Week 8 Interactions

This week I returned to Photoshop after not using it for a while, and with my newly trained(ish) eye for user interface, I realised how well Photoshop has been created. However, this doesn't mean that it is globally accessible for everyone to grasp. For fresh eyes, Photoshop is a confusing collection for rectanges and buttons, rendering them confused, not knowing where to begin. However, for a user who is familiar to how it works, it is a fantastic application with almost endless possibilities. This is where it becomes difficult. Gauging whether or not if its user interface is good or not. And to be honest I am going to but it neatly in the middle, where it is an absolutely useless interface for a beginner, but a perfectly working piece of art when used by an experienced user.

Week 7 Interactions

This week, I had a poor user interface experience, however I've had it for a while, but this week was the first time I have consciously noticed it.
It is within a game called Destiny, a fun enough game, however the home screen is not desirable,  upon opening the game it cuts to your character's spaceship, bobbing gently in space. You can then open up a map of the solar system and travel through out the planets. The first problem comes from the entire navigation while in this phase, it is all done by dragging your cursor towards any of the links, then clicking on them in that manner. This would be fine on a computer, however Destiny is a console exclusive and so, this is quite a step back in the efficiency of navigation which is in almost every game, and in my opinion is done better in every other game!

The Second point is the utter uselessness of the entire 'bobbing in space' phase, for other than navigation, there is no reason for it! If you want to buy, sell, store or any other such activity in this game you have to visit 'The Tower', which is all well and good, but why can't the player navigation between there and missions, rather than waiting for a loading screen to get them into space, just so they can start up another loading screen to getting into the actual mission Essentially this part of the game acts as a useless middle man, one of which most people in the community would like to see it been gotten rid of.

Week 6 Interactions

This week I investigated into how I might create an app using HTML, CSS and Javascript and I found a website which gave me an desktop app (and phone app) which allows you to design and fully create an app, just using HTML etc. Although the desktop app is only in Beta the user interface is very good and works well. Although I haven't investigated the app entirely, and I have had a bit of trouble with the computer-phone connection the over all product for something which is free and still in beta is excellent!

Week 5 Interactions

This week, I found an example of poor user interface, on the website, 'schoolhoodies.ie'. I discovered it as I am in charge of organizing hoodies for a society. On finding this website i immediately found it a bit of an eye sore, with poor colour choice and font use.
Although the navigation on the website was relatively good the actual designing and choosing of the hoodies was painful, after choosing the hoodie type the customization what terrible, you were able to select the colour, then after that you werent able to select one of the preloaded crests(DIT logo), and then you were able to select a user inputted image, which was advertised (and are able to do, but have to PM them). After the strenuous experience with this website, I finally got what I desired, but at what cost?

For improvement the website would need quite an overhaul, with change for design and interaction, as at the current state is not satisfactory.

Week 2 Interaction

Today I went to get my hair cut, and though, through out the time of my visit it seemed fine, but on recollection I realized that the Barbers wasn't exactly all user friendly. Yes, they did have chairs which could change height and all the staff were pleasant, there were still some things that weren't adequate.

Firstly, on entry to the barbers, there is a step, one which a wheel chair, or even someone with a cane/walking aid couldn't over come, this is the only entrance to the barbers.

Secondly, if a wheelchair did get in somehow, they wouldn't be able facilitate cutting the persons hair while staying in the wheelchair, as the chairs in the barbers are bolted in place.

Thirdly, if someone with poor eyesight came into the barbers, they might also have a difficult time getting a good haircut. Yet again the bolted chairs cause a problem, because of them, the user is not able to adjust distance from the mirror, in which case would mean that if their reflection was blurred due to sight problems there is little they or the company could do.

On top of this there are some of the usual problems which occur in everyday businesses, such as no overcoming option for language barriers, however these problems aren't as severe as, for example, very few people visiting the country would be having their hair cut while here.

In conclusion, I found the barbers inadequate for 100% of potential users.
 

Website Evaluations:

1     Clubpenguin.com

·        Easy to use, aided by bright colours and big, clear buttons.

·        Multiple language options.

·        Warranted safety features to ensure child protection on the website.

·        Login time can be slow, causing inpatient children to become bored and frustrated.

·        When contacting, needs multiple pieces of information, and although it is visually easy, certain times the links do not work as planned.

·        When a credit card is linked to a club penguin account, there is no safety net to stop a child using the saved credit card, after the parent has used it. 

2.     usairways.com

·        You can book flights and check-in, online.

·        Multiple language options.

·        Indepth detail about flight times, airplanes, airports and almost anything else you could want.

·        When booking, links and updating information often fail, making the user have to re-submit, this could be very frustrating.

·        When contacting, replies take between 5-7 business days, which could be too late for people traveling.

·        Requirement of a boarding pass/flight number for multiple parts of the website restrict any possible, quaint visual inquiring!

3    youtube.com

·        Home page has multiple videos which any user can easily use.

·        Multiple language options.

·        Easy to create an account/ linked to your Google account.

·        Decorating channel can be difficult with multiple options slightly hidden/hard to find.

·       When using mobile web page, automatically resorts you to the app if you have it installed, people might not want to use the app (personal experience says its slow and different layout)

'Recommended videos', on Youtube can sometimes be highly inaccurate, and possibly annoying.