UXploration!

  Introduction We've all fallen victim to the power of the impulse buy: a small trinket or snack (usually right where you're checking out) that you can just toss on the pile at the last second before you leave a store. Many stores at Disneyland have adorable little tins of candy or mints available as impulse options. I'm pining for the Happiest Place on Earth as much as any other pass brat, so today, let's ask the real question: how user-friendly are these tins? "Okay," you're probably thinking, "You've really snapped your tether this time. You're going to devote a whole blog post to mint tins? " But think about it! Everything we interact with, wear, or consume involves designs at multiple levels. I cannot think of any better way to stress the importance of good design than with something as small as mint tins. The Good: Mmmm, chocolate mints..... Ok, focus. This tin for chocolate mints has a pretty standard design: it's rectangular, ...

(Week 3's Blog Post!) Introduction This week, our course reading featured Chapter 3 of Steve Krug's quintessential UX tome, "Don't Make Me Think (Revisited)". This chapter had several pointers on designing webpages: namely, that they should be designed like billboards, since most of us tend to read information by scanning it. You'll notice I have even made some edits to the format of this blog, in recognition of what I have learned from this chapter. As much as I enjoy a good conversation about tangible UX, it hardly seems appropriate to try and apply web design principles to a tangible interface, so this week, I'll be analyzing two websites, one admirably-designed and another less so, based on the six principles found in Krug's writing. The Principles at Work An especially user-friendly experience meets the following criteria: Take advantage of conventions Create effective visual hierarchies Break pages up into clearly-defined areas Make it obvious wh...

(Week 2's blog post!) Good evening, everyone! This week, I'll be talking to you about something that gives me a whole lot of  trouble I do not need: Childproof pill bottle caps. It may seem unobtrusive enough, but pure evil is pictured here. For some background information: I have fibromyalgia. It's a nervous system disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue, among many other troublesome symptoms. That was a lot of "medical talk", I know, so I'll summarize: I hurt all over, all the time. For some of my symptoms, I take over-the-counter medications, and for others, I take prescription medications. Many of the medications I take come equipped with childproof caps. There are many varieties of these, but the most heinous offender comes on these prescription medications (label has been removed for my privacy). While most other childproof caps require extra downward weight to release the catch holding my medications captive, this particula...

 Good evening! A little about myself, for any stranger who happens upon this blog. I am an online student at Bellevue University (Go Bruins!), who happens to be located in California. I'm earning my Bachelor's in Graphic Design. This blog has been set up as part of my User Experience course. I will be using it to document pristine examples of user-friendly design and some examples that...could use some extra thought. I look forward to learning with everyone!