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UX / UI / IA

Michelle Linder, MS-HCI

 

Available to take on the challenges of 

Research and Development

User Experience Architecture and Design

User Interface Design and Information Architecture

When you hire me before you hire your coders and developers, I save you money and time.  Designs, prototypes and interfaces are developed through iterations in a Scrum or Agile environment and changes to any and all aspects of the prototype are modified in moments instead of weeks.

User Interface Design

&

User Experience Architecture

User interface design (UID) or user interface engineering is the design of websites, computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, and software applications with the focus on the user's experience and interaction. The goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing user goals—what is often called user-centered design.

User experience (UX) involves a person's behaviors, attitudes, and emotions about using a particular product, system or service. User experience includes the practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership. Additionally, it includes a person’s perceptions of system aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency. User experience may be considered subjective in nature to the degree that it is about individual perception and thought with respect to the system. User experience is dynamic as it is constantly modified over time due to changing usage circumstances and changes to individual systems as well as the wider usage context in which they can be found. 

USER EXPERIENCE

USER INTERFACE DESIGN

WHAT MAKES YOUR WEBSITE DIFFERENT
FROM YOUR COMPETITORS?

Website samples.  Headers only.  This image is a sample of how many company websites follow trends instead of leading them.  How they all look the same instead of standing out.

When you hire someone to design your website or app, do you want someone who will use the same template and style as everyone else, or do you want a User Interface specialist (UI Designer) who understands and can create conceptual designs specific to the products you sell and the ideas you wish to market.

 

When you develop a new application, device, technology and/or program, you can take the chance of putting your product on the market and hope your customers will find your products interface as simple to use as your engineers and developers found it, or you can hire a UI Designer who will make your interface user-friendly and intuitive enough that even your grandparents can figure it out.

 

Why risk the time and money it takes to bring a new product to market when you can hire a User Experience Researcher and Designer (UX Designer) to test your product on the people you will be marketing to?

Research

Research Projects

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

The Multimedia Multisensory Cross-referencing Educational Delivery System  (MMCredS) 

01

Logo for the Multimedia Multisensory Cross-referencing Educational Deliver System (MMCredS).  Picture is the profile of a head filled  with orange and blue gears in the style of the genre, Steam Punk.
MMCredS Video
BEST PRACTICES
in the design and implementation 
of the Smart Textbook

ABSTRACT:

One of the main causes of students dropping out of high school is due to a lack of literacy and the lack of accommodation to the different learning styles students have.  Despite lower dropout rates occurring today, illiteracy is on the rise (Salinger) (Romano, 2005).  In elementary school we learn to read and in high school we read to learn.  Consider, what if you couldn’t read or were still reading at a 4th grade level?  What if you are not a text-based learner due to learning disabilities, exposure to an inadequate educational system or other reasons, should this mean your high school experience must become a frustrating waste of your time?  Though literacy is very important, the lack of reading abilities should not be the determining factor over the lack of learning.  Therefore, current common public educational practices should accommodate all types of learning styles.  So the question being asked is ‘how can public schools accommodate all types of learners and compensate for all types of learning disabilities without the burden and expense of hiring every student their own personal tutor? How can we standardize education for all students in a way that its access and delivery is as consistent as the U.S. government has managed to standardize tests.  It is the goal of this research to use the advances in computer technology to create a learning program that will replace textbooks and neutralize the disadvantages of the learning disabled while accommodating all types of learning styles in the assimilation of new information in order to  advance all students in their education to reach their full potential.  As well, the goal is to accomplish this task in the most cost-effective way as to attract school districts.

MMCredS 
A system which should be able to neutralize the disadvantages of the learning disabled while being modifiable to the various learning styles
Postage-sized example of buttons used in the educational prototype, MMCredS.  Image of an old fashioned container of black ink and a feather pen laying on top of a section of the Constitution.  Title under the image says U.S. History.
Button example of what users would click on to access specific chapters in a text book.  Image shows 3 old books leaning against 2 stacked books and a magnifying glass.  Below image it says Chapters.

Due to proprietary concerns the MMCredS Prototype is not available online

MMCredS is being designed for high school students who enjoy playing video games, who have dyslexia, Autism, Asperger's or other cognitive difficulties.  It allows users to learn at their own pace using built-in assistive elements that is most conducive to the individual's learning style.  It allows the option of adding digital lectures that can free up teachers to scaffold, tutor and/or mediate group discussions to develop critical thinking skills in students.

The esthetics of the prototype utilizes Contextual Design patterns within the concept of the subject being taught.  In the case of the current MMCredS prototype, it's designed using elements from U.S. History.  

 

MMCredS integrates educational information with marketing and entertainment industry techniques to make learning fun in order to support long-term memory and turn students into life-long learners. It gives users the freedom to choose how the information should be presented to them.  For example; a Dyslexic could choose an eclectic screen with lots of pictures  and a screen reader for the textbook.  Individuals with autism or Asperger's could choose the option of an empty screen with  pull-down menus and uniform buttons.  They could choose to read the textbook in a graphic novel format. A blind person could use the screen reader to hear the textbook and a deaf person could see the textbook in sign language.  And much more.

02

3-D MODELING

3-D Mouse for the Left Hand

For people who do 3-dimensional modeling on the computer

  • Each of the keys has a different texture in order to be identified by feel and not sight. 

   

  • Buttons in contrasting colors to accomidate different types of visual impairments including, but not limited to color blindness

  • Ergonomically designed to fit a left hand in a relaxed position

 

  • Buttons represent shift, control, alt and many other keys used for 3-D modeling

 

  • Donut designed for easy thumb access for maneuvering around the screen

 

  • Mouse comes in many different colors and materials such as matalic metal, plastic, wood and leather

Left-Handed Mouse

WHAT IS
      SPECULATIVE

DESIGN?

Many theorize the science fiction writers and artists of the past are prophets, in that they predicted and wrote about the technology we use today.   For example; Gene Rodenberry imagined the electric door, the cell phone, artificial intelligence and more.  Leonardo De Vinci designed the first helicopter, glider plane, submarine and more

But were these artists prophets who could predict the future?  Or were they merely people with imagination?  Perhaps science fiction writers don’t predict the future, they are just people who can imagine anything, and eventually their ideas are copied by engineers; individuals capable of making anything, but not imagining it. 
 
Speculative Design, also known as Fictional Design, is the art of taking existing technology and finding new applications for them and/or combining existing technology into the creation of innovation that has not been thought of yet.  Speculative designers think up and design the futuristic technology used in the entertainment industry on such films as Iron Man and Batman.  Our research skills and imagination are also utilized by such organizations as DARPA and major technology companies such as Apple and Microsoft.

 

Click the buttons above for access to the research behind how Laser Glasses could be created, and/or click the other button for the mock advertisement/brochure with the many features that could accompany this new type of smart glasses.

03

Lasar Glasses

SPECULATIVE DESIGN
     & DESIGN FICTION

Smart Contact Lenses

04

INTERACTIVE TELEVISION
Justified
 
The Task
The eTV Studio at Georgia Tech focuses on the idea that television is no longer a "lean-back" experience; it is instead growing into a "lean-forward" experience, inviting interaction and immersive viewing experiences that were previously not possible via technology. The Justified companion (working title) allows users to gain insight into the complex, long-running narrative of the television show Justified (on FX).
 
Interacive Television
Visual map in the style of a process chart showing the different images of characters on the television series, Justified, with lines showing how the characters are connected to each other.

THE SOLUTION

 

The project utilized HTML5, CSS and JavaScript/jQuery, as well as PHP and MySQL to synchronize a working prototype application (designed for the iPad) with the video view through Google TV APIs.

 

I was personally involved with the creation of a none-text-based format designed for audiences watching the show, Justified, for the first time.  Specifically; if the audience is curious why a character is re-acting a certain way or if they have questions about a subject mentioned in the story, the user can tap on an icon (a small photo of that character or subject), and the show on their television will pause while a short montage begins on their iPad showing that particular subject or character’s back story. 

 

Each montage is a short video I edited in the style of a “previously on” clip.  Only instead of the focus being on a previous episode, it’s on a particular character or subject.  The concept behind creating character montages was to replace and standardize the fan/friend; the person who’s familiar with the show you’re watching and want’s to pause all the time to tell the background information you might need to understand what’s happening in the episode you’re watching. 

 

Read more about the project on the eTV site, linked below.

http://etv.gatech.edu/

 

The Process

Process

aGILE

&

sCRUM

eNVIRONMENT

Step 1

Research

How do you go from knowing nothing

to a finished project designed to

meet the requirements of the

Stakeholders and viable

to your End-users

AND WITH THIS RESEARCH
We begin to create, write and sketch out:
  • User Scenarios
  • Function Flow and System Flow Charts
  • User Flow Charts
  • Personas
  • Storyboards
  • Sketch out ideas
  • Brainstorm Requirements
  • Create/Develop Requirements List
  • Sitemaps are started
  • UI Pattern Recognition and Definition
  • Style Sheet Development begins
RESEARCH INTO:
  • End-Users
  • Stakeholders
  • The Business and their objectives
  • Design Styles that will fit conceptually with the product, app or website
  • Existing Systems
  • Project Details and Requirements
  • Marketing Department Design Parameters and Requirements
  • Developers'/coders' Parameters
Image representing Research utilizing Text-based art.
1ddac33ea39a364f49499ae6089c21072d2aea24

Step 2

Whiteboard Sketching

Picture of a sketchbook showing a page with 8 hand-drawn website wireframes.

Making sure the information is in
the priorities of
both End-users'
interests and
Product Owners objectives

Mapping out
the architecture
of information

Step 3

First Wireframes

Picture displaying 10 wireframes for a mobile app.
AS.png

Step 4

Iterative

Development

WE BEGIN THE ITERATIVE PROCESS

OF DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

and  repeat  the  iterative

process until a final and

tested Interactive

Prototype is

completed

Iterative

Development

in Detail

Samples of

User Experience Architecture & Design

User Interface Design 

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