Working through the first steps of our team's case study was intense, but rewarding. I say this because we were challenged to sit down and hash out ideas in such a short amount of time it felt a little scrambled, but we accomplished more by challenging ourselves to develop ideas verse sitting around and thinking about them. We started by looking at Domino's website and current systems they have in place.. It was impressive to see all the things they're already working on, which made it harder to come up with ideas. From there we started looking at other industry examples which helped us identify what was working and what wasn't. Furthermore, when we were coached to look beyond the same industry, into other markets for online experiences suddenly the light switch turned on. On the other side of that, it also opened my mind to exploring things I never would have thought of in the first place. In a fast growing world full of technological innovations, I was baffled when I realized more could be done. I think the biggest takeaway from this part was understanding how things could be built onto, or expanded. I also learned how things could be transferred from a completely different model, and re purposed and improved to make it work for something else.
The next step was to understand the user. By conducting preliminary interviews and observing a user experience with Domino's current site, this step provoked a special interest for me since I suddenly had a new perspective from a range of different users, with different needs and interests. This information is so valuable to the design process, without being able to identify issues and obstacles a designer would not necessarily create something that would truly fit the needs of the costumer. One of the things I was confused about was how to develop a persona when you have so many things to understand, and there are so many differences in each customer. Ultimately, they all wanted the same things, but at first this was hard to wrap my head around. After I sat down with three users, I found the common concerns and was able to develop a strategy for brainstorming. This was the insight we needed to start asking important questions, How Might We?
Crazy Eights and One Minute slides! This was insane! When we started this experiment it was boggling as a designer to have to work under the gun in a matter of minutes to develop concepts and designs. Yes, our team had gone through and selected a concept that really connected with everyone once we brought our industry examples in, but then we turned around to our own corners to create pages with the clock ticking. It was impressive to see all the different visual components each teammate brought to the table. I was looking at my drawings which felt very basic, under-developed, and somewhat dated, then I saw some of the younger members who actually created very decorated pages. I realized how valuable it is to have a dynamic team with different backgrounds and experience, and how that works in a positive way for co-creation.
Being my first time working with interface design, my whole world changed and my eyes are wide open now. The biggest concern I had going into this was around the cluster of designs that already existed. I couldn't imagine how we could possibly come up with something new. When I did gather an idea, I was more concerned about simplicity, but going into developing a prototype I realized how complex these systems could become. The last thing on my mind was making it beautiful. Once we set up our basics we then had to address equally important topics related to user accessibility, layout, font sizes, button placement and colors. These are all things that need to be considered just as important to promote a positive user experience. It doesn't matter how awesome your idea is if the user can't navigate past the first page! Connecting the dots was a plus, and that's what user testing brought us. We were able to go back and make changes, test again, and so on. I appreciate the design process and the initial case study. I realize now how valuable research is as a starting point. I understood the value of collaboration between the customer and the designer. Through research and interviews I was exposed to concepts that were so creative, so innovative, that it helped me push the boundaries to try new things!
