How UX Design Showcases the Lab as a Community Partner
As an innovation and emerging technologies lab specializing in XR experiences, we understand how our brand can seem less than approachable to our community. It is a field in which few of the general public have real-world experience, especially when it comes to technologies like robotics or motion capture. So, it is easy to believe such projects could have no effect on our neighbors. The truth, however, and what our branding team is aiming to show the public, is that the Reese Innovation Lab is and will continue to be a great asset to everyone in our community and beyond.
From a UX design standpoint, each project undertaken at the Lab is first and foremost about the user. Before any code is written or technology is implemented, the project begins with an idea. Next, we must decide: why is this project worth doing? Who will it benefit and how? The answers to these questions will decide every step moving forward in the process. While these first steps may seem like a given, they reveal how the Lab can work for anyone when these questions are posed in a given situation.
UX, or user experience design, is the use of design principles to give users the most positive experience when interacting with a product. In digital design, this can be the layout of a website or app, the colors and fonts used, designing for human variability, and more — all of which are specific to each product’s audience and function.
Beyond the surface-level design elements, UX must account for the fact that each user’s experience will be different depending on what they are expecting from the product. Users are more likely to have a positive experience with the Lab’s technology when they have expectations that align with the goals of our projects. For this reason, our branding strategies must take into account various questions that we can use to guide our thinking. For one, why should anyone be interested in the Lab? For another, how can the technology we use be more relatable? From there, how do we show the public what they can do with our work?
One example of our branding changes is the new website currently in the works. This change will be moving the website from a hand-coded setup to the builder software Wix. While the content will largely remain the same, using Wix will allow for several improvements in user experience. The primary benefit of using a framework like Wix is the ease of updating any part of the website. With a hand-coded website, each change must be made by someone with knowledge of the code, leading to outdated information and communication difficulties. On Wix, anyone can add updates quickly and efficiently. Secondly, Wix allows for a responsive design without extra coding, meaning each webpage will transition seamlessly between desktop and mobile layouts. Text and graphics will be easy to read and view, and users can visit the website anytime whether they are using a computer or just have access to their phone. Finally, integration of outside media in Wix is achieved with the simple addition of a widget rather than more code.
The new website is just one example of how UX design is helping us to increase the Lab’s accessibility for members of our community. Since the Lab is partnered with the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, we want to showcase how UNC students and other members of the Chapel Hill community can use us as a resource, and that the technology on which we focus is not nearly as out of reach as it may seem.
