Hello!
Welcome to my UX project,
the Rotunda.
About me:
I'm Joyce. I strive to create engaging, accessible, and simple-to-understand designs.
With my background in fine art and education, I am passionate about considering the user and learner's perspective. I am committed to placing the needs of the user and learner front and center.
Education:
University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE)
Master of Science in Learning Sciences and Technologies, 2022-2023
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI
Master of Arts in Teaching, 2014
Bachelor of Fine Arts, 2013
Current Teaching & Work Experience:
The Peddie School, Hightstown, NJ, 2017-2022, 2023-present
Visual Arts Teacher, Yearbook Supervisor, Dorm Resident Faculty Member
The Rotunda
Project:
This project is the design of an app for a fictional classical music venue named the Rotunda.
The Rotunda seeks to attract a wide audience to classical music concerts. To meet the needs of people with busy, ever-changing schedules, the venue seeks a convenient way for patrons to reserve tickets and change or cancel reservations.
This project was created as an assignment in the Google User Experience Design Certificate series on Coursera. The slides that I have included use the course template as a starting point.
Goal: Make mobile app ticket reservation that is easy, appealing, and accessible for classical music fans.
My Role: UX designer from brainstorming to delivery.
Project Duration: Mar. - Nov. 2021
User Persona and Problem Statement
"I love attending concerts! However, with my hectic and ever-changing schedule, I need an fast and easy way to make or change my reservations while I'm on the road between gigs."
Initial Research
I interviewed a first group of volunteers. They reported that they usually purchased tickets at the box office of the venue or by searching for events and ordering tickets on the venue’s website.
Pain Points:
A common pain point was the long wait times experienced at box offices. Another was the need to change or cancel reservations in person or by phone, which was less convenient for people with busy schedules.
A common pain point was the long wait times experienced at box offices. Another was the need to change or cancel reservations in person or by phone, which was less convenient for people with busy schedules.
User Journey
Below are the steps the user would take and the emotions they might experience while going through the process of reserving a ticket at the Rotunda. I predicted users' feelings based on my own experiences with apps and some volunteers' interview responses.
Paper Wireframes
Picturing the app's steps through a potential user's perspective, I considered ways to make seat selection and payment a clear, simple process.
Digital Wireframes
As I progressed from the sketching stage to digital wireframes, I included feedback from fellow designers and users towards development. I considered the options users would want to see on each screen and how they would navigate across those options.
Usability Study Takeaways
5 participants used the low-fidelity digital prototype, pictured above, and shared their thoughts about their experience. Their insights below guided me towards the next actions to take in my future prototype.
Action Steps:
1. Clearer Feedback
Users wanted confirmation that their previous action was performed.
2. Clearer Symbols
Users wanted to clearly understand the meaning and function of each icon or symbol.
3. A More Simplified Design
Users wanted to be sure of where to look first on each screen and how to proceed.
Accessibility Considerations
While incorporating recommended changes from the usability study, I needed to account for accessibility. Three priorities were:
1. Contrast
I made sure that the text and background colors followed web content accessibility guidelines for contrast.
2. Icons
I used icons to make navigation easier and material easily identifiable.
3. Font Size
As much as possible, I used 16 point font size or larger for legibility. The low-fidelity digital prototypes' smaller font size was something I could improve as I refined the design.
Refined Design
Along with the accessibility points above, a main improvement for me to address was reducing visual clutter to clearly indicate for the user which button to press next.
The images in my prototype do not belong to me and are used for the educational purposes of my assignment for the Google certificate course.
Images:
Wan San Yip, Unsplash
Public Domain
My Takeaways
I learned that the user and fellow designers or collaborators can bring suggestions that I did not consider previously, and that ultimately, my final product can be greatly changed from what I had originally envisioned.
Future Steps
Moving forward, I would test this design to see if users felt that the needs for clarity and simplicity were addressed. I would add screens that allow for editing or cancelling a reservation, then test the usability. I would gather user feedback for additional areas of improvement to further streamline the experience.
Thank you for viewing my project. Please feel free to check out my project in responsive design, One Pot, at this link.
