion.
E – Evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the experience
After 3 months of study, I think my way of thinking about design has changed, making my way of thinking more logical, paying more attention to the logic between causes and results, and paying attention to the preliminary research and secondary research. The importance of research, because if you fail to find a right direction during the research period, the work must be illogical and a failed work.
I think the value of research in the previous period lies in its rationality. During this period, I need to find relevant videos, academic papers and non-academic papers as theoretical basis, rather than my own belief, because the individual cannot represent the group, I need to delve into this topic to think about the problem, but not from the perspective of the bystander. We should also pay attention to other people’s feelings and suggestions to make the theories of our works more reasonable and logical.
P – Plan how this information will be useful to you.
I think this kind of learning experience is very helpful for my future development. First of all, this course is a combination of theoretical knowledge and practice. You can find your own shortcomings in the project in practice. Moreover, our time for making projects is very tight, so that we can have sufficient practice time and have a full understanding of each group of users.
This is also instructive for my future life and future career. Good design needs constant modification and continuous improvement to reach the perfect state. There is no shortcut to good design. It requires continuous experimentation and exploration by ourselves. Isn’t it the same in our lives! There is no smooth sailing in life. During this period, there will be ups and downs and setbacks.
References：
Timothy Samara (2007) Design Elements : A Graphic Style Manual. Gloucester, Mass: Rockport Publishers. Available at：http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=585238&site=eds-live (Accessed: 16 May 2021).
Buxton, B. (no date) Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design. Elsevier Inc. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-374037-3.X5043-3.
PRESS MICHELLE (2008) ‘THE DESIGN OF FUTURE THINGS Norman Donald A’, Scientific American, 298(1), p. 108. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.26000385&site=eds-live (Accessed: 16 May 2021).
Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie Nardi (2012) Activity Theory in HCI : Fundamentals and Reflections. Morgan & Claypool Publishers (Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Informatics). doi: 10.2200/S00413ED1V01Y201203HCI013.
