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UX: Designing for Education
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- [FINAL] P2PU Techsprint - Barcelona Mon, 2010-11-01 15:34
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- [Class 6] Prototyping/Mock-up Thu, 2010-10-28 15:46
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- [Class 5] UX Design plan Sat, 2010-10-16 19:09
[Class 1] Welcome to the UX: Designing for Education course!
Go back to: General discussion
Hello everyone and welcome to our course!
First of all, I'd like to thank you for the great mini-projects you've developed for the sign-up task. This post marks our first class. Most of our exercises will be asynchronous. We're gonna have a very light exercise to start it:
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Class 1 - Exercise 1
Introduce Yourself
Task: Tell a bit about yourself, your academic and work background, where you're from and some examples of good UX Design projects, websites or softwares from your country/community.
Date: Post the answers till September 18th
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I'll start it:
I'm João Menezes, an almost-graduate student in Brazil. My course is Graphics Design (Visual Programming) and I develop several research projects related to Webdesign and Virtual Learning Environments.
I've started developing online learning platforms in 2008, as soon as I entered the university. I'm currently working on my final paper, to conclude my course.
I study at UNIVILLE Universidade in Brazil ( www.univille.br ).
A very good example of a website here in Brazil, that has a good UX design and information architecture is Globo ( www.globo.com ) which is the main TV broadcaster here. What calls my attention is that they segregate their website very eficiently: green are Sports, red are News and orange are Entertainment. Go check it out and post your opinion about it.
I agree that the the Globo site is very navigable. It reminds me of an airport--the signs are bright, simple, and focused on helping people get where they need to go.
I am Andrew Bloss, a computer programmer, and looking for new skills beyond the business programs I have made.
I have a masters in Computers in Manufacturing and enjoy SQL because I like declaring "Give me the customers in California sorted by last months sales" instead of programming a lot of code.
I like the site http://www.commondreams.org because it's simple.
There's a book from the designers responsible for developing Globo.com, I'll try to get a summary of it and I'll post it here.
I liked the color schemes from commondreams, it makes things fit better. I'd suggest, though, the columns to have fixed widths instead of all being variable. And I'd also leave the headline as a 1-line sentence, instead of having the 2-lines break.
Please comment on the websites people post here :) It's very valuable to our classes.
I'm Eugenia Ortiz from Argentina (Euge). I'm a student of Computer Engineering (almost graduate) and I like everything related with UX: User interfaces, usability, accessibility, and so on. I love innovative solutions that increase your creativity.
Well, from my country, I like this website http://argentina.aula365.com/index.aspx it is an educational website for kids that study at home. It has different elements that sometimes are hard to achieve: education, kids, materials, fun, social, etc.
I haven't checked deeply its usability, but it would be a good assignment for me to do :)
Cheers
Hey there Euge,
Nice website there. Some elements I think are good are the free, open space in the middle of the site, which is occupied just by the illustration. There's no text in the middle of the website, which makes it very graphically appealing.
The other 2 elements which are interesting for me are the bottom parts: the menus and the copyright space.
It is interesting cause kids can have their own profile with an avatar, make a study group with other kids, they can have their own repository of materials (books, videos, etc), all things that a kid actually do in a real school. Also they have materials for parents to help their kids.
And yes, in this case the visual aspect and organization of the information (IA) is really important in order to make their education as easy and fun as possible.
(Ah, I've already commented but I'll tell it again: please give as an example a website from your country specifically.)
Hello everybody, I am Kishore. I am a python developer with over 5 years of experience. I have got experience it developing, designing, deploying all sorts of web applications. I am always interested in Entrepreneurship and adding value to a customer/client in which ever way possible. You can know more about me here: http://google.com/profiles/madhav.bnk
One site from my country, which is liked by main people globally is http://www.cleartrip.com. Its a typical flight-search website, but the navigation, interface is really elegant. I often jump to this site to book flights, trains.
Please don't forget to mention what country you come from. This "internationalization" of things is awesome! :)
Hello, I am Andrei Shindyapin from USA. Although I studied material science in the university, I am now a Ruby on Rails web developer (who is also learning Erlang).
I've been fortunate to have access to, and use daily, many well-designed websites from the UX point of view. Since this class is about education, I'll use http://nixty.com as an example... although after using it a bit, I came up with a list of suggested improvements that I listed in a blog post here: http://hacking-shindyapin.tumblr.com/post/787685412/first-impressions-on...
A nice thing in Nixty are the icons on the left menu. They're very objetive.
My name is Brylie Oxley and I am from the USA. I have been studying Ruby/Rails, Python, & PHP for a year or so. I am currently focusing on the Yii framework. http://www.yiiframework.com/
While not a single site, I like the accessibility design compliance of the ATutor Learning Management System http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/
I also like the simplicity and functionality of the Dokuwiki Content Management System http://www.dokuwiki.org/
Hi there, I'm Alfonso Sanchez from Spain.
Trying to go ahead with my own project. Studied economics and marketing. Lastly many web technologies like XHTML, CSS, SEO and digital marketing.
I worked in the automotive sector. I think usability and information architecture are very important to deploy good web content.
I like http://www.askaro.com/ and http://11870.com/
How about the UX experience of the prototype of my project: http://tucochenuevo.es ?
Hi:
I'm Tracy Mendham from New Hampshire in the United States. I am a university learning specialist. I have done some hybrid online teaching (half online, half physical classroom) and hope to always be involved in distance education in one way or another.
I have a Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree. I'm back in grad school, about half way through a Master of Education degree, and I am now a student in online and hybrid online courses. I am frustrated by my school's approach to online learning--it's dull and a little antiquated and never as good as in-person classes. By taking this class I hope to learn about what online learning ought to be. I have instincts but I want to be able to better articulate good practices.
For my example of a good site I'll use Twitter (http://twitter.com or http://twitter.com/mendhamt). Twitter the information down in an organized way (chronologically) and spares the reader visual clutter. It compels the writer to pare down what they say, too, and to make it current. I like the fact that there's a picture or avatar next to every post, so you literally stand by what you say.
And while Twitter is focused and in a way limited in what you see on your Twitter feed, it's still very open, because the posts are chock full of links--so it is full of invitations, rather than intrusions, from the world outside one's feed.
Regards,
Tracy
Hello. I'm a nub to UX but shouldn't be. I'm a former Java developer. I've been doing .Net since 2006 and try to use web standards when possible. I know, a contradiction with MS technology but MS is much more friendlier to that and becoming more compliant with each release. Any way, I'm not partial I use what i need to get the job done. I look forward to learn more about your discipline.
I have almost 10 years of experience with Java. Is the door still open for learning advanced java?
Hey there,
Nice to see all of you guys posts! Some personal considerations about the links:
(Remember - these are my opinions as a Graphics/Interaction designer. Please post your "agreed"'s and "desagreed"'s to make discussions richer.)
-- http://www.atutor.ca/atutor/
It's a good open-source based project, but it fails on some UX aspects. There's no graphical appeal on it's front page neither on the logged-in interface. The tabs occupy 3 lines, making it hard for the user to select the correct option. There's no graphical distingtion on the names, colors or icons on the tabs. The classes-menu on the left hand side are too UNIX-like interfaces. The chunks of texts don't have the appropriate line spacing to improve reading. Something positive is that the platform accepts quizzes.
-- http://www.dokuwiki.org/dokuwiki
It's got a good topics-based interface, good text layout, and very good personalization options. Because of that, it ends up getting a good UX if the person who customizes it cares about this subject. The home page of the project isn't as efficent as the examples they posted on the "Happy users" page.
-- http://www.askaro.com/
Nice one. A very clean, simple visual identitity placed on the correct side of the page (as we tend to start visual reading from left-to-right, at least on Ocidental cultures). Very good font choice, it works well on every screen, even mobile ones. An improvement for the front page would be segragation. All of the content occupies the same white-monotonous space. It seems that everything is related to everything, when there are 3 resources: search, latest, around the world. For instance, the "Need a recomendation" box works very well ( http://www.askaro.com/es/CT/Barcelona ). The Twitter-like interface is also very good as the information is very short and objetive. It is not that the user is lazy: we just have to think that, if he thinks less when using an interface, he's able to spend more time on the content he needs.
-- http://tucochenuevo.es/
That's a goal! The search field occupies a good space, it's large and invites people to search. The tabs-based interface is also very efficient. Two improvements I'd recommend: bigger photos of the cars and a better segregation with the topics list. Maybe a stars-based icon or mini-icons that resemble parts of the car.
-- http://11870.com/
Another goal :) The footer is very, very efficient. I'd recommend the same improvements I told for Askaro - the site is too white-monotonous. Having segregation boxes, even if with light gray tones, would be more graphically appealing.
-- http://twitter.com/
Good as if sends information by small bits. If you want to read more, you have that option. Twitter has evolved by these months. A nice detail is that the most recent post is both the first and the bigger on screen - it's eye catching, probably the first item you'll read.
Hey there,
The doors are always open to everyone. That's the open web spirit :)
Please post your website recommendations till tomorrow. Thanks!
Hi all,
My name is Logan and I do web stuff and assorted other ICT work for a nonprofit whose mission is to use robotics to get kids excited about science, technology, engineering, and math. I live in the US. I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in multidisciplinary studies. My focus was lexicography, but I also did course work in computer science and mathematics.
My appalling statistic of the week: One adult American in five thinks the Sun moves around the Earth [ http://nyti.ms/11qLXj ].
I'm really impressed with the "2 Sided Stories" web feature at http://www.thatsnotcool.com/VideoIndex.aspx ThatsNotCool.com focuses on raising awareness of new forms of abuse and harassment made possible by computer computer mediated communication and helping teens to develop appropriate boundaries and healthy behaviors with these new tools.
The "2 Sided Stories" feature uses YouTube videos and hyperlinks to create choose-your-own-adventure style stories that explore different scenarios and the possible consequences of different choices. The videos are short and feature puppets and animation. The voices used all sound like teens, and the level of interaction is high.
Another webby thing that I think is really cool is arc90's Readability tool, a javascript based text-reformater that gives you a clean, customizable, clutter free view of the content of a site. http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/
Logan
Hello. Wow, there are a bunch of great sites. I like Herman Miller's. They have a simple navigation strategy. It's easy to find what you're looking for. The site is clean, uncluttered and focuses on showcasing their products. Also, they have a lot of "educational" material and incorporate video nicely. A lot info well organized.
http://www.hermanmiller.com/
Hi everyone, I'm Matt. I have a BA in chemistry and teach high school science at a small charter school in the Minneapolis, MN, USA. Before that I worked as a web developer for 3 years. I am also my school's tech person with duties that include creating/running the website/teacher network.
I really like the layout and UX features of delicious - http://www.delicious.com/
links are often large and easy to click and there is a good use of mouse over effects to clarify items. I also really like the way the user can easily browse through bookmarks by clicking on the tags. If you have clicked on a series of tags to narrow the results they are all listed at the top similar to breadcrumbs and have an "x" to remove the tag.
There's a nice parallel between www.hermanmiller.com and www.thatsnotcool.com. The first one is very minimalist and tremendously efficient and visual attractive. The second one has the same qualities, but uses a different (more graffiti/crayon-like) graphic design. So this really proves that it is not only graphics that count: the thoughts behind these interfaces makes these sites look (and feel) awesome.
Delicious has also evolved in the last months, just like Twitter.
Aloha, my name is Natan Mallinger [-1-], age 28, from Southern California. As the corporate lifestyle never appealed to me, I have chosen to work as a freelance designer/ developer/ webmaster for small businesses over the past 8 years. My education is a B.S. from UCSD in Cognitive Sciences - Human Computer Interaction. I have much experience with typical UX work flows, though am always interested in supplementing that with new approaches such as what will be presented here.
I am dedicated follower of the Neilsen Usability Heuristics [-2-] as well as incorporating more general philosophies such as those introduced in the Principles for Permaculture [-3-].
My Site example is Area 51 @ Stack Exchange [-4-]
This site is a nurturing center for the expert Q&A sites found on stackexchange. My favorite aspect is how the content is enveloped by the surrounding environment, rather than on top a matte canvas. Search is given a prominent position - front and center. The progress bar is extremely effective at evaluating where in the development process a particular site is and how it compares to others. Additionally, the most important stats related to its current process are highlighted with meaningful color coding, making the content easily digestible.
[1] http://natanmallinger.com
[2] http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html
[3] http://permacultureprinciples.com/principles.php
[4] http://area51.stackexchange.com/
Hey there, Natan!
Nice examples you posted. I liked Area 51 coz it explores graphical means as a measuring tool, which is fast to understand. It's an efficient example of transforming data into information.
Hi all!
I'm a lot late, but here it is:
My name is Lita and I've been working with graphic and webdesign mainly for educational purposes – as scientific illustration and gamedesign for online learning modules. It was great hearing Logan talk about the "mission to use robotics to get kids excited about science, technology, engineering, and math" because it was exactly the project of one of my fellow programmers :)
Now, for the sites, I liked most of everything you posted here, as they were very acessible, with some of the places showing very good flexible layouts. Area51 came to attention because it reminds me of OpenIDEO.com – is anybody participating? It's a great, appealing place where I think they were successful in transforming the whole project idea and data into a very cohesive design.
Hey there, Lita! Nice to have you around.
Yes, openIDEO is a good example of a design-oriented platform. Not only because it comes from IDEO itself, which is a design office, but because there's a whole mental model that "tames" the user to work within the community they created. The DQ (quotient) is a nice way of having a score-based recognition resource, but that always values your abilities.
If you guys don't know openIDEO yet, be sure to check it out.
I didn't know about openIDEO--that is very cool. I also think the DQ is a smart feature. It addresses something that I know P2PU will be exploring, how to recognize/accredit/document people's work. It also will engage a little bit of healthy competition--I know that once I got a few points in my DQ badge, I would want more.