I live five blocks away from the red square and bus has become an important transportation in my daily life. Me, as a frequent user, is surpassed by the OBA not only because the efficiency and convenience OBA provides but also because my school actually produces such stunning app. From looking at the early designed version, I realize that prototyping is very helpful when one has specific ideas to present users. The team wants to show the real-time route of buses, however, the GPS on the bus does not work in that way. Then they come out an idea that instead of showing the real-time route, they put times of arrival. As a user, I do believe it is a great idea because I want to know when buses come so that I do not have to wait in the bus station. This smart design taught me that we should take accessibility of data base as a consideration when we do prototyping. Another aspect of the project that stood out to me is the visual design of the application. I did not know scheduled arrival time means it is not the real time. Due to the limitation of data base, OBA has worked really hard on clarification of given information. This alerts me that neat and understandable designs are vital because users especially phone application users rarely read manual.
The usability testing project for Nordstrom is inspiring because it combines the commercial aspect. The project wants to know how users identify early access to the Nordstrom sale. The problem they discovered is that users think they will get a additional discount on the discounted price and some users do not understand the concept of the early access. To make the information clear, Nordstrom uses different color blocks indicating sales items and the early access project. And Nordstrom put brief but clear explanation of the early access program. The improved webpage design has a better evaluation from users. One aspect that stood out to me is that they designed a concept of the early access due to commercial interest but consumers are not usable to the new concept. Innovations are common but how to delivery it to users is super important.
These professional projects are inspiring, I would like to modify my prototype for noise level. I designed the function of detecting decibel. However, each phone’s ability to delivery such work is different. What I am saying here is that some phones may get inaccurate decibel because their own hardware. So, I might add notes to the decibel detected saying that it is only for reference. Moreover, I would like to modify my level-reward system. It is not clear indicated. I might want to add a page upon every log in to brief explain how it works.