My Design Philosophy
This semester, I was lucky enough to take COMP 340, Human-Computer Interaction. I registered for the class, freshly interested in the world of user experience. I didn’t know much about the field of UX but that it consisted of exploring the exciting intersection of technology with empathy, design, and human behavior. This and a very attentive appreciation for the pretty aesthetics of UX design was what drew me in.
Having now completed the course, I am glad to walk away with much more knowledge about the power of good design. Now, what is good design? Throughout the course, I was able to understand several characteristics of good design. But, rather than looking at the final product, I learned that good design starts in the process of asking users the right questions, prototyping, and iterating your design appropriately. The process of iteration, however, should not be a strict guide of changing your design in the name of every criticism you get from your users. Rather, it is the combination of acknowledging your users’ needs and your valuable criticism as a designer of what needs to be improved. For me, good design is the culmination of all of these parts of the process which take the user’s needs into account as well as the design principles that the designer should be knowledgeable of. This includes understanding the decision to use a certain button over another for functionality, to use a certain color for the design, to decide how to organize the hierarchy of information on a page, and more. Good design should smoothly integrate itself into the user’s routine.
What separates good design from bad design are the intricate considerations of the user’s need. If a design does not provoke a conceptual map of how to navigate a page sensibly, what’s the point? Bad design is obscure and unnecessarily challenges the user to figure out a page or interface of random buttons and words.
The projects and papers that were done during this course helped changed my views on design vastly. It further expanded on the sheer complexity of the design process. There are so many facets to consider, including the ethics of user testing and protesting, the impact of choosing fresh eyes to evaluate your design, and the importance of iteration. Prior to this class, I thought that design was a more easy process constrained within the boundaries of aesthetics. Rater, a good design doesn’t necessarily have to be “pretty”. It just has to work by providing the smoothest experience of a user fulfilling a need they have. And this process includes research and constant questioning/problem-solving. The projects and papers have also expanded my own understanding of what design can be used for. It is not only used for creating good applications but whole systems (tangible and non-tangible) that better workflows and lifestyles.
My personal process for creating good design lies within the questions I asked my users. In order to get the most useful responses, I try not to make my questions narrow. Rather, I frame my questions in a way that allows the user to freely discuss frustrations they may have with the certain problem I aim to design for. I try not to overly influence by preferences of design because I’m not the user that I’m designing for! In addition, when creating my prototype, I’ve learned to slow myself down. I try to question why I’m organizing a page in the way I am. I step into the shoes of the users I’ve interviewed and mindfully use their comments to mold the way I place information, pick information to display and organize conceptual maps.
To be honest, I’m still trying to find a balance in creating good prototypes and good developments before prototyping. Through the projects during this course, I have found several imbalances in my own approaches to finding when is a good time to start prototyping after researching my problem. I hope to one day fulfill this meme:
In all, I really enjoyed this class! It’s influenced me to learn more about design and hopefully find a career that values the importance of empathy in the way design has in my courseload for this class. I’m excited to see how I can improve as a designer through more designs and more practice.
