Final Reflections on NM4210

Important lessons learnt:
1) I am not the user.
2) To understand user experience requires enlightenment which one must experience. O_O.
I think this module has challenged me and broadened my way of looking at a user problem, by attempting to look from the different perspectives of the user. Because the subject matter “user experience” is so [...]

Reflections on User Research Smoke & Mirrors

As elusive as the term “user experience” already is to me, I feel slightly relieved that the author sees that user experience research seems to be an “entirely subjective, qualitative matter”, because it feels like blind men touching an elephant, something that can never be wholly grasped.

So after reading Christopher Faley’s article, I [...]

Nightmare assignment: Ethnography

Improving learning experience in lecture theatres!
Since it is an ethnography assignment, my group (Yvonne, Xiaofen and I) carried it out by sitting in lectures (LT32) and observing LT11 and 12.
In the course of observing, we came up with several possible factors that may affect Lecture experience:
Possible factors

Environment – eg. the size of the LT
[...]

Assignment 3: Four pleasure analysis

Combining both Norman’s 3 levels of emotional design and Jordan’s 4 pleasure analysis, we have:
1) Physio-pleasure: Pleasures connected with touch, taste and smell as well as feelings of sensual pleasure
2) Socio-pleasure: Enjoyment derived from relationships with others
3) Psycho-pleasure: Related to the cognitive and emotional reactions
4) Ideo-pleasure: Related to people’s values
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Pairing up [...]

Assignment 2: Emotional Design

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According to Donald A. Norman, emotional design refers to three different processing levels by people: visceral, behavioral, and reflective.
“These three levels translate into three different kinds of design.
Visceral design refers primarily to that initial impact, to its appearance. Behavioral design is about look and feel — the total experience of using a product. [...]

Warming up with… a BAD design!

Ladies and Gentlemen…
Presenting to you…

Bringing you the latest scoop fresh from the Ladies’…
The badly designed Automatic Toilet Flush!

As seen in the picture above, the automatic flushing sensor is placed high above the squat toilet. When a user enters, it “detects” the person and activates some sort of timing which proceeds to flush automatically after [...]