User Experience Test - Paper Prototype
Today I created a revised website for Massey, where it is much simpler to find information. The objective was still the same as before, but I redesigned some aspects of the website where I noticed that my participants had the most trouble. The main thing that I noticed was that there was no useful space to see the whole list of courses and electives available to VCD students. There is a course search area but this is useless unless you know what course you want to look up. So I thought it was important to have an area of the website where a full list can be found, with sensible naming such as 'Courses and Electives' instead of 'Yellow Book'. I also aimed to lower the number of clicks needed to reach this page.The video here is of my participant trialling the redesigned website that I sketched out on paper. The feedback I received from the participant after the test was "Why can't the Massey website be like that in real life!"
Route One:
I began at the university home page since none of my participants found the CoCA site. I did not use the search bar function since I find that it is useless anyway.
The route was this:
Click menu bar - click study - click explore by subject - click creative arts, then visual communication design - click courses and electives - click electives, then 300 level electives. This was all summed with six consecutive and easy to follow pages.
Route Two:
I also planned another route in case my participant did not choose 'explore by subject' and instead chose 'programmes and courses'.
The route was this:
Click menu bar - click study - click programmes and courses - click all courses and electives - click narrow by subject, then creative arts, then visual communication design - click electives, then 300 level. Both routes require visiting 6 pages, or at least 6 different menus.
I think that the first route was the easiest, and it is the route that my participant followed when presented with the pages.
Research
Topic: Growing vegetables at home from food scraps
Target Audience: Students in a first time flat
How does growing your own vegetables benefit the earth?
- It saves vegetable scraps from being thrown out and going to the dump. This is important because: "When you throw food waste in the garbage, it often makes its way to a landfill. That's problematic because oxygen is in short supply deep in those pits, which means organic materials release lots of climate-warming methane as they decompose." https://grist.org/food/what-should-you-do-with-your-food-scraps/
- You don't have to purchase as much fresh produce, which lowers the need for more food to be grown, and also might save you from buying more packaging that has to be thrown out. As well as this, it takes away all that carbon dioxide being produced when the product is transported, sometimes from all around the world (think Californian oranges!)
- "If you cannot afford to buy organic food, you won't have to put your money towards industries who rely on practices that pollute and harm the environment's health (and human health)." https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-growing-your-own-food-can-benefit-the-planet/
How does growing your own vegetables benefit you?
- Lot's of people like to watch plants grow because it is enjoyable, satisfying and relaxing
- The process of taking a plant cutting, placing it in water until it is ready to be potted, then watching it sprout and grow until it is big enough/ready to eat connects you to the food you are eating. You grew that vegetable yourself, and so you take more enjoyment, pride and fulfilment from eating the end result because you know what work went int it, and how long it took to get there. This can be especially important for kids who don't like vegetables; this gives them an experience of how food is grown and often leads them to want to eat the vegetable that they took care of
- Having more plants in your home helps your mental health: "Dr Anthony Kachenko, environmental and technical policy manager at Nursery and Garden Industry Australia (NGIA), says his research reveals that more than half of office employees believe that their workplaces don't contain enough plants and workers feel more positive with plants around them. "Indoor plants have also been shown to reduce the number of sick days taken by staff and improve job satisfaction in office environments," he says. "Around one in three workers go so far as saying that they have more energy when they have plants around, that plants help them work more productively and that they'd even like to choose the types of plants they have at work." This is hardly surprising as pot plants are a proven mood-booster. Just one plant is linked with a reduction in feelings of anger, anxiety, depression, confusion, fatigue and stress." https://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/health-news/the-health-benefits-of-pot-plants/news-story/5822b63abcffa0d2ce0397cd30d92e07
- You don't have to ingest pesticides and other harmful chemicals that linger on store bought produce (that are not organic), therefore you are immediately healthier
- Food tastes fresher and richer in taste. It can also be argued that home grown produce has a higher nutritional value
- You can save money by not purchasing as much food
Design Direction - Illustrations
These were some illustration styles that I found on Pinterest. In particular I love the bright, vibrant colours. I feel like there is so much fun to be had with my topic and colours.
I follow a few different illustrators on social media, and these were some of my favourites who drew fruit and vegetables. The following images are screenshots from Instagram, digitally drawn by Wellington graphic designer 'Madebymimi' or Mia. I am drawn to her illustrations because of the bright colours and patterns. I also think her drawings are simple and fun, and have a childlike enthusiasm about them.
Another of my favourite designers is Lisa Koesterke. Her illustration style is quite similar; again there are bright colours and fun themes.
She can be found on instagram https://www.instagram.com/lisakoesterke_illustration/ or her website https://www.lisakoesterke.com/illustrations
I really love this idea. The illustrator created a free printable colouring page. I think this would be such a cool idea to create a black and white printable infographic of how to grow a certain vegetable which can then be printed at home and coloured in and maybe stuck on the fridge! This is an extra activity for kids, and it can also serve as a reminder for parents or kids to take care of their plant.
This is an example of an infographic style that I am really drawn to . The freeform illustrations are so beautiful and the recipe is remarkably easy to follow as well.
This is an infographic from a website that has thorough instructions of how to grow vegetables from scraps. I like the way they have easily laid out all the instructions, it makes the whole process look quite simple - which it is anyway!
Website Design
The website WealthSimple is truly a treat to use. The high quality animation drew me in immediately and the interactive scroll is so beautiful and interesting to use. I also really love the minimalist layout because I feel like it is way easier to read and there are no annoying ads to ignore. I feel like this style of website would work best for a university student as kids tend to prefer lots of colour and illustrations.
The introduction to how the investing works is so small, simple and easy to understand. It's not too long that I immediately want to stop reading before I even start, but it's just enough to interest me and encourage me to keep reading. The use of the diagram up next is clever too as it gives me a break from reading already because I'm like everyone else on the internet - lazy!
This is a quick screen recording of me visiting the website, so that you can see the scroll and the animations which I am really drawn to.
Keywords and Website Pages
Home and about page - with links to 'learn more' which then takes you to issue page or help page
Issue page - discusses vegetable scraps and how they don't break down at the dump and produce methane, reference sources so that people can fact check if they want to
What you can do to help page - lays out exactly how you can make a difference with fun diagrams and infographics
Benefits page - how this will benefit you and the environment
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