Browsing by Subject "User experience"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Austin south shore : an experiential design strategy(2014) De Regt, Elizabeth Laura; Almy, DeanThis project takes an experiential design approach to urban planning. By focusing on the public spaces of an urban area, it develops a design process based on the experiences felt by those walking down the street: both visitors and residents. Each type of user has a different experience, and a variety of building-street interface typologies have therefore been developed. This project uses the same calculations and basic framework from Dean Almy’s Texas Futures Lab studio of Spring 2013. It then looks into the various user groups and adjusted the public spaces to provide more variety, reflecting the various experiences sought after by these users.Item A comparison of the effects of mobile device display size and orientation, and text segmentation on learning, cognitive load, and user perception in a higher education chemistry course(2015-05) Karam, Angela Marie; Resta, Paul E.; Liu, Min; Hughes, Joan E.; Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Matthew, EastinThis study aimed to understand the relationship between mobile device screen display size (laptops and smartphones) and text segmentation (continuous text, medium text segments, and small text segments) on learning outcomes, cognitive load, and user perception. This quantitative study occurred during the spring semester of 2015. Seven hundred and seventy-one chemistry students from a higher education university completed one of nine treatments in this 3x3 research design. Data collection took place over four class periods. The study revealed that learning outcomes were not affected by the mobile screen display size or orientation, nor was working memory. However, user perception was affected by the screen display size of the device, and results indicated that participants in the sample felt laptop screens were more acceptable for accessing the digital chemistry text than smartphone screens by a small margin. The study also found that neither learning outcomes, nor working memory was affected by the text segmentation viewed. Though user perception was generally not affected by text segmentation, the study found that for perceived ease of use, participants felt medium text segments were easier to learn from than either continuous or small test segments by a small margin. No interaction affects were found between mobile devices and text segmentation. These findings challenge the findings of some earlier studies that laptops may be better for learning than smartphones because of screen size, landscape orientation is better for learning than portrait orientation in small screen mobile devices, and meaningful text segments may be better for learning than non-meaningful, non-segmented, or overly segmented text. The results of this study suggest that customizing the design to the smartphone screen (as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach) improves learning from smartphones, making them equal to learning from laptops in terms of learning outcomes and cognitive load, and in some cases, user perspective.Item Making sense with design : a taxonomy of designed experiences(2006) Poggio, Natacha Lorena; Lee, GloriaSo automatically do we perceive things through sight, sound, smell, and touch that we easily can take our senses for granted. My design research strives to deepen the understanding of our senses by creating innovative experiences that make us react in new ways, even to the most common experiences. My aspiration is that the resulting experiences will re-shape our memory and perception of the world. This report is a documentation of my inquiry into the design of human experience; where I look beyond applied products and broaden my view to include all sorts of objects and environments with which people interact. Serving as a guidebook, it outlines the different disciplines of design that address the design of experiences. Additionally, selected case studies from the body of work I have pursued during my graduate studies are presented as a collection of stories of my experience designing user experiences. My design philosophy embodies the importance of engaging multiple senses in each designed activity to better enhance the overall quality of the experience for everyone, including people with disabilities.Item Su voz, su decisión : data-driven system to support day laborers in making informed employment decisions(2016-08) Narya, Shrankhla; Gorman, Carma; Bias, Randolph; Park, Jiwon; Boggess, BethanyWage theft and worksite injury is a significant issue for day workers in Texas and across the nation. In Texas, where a majority of day laborers are undocumented and therefore more vulnerable, the most urgent issue that needs to be addressed is exploitation, which is often compounded by laborers’ lack of access to information about worker rights and employers’ reputations. In 2014 alone, 524 workers were documented to have been killed on their job site in Texas, while many deaths went unreported. And between 2010 and 2014, more than 40,000 Texan workers were victims of wage theft amounting to a total of more than $70 million. Operating in the field of ICT (Information and Communication Technology), I hypothesize that access to both English- and Spanish-language information about worker rights and potential employers’ labor violation-related records can empower workers to make informed employment decisions that will increase their safety and prosperity. At a time when the field of design and advanced digital technologies can skew toward serving the privileged and elite of the society, I am using technology to help members of marginalized/disadvantaged communities use information to improve their economic condition and quality of life: in short, to effect social justice from the bottom up. In my thesis project, Su Voz, Su Decisión, meaning your voice, your decision, I use the methodology of user-centered design to design a mobile app that provides a system of information access for day laborers in Austin. In this report, I will discuss the process of user experience (UX) design that I followed to design the solution, which is a mobile app for Android and iOS, and how I used physical data visualization to represent the data that helped me create the app.Item The war at home : a veteran's use of critical design methods for post-deployment reintegration(2015-05) Perez, Jose Manuel; Catterall, Kate; Sonnenberg, StephenMany combat veterans underestimate the on-going traumatic effects of war, effects that eventually surface in civilian life, causing health, relationship and career problems. During a deployment, emotions such as vigilance, anger, and fear are beneficial for the soldier and aide in coping with multiple combat-related adversities. Suppression of emotions that do not assist the soldier or mission during deployment is necessary and becomes habitual as it helps the soldier stay motivated and focused for the duration of the deployment. Post-deployment, the coping mechanisms previously necessary for survival, contribute to the difficulties of reintegration. The problems encountered by veterans can include, but are not limited to: social withdrawal, economic decline, self-medication, and most problematic, suicidal tendencies. As a veteran myself, I began to ask, is there another way to prepare veterans for re-entry to civilian life, to prevent unnecessary hardships and tragedies, educate them in unfamiliar ways, and perhaps contribute to an effective healing process? As a designer I approached these questions, searching for a way to communicate the adversities veterans face from an unexpected angle. Presented here are prototypes, diagrams, and warning systems designed to help veterans 1) be more self-aware and alert to the symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression, 2) engage the armed forces and the VA in a discussion about innovative and more effective ways to talk about and treat the psychologically damaged soldier, and 3) foster communities to support veterans in their re-entry to civilian life. The objects I designed for my thesis exhibition are not intended to correct a complex problem such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or moral injury. Instead, they are created as a collection of tools to facilitate difficult conversations, provoke thought, and as an alternative approach to reach combat veterans who are in their own process of reintegration. My work is one method to process the effects of war through a non-destructive practice for those veterans who may not pay attention to the wall of pamphlets or other forms of disseminating information.