UX Case Study- Chinese Restaurant Mobile Website

By: Tingyu Zhang

Date: April 21, 2024

My Design-Wire Frame-Improved Food Mobile App:

Created via Canva

 Publication Notes

Tingyu Zhang

1. A list (or copy) of all possible papers (already drafted) for submission.

Building in Accommodations for Inclusive tutoring in the Writing Studio for students with dyslexia

2. Copies of/links to CFP’s – “Calls for Papers” (chapter and article publications and conference presentations).

Presentation slides at 2014 Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA)

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ctKVJw4nQ7Dy5zg5e8csAX-57US4uEPH/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112366463258932611566&rtpof=true&sd=true

 

Abstract for the 2024 SWCA conference

In Hacking the Curriculum, Disabling Composition Pedagogy: The Affordances of Writing Studio Design (2018), Garrett Bre briefly notes that writing program teachers can “hack” traditional curriculum spaces to own more inclusive pedagogies. Though he demonstrates hacking means combining disability studies perspectives in the Writing Studio, he is less invested in the diverse problems and needs of dyslexia students. Also, there is less scholarship on how to tutor dyslexia students in the writing center as students are not required to disclose diagnoses in postsecondary education. As a tutor in the GSU writing studio for 6 months, I find a common group of students coming to the writing studio are dyslexia students but tutors have not given adequate training to help them, so my research focuses on how writing studio centers can better accommodate tutees with dyslexia.

Based on my research of interviews with 6 adult dyslexia students in GSU using 15 questions, I will present their views about writing difficulties in the first part of my presentation. They have difficulties in recognizing small, unclear, and not spacious fonts or cannot correct some common misspellings. Also, they need in-depth feedback about their overarching mistakes and detailed writing suggestions but need allowance in determining how they improve their writing. 

The second part will explore ways for tutors in the writing center to support dyslexia students. The participants suggest writing tutors should have empathy and respect for dyslexia students’ needs, have positive tones and language in tutoring questions, focus on attentive listening, give clear and detailed instruction, and provide writing samples and criteria to use as references to write for their audiences. In addition, the tutors are recommended to use some technology to help dyslexic students correct grammar and spelling mistakes, use text-to-speech software to support their reading fluency and comprehension or use electronic commenting on the writing of dyslexic students who may have difficulty deciphering handwritten notes. The tutors should also provide some accommodations like providing extra time for tutoring when possible.

The last part of the presentation will show why it is significant for all writing studios not just GSU’s in the future to train tutors to have compassion for dyslexia students, choose dyslexia-friendly font in online tutoring, give open-ended feedback for their brainstorming or drafts and direct feedback for editing and proofreading, provide accommodation like extension in tutoring sessions, improve technology use such as custom color for on-screen text, Read Aloud and Grammarly. Only by understanding dyslexia students’ direct perspectives about writing problems can writing centers create inclusive and student-centered environments to help tutees improve their writing with high efficiency.

2024  SWCA conference CFP

https://southeasternwritingcenter.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/conference/2024/swca_2024_cfp.pdf

 

Here’s the website that I can occasionally check for calls for papers.

(Interesting categories + the online conference section)

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/

 

SAMLA Friday 11/15-17/2024 Jacksonville–No CFP yet–                                      https://southatlanticmla.org/future-samla-conferences/

 

3. A list of journals in your area of concentration.

Writing Center Journals:

Southern Discourse in the Center

Southern Discourse in the Center (SDC) began as the newsletter of the Southeastern Writing Center Association. Christine Cozzens revived the Southern Discourse newsletter in the spring of 1998, and in 2001 the SWCA board decided to designate SDC as the “publication” of SWCA after it began to include research articles, and in-depth works about writing center-related issues.

Composition Forum

Composition Forum is a journal for scholars and teachers interested in the investigation of composition theory and its relation to the teaching of writing at the post-secondary level. Composition Forum is an Open Access Journal.

Composition Studies (archive)

Archive includes TOCs & some open access content for issues five years prior to the present and complete open access to issues published five years prior to present.

Kairos

Kairos is a refereed open-access online journal exploring the intersections of rhetoric, technology, and pedagogy.

The Peer Review

The Peer Review is a fully online, open-access, multimodal scholarly journal that promotes the work of emerging writing center researchers.

Praxis: A Writing Center Journal

Praxis: A Writing Center Journal has been published by the University Writing Center at the University of Texas at Austin since Fall 2003. Articles published between 2003 and 2010 can be found under the Vintage Praxis tab above. Praxis has been published as a peer-reviewed journal since Fall 2011. This journal is Open Access.

Young Scholars in Writing

Young Scholars in Writing: Undergraduate Research in Writing and Rhetoric is an international peer-reviewed journal. It publishes research and theoretical articles by undergraduates of all majors and years on the subjects of rhetoric, writing, writers, discourse, language, and related topics. This journal is Open Access

Writing Center Journal

Writing Lab Newsletter

Composition Studies (current issues)

The oldest independent periodical in the field, Composition Studies is an academic journal dedicated to the range of professional practices associated with rhetoric and composition: teaching college writing; theorizing rhetoric and composing; administering writing related programs; preparing the field’s future teacher-scholars.

4. Submission guidelines with submission info and contact names for journals in your concentration area.

Submission Guidelines: https://southeasternwritingcenter.wildapricot.org/southerndiscourse

Please submit the article via email to SDC.journal.editors@gmail.com.

Generally articles should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

All articles be documented in accordance with the MLA Style Manual, 8th Edition.

 

5. Information on presses committed to publishing in your concentration.

• Utah State University Press- (find Write Centers Journals) -Utah State University Press is a refereed scholarly publisher and division of Utah State University Libraries. Established in 1972, the Press’s mandate is to acquire and publish books of superior quality that win the esteem of readers
• Southern Illinois University Press -founded by President Delyte Morris in the mid-1950s, and its first book–Charles E. Colby’s A Pilot Study of Southern Illinois–was published on October 20, 1956. The Press has mounted a global mission, reaching out through all avenues of the worldwide network of scholarship to attract manuscripts from an international corps of authors.
• Bedford/St. Martin’s – Known for their widely used textbooks and handbooks on academic writing, rhetoric, and literature.
• W. Norton – Publishes a variety of writing guides, readers, and anthologies used in college English courses.
• Pearson – One of the largest educational publishers, producing popular composition textbooks and references.
• McGraw-Hill – Publishes composition textbooks as well as resources for teaching writing and grammar.
• Cengage – Produces comprehensive writing guides, handbooks, and anthologies for first-year writing programs.
• Macmillan – Publishes textbooks, readers, and reference works on topics like college writing, rhetoric, and research.
• Oxford University Press – Known for high-quality academic titles, including works on writing pedagogy and style.
• Cambridge University Press – Publishes scholarly works and instructional materials related to English language and composition.
• Hackett Publishing – Specializes in classic literary texts as well as composition readers and writing guides.

 

6. An annotated list of bibliographical information (subject matter, methodology, advice) related to your area of interest.

How to tutor students with dyslexia in the writing center

https://publicationsncte.org/content/books/9780814100080

https://www.routledge.com/Metanarratives-of-Disability-Culture-Assumed-Authority-and-the-Normative/Bolt/p/book/9780367523190

https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Nonseries/Teaching-Writing-in-the-Twenty-First-Century

https://nyupress.org/9781479819362/crip-authorship/

 

7. A list of working titles or topics you would like to explore.

How has Western Feminism in the 19C influenced Chinese feminist rhetoric in the 20C and now?   

8. A list of organizations, discussion lists, etc. in your area.

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/02/02/9th-international-gender-and-sexuality-studies-conference-september-28%E2%80%9329-2024

9th International Gender and Sexuality Studies Conference September 28–29, 2024

deadline for submissions:

April 19, 2024

full name / name of organization:

University of Central Oklahoma

contact email:

skiang@uco.edu

The International Gender and Sexuality Studies Conference is presented by the Women’s Research Center and the BGLTQ+ Student Center at the University of Central Oklahoma with assistance from the UCO chapter of the National Organization for Women. In tandem, these organizations promote engagement with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality issues.

 

 

Class Notes:

 

• Conference Abstracts Documents                                                 
• Delivering conference presentations                                                                                                                                                                         
• Commercial Publication                 
• Publishing Teaching Materials                                   
• Intellectual property/ethics
• Preparing Materials for Job Applications: Resumes, CVs, and Teaching Philosophies/Portfolios
• Research Ethics and IRB
• Rhetorical Elements
• Publishing conference proceedings
• Turning Conference papers into publications              
• Textbook Publishing
• Publishing dissertations and theses
• Preparing the Monograph Proposal
• Submitting articles to Journals
• Grant Writing 
• Collaboration            

 

 

 

1.31 Week 4 In Class Conference Abstract

 

 

1. EmailSample： Check the information of the full instructions of the meeting.

Hi Committee Organizers,

Good afternoon. My name is ***,

Please accept my *** conference abstract.

My abstract entitles *** for *** conference.

Here is attached as a word document. （CV/ bio？）

Thank you for consideration.

If you need anything, please let me know.

I look forward to your email.

All the best,

Tingyu

 

 

2. conference abstract

IRB approval first

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Co-Authoring in Action: Practice, Problems and Possibilities

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1230314.pdf

Pros and cons of publishing research with a co-author

https://phdcentre.com/publishing-research-with-a-co-author/

 

Archival Research

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF_hhWj9gY/78LYyBoYR1vql_KcXXjDoA/edit?utm_content=DAF_hhWj9gY&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton.

 

What Composition Students and Academic Libraries Can Gain from DigitalCollaborative Pedagogies Author(s): Matthew A. Vetter

 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/compstud.42.1.0035.pdf?casa_token=FIR0B-6hQsgAAAAA:ZOzhVTAD4mHhKNxRaAiy6sDVl1qfJRCGZc0GdVxOXuoDdeSKTUjNz64_UjAPFpSXTtWV3Fczdx6f4ZbWK0rrYVBtd90ZCXOY-Nea-Wkq2fD-eWDFo9p3

 

https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/798301/pdf

 

 

3.21 Class presentation slides on Collaboration

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGADbP2ltk/sZd-Y5bpAWWg7JCCSG7LBw/edit?utm_content=DAGADbP2ltk&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

 

Publishing Pedagogical Materials  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BHznQgrmEsOA87z_BwApYV28jPWGQ2IM/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112366463258932611566&rtpof=true&sd=true

 

CV is different form Resume;

TCSG technical college systems;

 

CV template;

Resume (2pages) CV(4-10 pages)

 

 

Work on your UX project and weekly blog about what you did, what you learned, and what you are going to do next.

 

Object to analyze

I will analyze a pick-up food website. YiFan is a Chinese food restaurant nestled in the heart of Johns Creek in Atlanta that offers fusion cuisine. It offers a pick-up food ordering service through the website https://qmenu.us/#/yifan/menu/1645135062215.

 

Hypothesis to test

• What elements should be improved and changed in this food website in terms of usability and user-friendliness?

Data needed

I want to record the process of how Chinese food lovers order their favorite 5 dishes from Yi Fan’s website and conduct face-to-face interviews with them using 13 questions in 20 minutes.

 

What I did:

1. I added two background questions before the formal interviews to test if the potential participants are the targeted customers for YiFan’s restaurant and if the dishes in the restaurant can meet their ideal taste.
2. I revised the former 16 interview questions to 13 ones and broke them into 4 sections for the competitor analysis.

 

Dr. Pullman, I am wondering if these 2 background questions and 13 interview questions make sense.

 

Background questions:

1. What is your preferred flavor (You could choose multiple options: Sweet, Spicy, Savory, Other)?
2. How often do you order Chinese food online? (Options: Once a month, Once two weeks, Once a week, Twice a week, Three or Four Times a week, More than four times a week, Others.）

A. Overall website aesthetic

1. Do you think the main color of the food website is visually appealing?
2. Do you think the fonts are big enough to see?
3. Is each photo large enough to see?
4. Do you think it is well-organized？

B． Item selection

1. Could you tell from each title what the ingredients of the dish would be? How spicy, sweet, or savory it would be?
2. How did you choose the dishes you chose? (Options: Image, Title, Description, Other.)
3. Can you find your or your family member’s favorite dish quickly？

 

C．Checkout process

1. Do you think it is easy for you to put the dishes in the cart and be ready to check out？
2. What do you care about most in the checkout process?

 D. Overall evaluation

1. Could you rate it on a scale from 1 to 10? How much do you like the food delivery website?
2. Do you think it is user-friendly?
3. What challenges do you face in the ordering process? How does this make you feel?
4. How do you think the website can be improved in web design and interaction?   

 

What I learned:  

Since the interviewees are mostly some of my friends or classmates I am familiar with in Atlanta, I need to talk with them before UX interviews not to hide their negative feelings about the website and try to minimize the risk of underreporting and gather more accurate and comprehensive insights from the interviews.

1. Build rapport and trust: Establish a comfortable and non-judgmental environment where participants feel safe to share their honest thoughts and experiences. Assure them that there are no right or wrong answers and that I  value their candid feedback.
2. Don’t lead respondents towards my own opinions: Encourage participants to elaborate on their experiences, thoughts, and feelings without leading them in a particular direction. Avoid leading questions that suggest a desired answer or impose my own assumptions. Let participants express their perspectives freely.
3. Probe for details: Follow up on vague or brief responses by probing for more details, examples, or clarification. Encourage participants to provide specific instances or scenarios.
4. Observe nonverbal cues: Pay attention to their body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice, as these can sometimes reveal discomfort or hesitation that may indicate underreporting.
5. Provide anonymity and confidentiality: Assure participants that their responses will be kept anonymous and confidential, which can encourage them to be more open and honest.
6. Provide opportunities for follow-up: Allow participants the opportunity to provide additional feedback or clarification after the initial interview, as they may feel more comfortable sharing certain information later.

 

What I am going to do next:

• 4/6: Find 2 interviewees (1 Chinese and 1 American who love ordering Chinese food online). Conduct 2 face to face interviews about their opinions about YiFan’s restaurant website.
• 4/13:  Do a competitor analysis between YiFan and Uber Eats using qualitative data. Do the first draft of the wireframe of the improved app using Figma, since I have no capacity to develop and change YiFan’s food ordering website.
• 4/20: Seek feedback on the wireframe and revise accordingly. Publish the final version wireframe of improved YiFan’s food website.
• 4/22: Write up a final case study.

Find a book on UX or a UX adjacent topic that is not already in the collection under Books, provide a list of important quotations, in the way you see in the Books section, and write a review of the book — who it is for, what it explains, how well you think it works. When you send me the quotations, I will add your book and your quotations to Books. Post your review on your blog. If you want to practice talking head presenting, you can video record your review and post that to your blog.

Full Book Title: Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research

 

Authors: Mike Kuniavsky, Elizabeth Goodman, and Andrea Moed

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Morgan Kaufmann; 2nd edition (September 21, 2012)

ISBN‏ : ‎ 978-0123848697

I came across Observing the User Experience when I first saw it being listed as a required reading book for the ENGL 8122 User-Experience Research & Writing class. The book holds a 4.3 on Amazon. If you’re looking for one book to read to get a solid understanding of user research, this is it. This is a brilliant textbook and reference book as it almost covers all the major subjects in UX full of clear descriptions and useful examples and case studies.

 

1. Who is the book for？

The textbook is suitable for the beginner in UX such as somebody who is interested in UX but not yet working in it or somebody who has just started their career to develop or improve a product in UX but lacks the experience.

Besides, it is also suitable for professionals who want to hone their skills in UX.

The authors point out on the Preface there are 7 types of readers who might be the targeted readers.

• A program manager who wants to know how to prioritize a team’s effort
• A designer who needs to create and refine new ways to interact

with and through digital information

• A marketing manager who wants to know what people find most

valuable in your products

• An information architect who needs to pick an organizational

scheme

• A programmer creating a user interface, trying to interpret an

ambiguous spec

• A consultant trying to make your clients’ products better
• An inventor who wants to make a product people will love

The book is excellent for someone who wants to know how the people who use the product they are making perceive it, what they expect from it, what they need from it, and whether they can use what they have made for them.

 

2. What does the book explain？

This book serves as an indispensable guide for practitioners seeking to enhance their user research skills and create products that truly resonate with their target audience. Divided into three parts, the book covers a comprehensive range of topics with a lot of clear subtitles and bullet points.

1). Part one is about why research is good and how it fits into product development. The first section lays the groundwork by introducing key concepts, such as the importance of user research, a nano-usability test, a micro-usability test, the different roles involved like end users, the company and advertisers, and the overall process. The authors’ clear and concise explanations make these foundational ideas accessible to readers of all backgrounds.

2). Part two is about various user experience research techniques which are really shining in this book.

This is the most substantial section that dives deep into various user research techniques, including research planning, competitive research, recruiting interviews, focus groups, object-based techniques, observational field visits, diary studies, usability tests, surveys, global and cross-cultural research, analyzing qualitative data, usage data and customer feedback. For each method, the writers provide a clear definition of the term including when to conduct the method, what is the method, detailed instructions on how to conduct it effectively, and how to integrate the findings into the product or software development. Even if you are already familiar with the basics, the authors’ clear explanations are a nice refresher. In addition, as someone who learns best from real-world examples, I appreciate all the concrete tips and instructions the authors add in some key terms.

3) Part 3 offers guidance on putting research into action, doing reports, presentations, and workshops and creating a user-centered corporate culture.

 

3. Quotes and reflections

Quote 1

“Just as technology strategist John Shiple said, “Competitive research is one of the first things you should do. It can define your world for you and make your life a whole lot easier” (Page 74).

“Competitive Product Interviews and Observation

One-on-one interviews with users of a competitive product can reveal much about what makes that product functional and where it fails. Watching people use your competition’s product reveals usage” (Page 83).

 

This raises our awareness to conduct interviews with different users of a competitive product and dive deeper into the advantages that the competition’s product gives its users and the hindrances it places in their ways. Competitive research can be done at any point in our product development cycle and it provides useful information as “Great minds think alike”. It can give us some shortcuts to design or improve a product or service if we can draw on the shining points and avoid the shortages of the competition’s product and service.

 

Quote 2

The analyst must determine who the competitors are, what aspects should be compared, and how to compare them. The general sequence of steps resembles those that a financial analyst would follow when surveying the market landscape—but will take a lot less time and cost a lot less money.

• Identify and profile the competition.
• Define a set of key dimensions for comparison.
• Compare competitors to each other (and to your product).
• Use the comparisons to create recommendations for action.” （Page 75）.

 

This book provides a thorough and systematic approach to making a competitor analysis.

1).  Identifying and profile the competition

• We can start with online searches using various keywords or phrases related to our product’s main functions.
• We should know the description of the product and a profile of its audience. We can get audience details from news, forums, reviews, etc.

2).  Defining Comparison Dimensions

We should limit the scope of the competitive analysis to what our users may consider important and those dimensions relevant to the research questions we need to answer.

We should collect the important features or attributes of the competitive products.

And we should emphasize focusing on user perspectives and priorities instead of just internal assumptions.

Also, we should prioritize based on the areas that mean the most to the product’s functionality, to the company’s success, or to the users’ satisfaction.

3). Competitive Analysis Techniques

We can also conduct user research methods like usability testing about the competitors’ products. In addition, we should have a balanced perspective by looking at the positives of competitors rather than all just negatives.

To do a rapid competitive analysis, we can concentrate on getting the most out of existing sources: industry analysis, whitepapers, newspapers, blogs, user forums, and so on with limited time. The secret is to use comments from real users to drive our lists of features and attributes.

 

Quote 3

“Here is one way of dividing a standard interview process into six phases.

1).  Introduction. All participants introduce themselves. In groups, it’s

important to know that the other people in the group are somewhat like you in order to feel comfortable, so a group introduction emphasizes the similarities between all the

participants, including the interviewer. In contrast, an individual interview introduction establishes the role of the interviewer as a neutral, but sympathetic, entity.

2). Warm-up. The warm-up in any interview is designed to get people to step away from their regular lives and focus on thinking about the product and the work of answering questions.

3). General issues. The initial product-specific round of questions concentrates on experiences with the product, as well as attitudes, expectations, and assumptions about it. Asking these kinds of questions early prevents the assumptions of the product development team from skewing people’s perceptions. Often, the product isn’t even named during this phase.

4). Deep focus. The product, service, or idea is introduced, and people concentrate on the details of what it does, how it works, whether they can use it, and what their immediate experience of it is. For usability testing, this phase makes up the bulk of the interview, but for site visits or exploratory interviews, it may never enter the

discussion.

5). Retrospective. This phase allows people to evaluate the product or idea in a broader light. The discussion is comparable to the “general issues” phase, but the discussion is focused on how the ideas introduced in the “deep focus” phase affect the issues discussed earlier.

6). Wrap-up. This is generally the shortest phase of the interview. It formally completes the interview so that the participants aren’t left hanging after the last question and return to administrative topics” (Page 130).

 

I think this book gives us a great reflection on our interview process. If our interview questions are not logical and ordered correctly, these may contribute to too subjective results. As UX designers, we can think about these questions.

             1). Introduction

• For group interviews, do our introductions highlight similarities of all participants to build rapport? (This is extremely important to build rapport in a group interview with many participants who are not familiar with each other).
• For individual interviews, do our introductions establish the interviewer as a neutral but supportive entity? (We should express our gratitude for the individual’s participation and show their significance in improving the product) 2). Warm-up
• Do our warm-up questions successfully let participants step away from their daily lives and focus on answering questions about a product or the topic? (UX researchers should think about some interesting starters to help interviewees raise their awareness of using this product or service.)   
• 3). General Issues
• Do these general questions effectively explore participants’ experiences, attitudes, expectations, and assumptions first? (We should try to find out their initial attitudes without introducing the name of this particular service or product and get to know if they have biased opinions towards using this type of service and product before asking further detailed questions.)
• 4). Deep Focus
• When the product or service was introduced, do deep focus questions allow concentration on details like what it does, how it works, whether they can use it, what their experience of it is, etc? (If we have usability testing, we can conduct the testing first and then ask interviewees these deep focus questions.)
• 5). Retrospective
• Do participants have the opportunity to re-evaluate the product or service more broadly? (We can ask them to rate the product or service after they consider all the factors.)
• 6). Wrap-up
• Is there a clear conclusion that does not leave participants hanging? (We should end with the shortest phase.)

 

4. How well does it work?

 

Possible weaknesses:

1). The book is too lengthy which is not suitable for someone who seeks quick answers and avoids repeated ideas. Sometimes the idea is repeated to some extent in some parts of the book. Chapter two and Chapter 11 both cover the topic of the process of conducting usability tests. Although recruiting and interviews may be the backbone of every successful research project which deserves a chapter of their own in Chapter 6, these two are also covered in Chapter 13 as individual topics.

2). This is not suitable for someone who wants to delve into the psychology of users or wants to dive deeper into the subconsciousness of the clients. Readers with academic backgrounds in psychology or social sciences may find some aspects of data analysis lacking in depth.

3）There might be too many qualitative techniques covered in the book. One thing that strikes me is just how qualitative-focused most of the techniques are. Other than surveys, it is almost all interviews, observations, and the like. Is qualitative-focused  the nature of user research? I am wondering if the book is missing some useful quantitative methods.

 

Overall Evaluation:

If I had to confine my review to a star rating system, I would give it a 4.8/5.  In a nutshell, Observing the User Experience is a comprehensive and practical resource for anyone involved in user experience research, from a green hand to a seasoned professional in the field. The authors’ clear and simple writing style, extensive practical examples, and intriguing case studies make this book a must-read for those seeking to create user-centered products and services.

 

 

Brain storm UX projects. Group or individual? If you can’t think of a project, you can take one of the elements of UX research — questionnaires, interviews, observations, usability testing, personas, case studies, or some other element — and provide an in depth report on it consisting of a detailed overview, a bibliography, examples, and links to useful resources. You will share this report with the class via a 1 hour Webex presentation during the last week or two of class (depending on how many of us choose this path).

I will do an individual project for this UX project.

1. Object to analyze

I will analyze a pick-up food website. YiFan is a Chinese food restaurant nestled in the heart of Johns Creek in Atlanta that offers fusion cuisine. It offers a pick-up food ordering service through the website https://qmenu.us/#/yifan/menu/1645135062215.

2. Hypothesis to test

What elements should be improved and changed in this food website?

3. Population (keep in mind you need at least one willing participant from each sector)

I want to include 3 Chinese clients in their 20s, 30s, and 40s and 2 American clients in their 20s and 30s who are Chinese food lovers in my usability tests.

4. Data needed

• I want to record the process of how they order their favorite 5 dishes from the website and conduct face-to-face interviews with them using 15 questions in 20 minutes.
• I also want to examine other food websites’ UX designs like UberEats and write to analyze their similarities and differences.

5. Method(s) for acquiring data

I think that screen recording of usability tests, interviews, competitor analysis, and data analysis will be conducive to my case study. It is also practical for the new UX learner like me to conduct in the next couple of weeks.

6. Personas

I will use Claude.ai to create my personas for the pick-up Chinese food ordering service website and make some improvements.

7. Outline for your case study

• (Completed 3/16) Create and post project outline/schedule.
• 3/23: Create questions for interview& create the personas.
• 3/30: Find 3 interviewees, conduct 3 interviews, and write the analysis of the interviews.
• 4/6: Find 2 interviewees, conduct 2 interviews, and write the analysis of the interviews.
• 4/13: Finish the competitor analysis.
• 4/20: Make design decisions according to the interview and competitor analysis. Publish the wireframe of improved YiFan’s food website.
• 4/22: Post final report.

Homework — Assignment 7

Post a transcript of your interview to your blog. Also post thoughts on the experience, what you would do the same, and what differently next time.

A. What is an interview in UX and why do we conduct interviews?

According to Claude, an interview in UX refers to a qualitative research method where a designer or researcher has a conversation with a user to gain insights about their experiences, perceptions, needs, and behaviors related to a product or service. Here are some key reasons why interviews are an important part of user experience research:

1. To build empathy and make personal connections. Interviews allow designers to have meaningful conversations with users and build rapport. This cultivates empathy for their perspective, making it more likely the final designs will meet their needs. This helps build empathy and uncover insights we may not get from other methods.
2. To identify user goals and motivations. Interviews let us ask open-ended questions to reveal what motivates people, what problems they want to solve, and what goals they have when using a product. This provides valuable context.
3. To uncover new insights. Well-planned interview questions along with follow-up probing questions can reveal insights about a product or domain space that designers didn’t know to ask about previously. Interviews help make users’ implicit knowledge and perspectives explicit.
4. To evaluate designs. Interviews can be used in all stages of design, but are particularly helpful in getting feedback on prototypes and concepts. Asking users open questions as they interact with designs gives crucial insights to iterate upon.
5. To understand behaviors and contexts. Speaking to people directly allows us to get details about their habits, environments, device usage, workflows, and more that surveys cannot convey. Understanding behavior and contexts is key for UX design.

In summary, interviews provide a wealth of qualitative data that allow designers to really understand users and create human-centered products that solve real problems. The insights gained directly from speaking to users are invaluable.

 

B. Participant for my interview.

I invited Kai as the participant for this interview as I think she has very insightful ideas about UX and can provide some interesting ideas about the user-friendliness of the Chinese food ordering website. As Kai is a vegetarian and there are a few vegetarian dishes on the website, I asked her to order 5 dishes for her American family members who are interested in having some Chinese dishes. After that, I conducted this interview as a follow-up.

 

C. Preparation before the interview:

I made a face-to-face appointment with Kai for 1 hour in the Writing Studio this Wednesday. I got her permission to record her interview using Otter.ai. As Kai knows this interview is just for learning in UX class, I did not tell her why I was conducting interviews, how it would be stored and used, and how she could contact me in case she had further questions. I expressed my gratitude for her help before conducting the interview.

D． Interview Questions：

1. How easy is the website to navigate and search?
2. Does each food title make sense?
3. Do you think the Chinese and English fonts are big enough to see?
4. Do you think the main color of the food website is visually appealing?
5. Does the food description help?
6. Is each photo large enough to see?
7. Can you find your family members’ favorite dish quickly？
8. Do you think it is easy for you to put the dishes in the cart and be ready to check out？
9. Could you rate it on a scale from 1 to 10? How much do you like the food delivery website?
10. How much do you dislike the food delivery website?
11. What do you care about most in the food ordering process?
12. Do you think it is well-organized？
13. Do you think it is user-friendly?
14. What challenges do you face in the ordering process? How does this make you feel?
15. Is there any way in which you feel these challenges could be resolved?
16. How do you think the website can be improved in web design and interaction?            

E. Reflections after the interview.

What I would do the same

1. Observe the user’s micro-expression. As the interviewer, I need to make sure the interviewee feels comfortable during the interview. During this interview, I paid close attention to Kai’s micro-expression to predict whether she wanted to say more about the question or not. Just as China Daily writes, “A micro-expression is a brief, involuntary facial expression shown on the face of humans when one is trying to conceal or repress an emotion. They usually occur in high-stakes situations, where people have something to lose or gain. Unlike regular facial expressions, few can fake a micro-expression. They consist of and completely resemble the seven universal emotions: disgust, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt. Micro-expressions can occur as fast as 1/25 of a second.” As a person of the personality type of ENFP, I believe I have good intuition about interpreting others’ micro-expressions. Kai is very sweet and patient and did not show any unwillingness to answer any questions. But for the interviewee who may not have so much patience, I will also have empathy with their feelings and move on to the next questions if they are reluctant to express too many personal ideas about some questions.
2. Avoid interrogation (don’t set them up to say what I want to hear). I will avoid leading the interviewees to lean on my own ideas. I will respect the interviewees’ different answers and try to listen actively to learn more by speaking less in the interview.
3. Give feedback. I will not interrupt but when the interviewees stop talking, I will ask for clarification, summarize what they just said, and request confirmation or ask for elaboration. I did a great job when interviewing Kai. When I felt unsure about some answers like “will” or “won’t”, I asked her for clarification. When I asked if she could find her family member’s favorite dishes on this website, I also asked her to tell me more about her family’s favorite dishes to get to know what some Americans love in Chinese meals.

what I would do differently next time

1. Delete Question 14&15 and combine Question 7 with Question. The 25 minutes interview was a little too long with 16 questions. Next time, I will shorten the 16 questions to 13 questions and try to finish the interview in 20 minutes. So this will not take up participant’s too much time and they may have better feelings about the interview. I will delete Question 14&15 because, from Kai’s answer, I find Question 16 can test the user’s opinion about the drawbacks and suggestions of this website without Questions 14 and 15. Kai is very patient and repeats some of her ideas because Questions 14 and 15 may overlap with Question 16. I will also combine Question 7 with Question 1 as they are both about navigation.
2. Reorder some questions. Questions should be from a broader one to a more specific one to be more logical. Therefore, I will move Questions 9 &10&11 forward and put them as the first, the second, and the third questions to test the user’s overall satisfaction and the main expectation about the website. Then I will dig deeper and more concretely to ask ideas about different aspects of the website design.

 F. Updated Versions of Questions:

1. Could you rate it on a scale from 1 to 10? How much do you like the food delivery website?
2. How much do you dislike the food delivery website?
3. What do you care about most in the food ordering process?
4. How easy is the website to navigate and search? Can you find your family members’ favorite dish quickly？
5. Does each food title make sense?
6. Do you think the Chinese and English fonts are big enough to see?
7. Do you think the main color of the food website is visually appealing?
8. Does the food description help?
9. Is each photo large enough to see?
10. Do you think it is easy for you to put the dishes in the cart and be ready to check out？
11. Do you think it is well-organized？
12. Do you think it is user-friendly?
13. How do you think the website can be improved in web design and interaction?

(Dr. Pullman, do you have any suggestions about my new versions of questions?)

G.Transcript of the interview：

Tingyu Zhang 0:01

How easy is the website to navigate and search？

 

Kai 0:07

The website wasn’t that easy. The categories are really random. We’ll have to scroll all the way down to get to what you want. And even in the feature items, it’s really random and like you can have dinner or rice. You’re not able to click to get to a shortcut like click to go to seafood, click to go to meat, or click to go to vegetarian options. Also, it’s not a search function. The only thing you can do is like pick the location of where the menu is or what the menu is. The cart was okay. The navigation for that was pretty easy. But besides that…

 

Tingyu Zhang 1:22

Okay, thank you. So the second question is, does each food title make sense? No.

 

Kai 1:29

The translations are awful.

 

Tingyu Zhang 1:33

Give some examples.

 

Kai 1:35

Be-For-Time shrimp. It’s also not localization. So on top of it, not being like a good English translation. It also is not a good translation for Americans. So you could use words like dynamite Trump, which is used in America. And stuff those words but I wouldn’t know what that is. What else？ A few I’m trying to find… Stewed Beef Shank

 

Tingyu Zhang 2:30

Stewed beef shank is weird, right?

 

Kai 2:33

I know what stewed beef is but shanks are really strange. Nan Jiang Salt Water Duck. I don’t know whether Nan Jing or house salt water deals is related to the duck.

 

Tingyu Zhang 2:59

Okay! The salt water just means it is savory. The flavor is savory. It is a little bit salty. Nanjing is just a Chinese city name.

 

Kai 3:12

Yeah, an Americanized person that’s already in Chinese knows that.

 

Tingyu Zhang 3:15

Yes, salt water is very strange, right? So maybe savory duck?

 

Kai 3:25

Yes, savory duck. Also Nanjing, they wouldn’t know what that is. Okay. Tofu skin rolls.  Skin roll is weird.

 

Tingyu Zhang 3:41

I think this is vegetarian. it is yes because the character”素” su means vegetarian.

 

Kai 3:47

The translation doesn’t make sense because tofu you know vegetarian, but skin rolls make me think there’s like meat skin. Oh,

 

Tingyu Zhang 3:56

oh, really? Oh, I got it. Maybe delete skin.

 

Kai 4:25

“Cabbage with mushroom and vermicelli”. I know what this is, but some people may not know what that specific noodle is. Vermicelli.

 

Tingyu Zhang 4:35

I don’t know what vermicelli is.

 

Kai 4:37

It’s a type of noodle. Okay.

 

Tingyu Zhang 4:38

It is Japanese, right?

 

Kai 4:41

I think it’s Vietnamese. so maybe saying the noodles are thin noodles that would be easier for an American audience or something that’s ordering Chinese.

 

Tingyu Zhang 4:57

Maybe just…

 

Kai 4:59

so based on like the thickness or hardness like as a crispy. Crispy noodles. Yeah, that’s crispy. Okay, how big it is like. Is it a thinner noodle or a thicker noodle?  Flour food is one of the categories.

 

Tingyu

Flower food is strange. Maybe we just call pastries.

 

Kai

Okay, for the American Yes!  “Fried lotus root box”. What is that? Oh,

 

Tingyu Zhang 5:46

the Lotus actually means that is made from the lotus root. It’s a kind of Chinese vegetable.  The box just means shape like a box?

 

Kai 6:06

The box I get like you know, a big combination of food. The fried lotus root just throws me off just because I’ve never heard of that as a dish.

 

Tingyu

Oh really?  I got it.  I think, in the United States it is a typical Chinese food.

 

Kai

Yeah, I’ve never seen it in a Chinese restaurant before. Like an Americanized one.

 

Tingyu Zhang 6:33

I got it! Have you ever seen this(showing the picture of “lotus root” on Google)?

 

Kai 6:43

No, we don’t eat.

 

Tingyu Zhang 6:47

This is a Chinese vegetable. Yeah. Okay, forget about it.

 

Kai 6:56

Maybe more description of what it is description. Yeah, cuz then it’d be like what is that but then the description would help you.

 

Tingyu Zhang 7:05

This is unique Chinese food.

 

Kai 7:09

Yeah. Well, the description like what it is or how it’s cooked.  Fried steamed twisted rolls, are those croissants?

 

Tingyu Zhang 7:28

They are like croissants, but uh, a Chinese style. Yeah, so maybe Chinese-style croissants? Yeah.

 

Kai 7:50

Yangzhou Ham and Egg Fried Rice.

 

Tingyu Zhang 7:51

Yeah. Yangzhou扬州 is a Chinese city name. Yeah.

 

Kai 7:57

The names of where it came from would be harder for people like an Americanized Chinese audience or something because they may not think of those places.

 

Tingyu Zhang 8:09

Yeah,  Delete the word Yangzhou. Just Ham and Egg Fried Rice right? This makes sense, right?

 

Kai 8:35

Yeah! And Goji Black Sugar Ginger Dates Jam. Goji?

 

Tingyu Zhang 8:39

Goji is a Chinese pinyin. I will search this for you(Show the Goji vegetable picture on the internet). Have you ever seen this before?

 

Kai

I think I have.

 

Tingyu

So do you have this vegetable in the United States?

 

Kai 9:08

I’m guessing you could import it, but I’ve never seen it. Maybe more of an exotic food to us.

 

Tingyu Zhang 9:18

Maybe Goji can be translated into “Chinese berries”. Maybe Chinese Berry Black Sugar Ginger Dates Jam. Better?

 

Kai 9:32

Maybe Black Sugar Ginger Dates Jam and then put the ingredients in the description. So it’s not like a long title.

 

Tingyu Zhang 9:40

Okay, got it！

 

Kai 9:57

Durian Cake. Durian is a fruit, right？

 

Tingyu Zhang 9:59

During Yeah. The fruit. Yeah. Do you have Durain in the United States?

 

Kai 10:06

We have. I don’t think many people eat Durain though.

 

Tingyu Zhang 10:11

Okay, this actually is not a cake. It’s just like a pastry.

 

Kai 10:22

And it doesn’t give me a clear picture of what the cake looks because it’s a package.

 

Tingyu Zhang 10:35

This is a pastry I think.

 

Kai 10:39

Organic Pineapple Cake but it doesn’t let me see what the pineapple cake looks like.

 

Tingyu Zhang 10:48

Maybe show the snack itself?

 

Kai 10:51

Yeah, the whole thing, not the package! The Food shouldn’t be obstructed by something. You should be able to see it for them. This one’s not even translated. (咸蛋黄肉松雪花酥)

 

Tingyu Zhang 11:04

Okay, got it. Yeah, it’s not friendly to you know, to Americans.

 

Kai 11:31

“Simply yogurt”, I still don’t know if it’s original because they could just say simply yogurt and then put in like parentheses original.

 

Tingyu Zhang 11:46

Yeah, just original yogurt.

 

Kai 11:48

So you know what flavor it is. You’ll find Yifan Special Made XO sauce.

 

Tingyu

Yifan is the restaurant’s name. So it’s strange, right?

 

Kai

Yeah.

 

Tingyu

XO is strange, right? Because it makes you think about the wine?

 

Kai 12:15

Not for us. it’s just strange for us.

 

Tingyu 12:21

Maybe just say “Special Made Sauce”. Delete Yifan, right?

 

Kai

Yeah. Because you already know but that’s in the restaurant.

 

Tingyu Zhang 12:32

Okay!

 

Kai 12:46

Just put Chili Oil instead of Yifan Secret Chili Oil.  Most restaurants aren’t going to give you their recipes anyway. I don’t know why they put secret.

 

Tingyu Zhang 13:01

Okay. Oh, I got it because they will not give you the recipes.

 

Kai 13:05

Yeah, most restaurants will give you the recipe.

 

Tingyu

Most restaurants will give you the recipe, right? (Asking for clarification.)

 

Kai:

No, most restaurants won’t give the recipe. So it seems redundant.

 

Tingyu Zhang 13:16

Okay, delete “secret” right? Okay. Thank you so much. So do you think the Chinese English fonts are big enough to see?

 

Kai 13:39

From what I saw, the title fonts were perfectly fine. It’s just the descriptions I would want them larger and maybe a different color to distinguish the title from the description.

 

Tingyu Zhang 13:56

Okay, the fourth question, do you think the main color of the food website is visually appealing?

 

Kai 14:11

It’s fine, but it’s kind of bland, like a more plain style. I’m more neutral about that.

 

Tingyu Zhang 14:24

So do you have some good suggestions for the color choice? The main color choice.

 

Kai 14:40

So for like the website itself. I would want the background to maybe be an off-white or more of a tan-beige color, just so it’s easier on the eyes. And I’d want the accent color to be maybe a more bold, orange. It currently is really dull looking like a muted orange right now. So maybe a little bit more vibrant. It’s not super eye-catching but a nice color.

 

Tingyu Zhang 15:29

Thank you so much. The fifth question is, does the food description help?

 

Kai 15:48

I can’t read this description.

 

Tingyu Zhang 15:53

No English, right?

 

Kai 15:54

Yeah, there really isn’t English. Okay, I can’t guess, because that’s not Japanese.

 

Tingyu

I got it.

 

Kai

Some will help a little bit. But it’s not “that” helpful because they basically say the same thing. Right now, for this example, it’s radish soup with ribs. The description is pork ribs soup of radish. That’s kind of the same thing.

 

Tingyu Zhang 16:29

Exactly, that’s it. This one？

 

Kai 16:38

that one’s okay. Yeah, it just illustrates the ingredients which is good.

 

Tingyu Zhang 16:43

“Stirred three veggies”, eggplant, potato, red and green pepper. Okay. So, um, is the each photo is large enough to see?

 

Kai 16:58

When you click on it, it’s good. As for when you’re scrolling, I would want it more consistent because some of them are in the middle while some are on the left. I want to set area so that when I scroll, the food is on the same side.

 

Tingyu Zhang 17:22

Yeah, the size is okay, right?

 

Kai 17:28

Maybe a little bit bigger. But if you were to redesign like this specific site, you can make the photo like the same as the borders. So it goes all the way down and fill that all side. So it’d be pretty big and it would have a consistent area so as you scroll, you know exactly what the photo will be.

 

Tingyu Zhang 17:54

Thank you so much. The seventh question. Can you find your family’s favorite Chinese dish quickly?

 

Kai 18:03

No. It doesn’t let you do shortcuts. Actually, I would want categories to get to or like tags. So if you want to do dinner you can go that category. If you wanted to do something that was like vegetarian or something that’s listed as family size or like large portion.

 

Tingyu Zhang 18:34

So can you tell me what’s your family’s favorite Chinese dish?

 

Kai 18:41

Um, well, they like PF Changs like an Americanized Chinese food? Um, there would probably be like chickens. Not like a specific one, but one of those flavors they put on it, because there are a few different types on there.

 

Tingyu Zhang 19:08

Fried Chickens or not?

 

Kai 19:10

I’m trying to think it’s spicy chicken. One of those Okay, I got it like they’re super picky about the chicken. They just like chicken a lot.

 

Tingyu

Okay, I got it.

 

Kai

Mongolian beef. Oh, Mongolian…

 

Tingyu Zhang 19:26

beef.

 

Kai 19:27

Yeah,

 

Tingyu

Okay. Because you are familiar with Mongolian, this the place name’s okay, right?

 

Kai

Yeah, that’s one of the ones that Americans would know. Oh, I got it is really constantly American Chinese restaurants.

 

Tingyu Zhang 19:49

Okay. The eighth question do you think it is easy for you to put the dishes in a cart and be ready to checkout?

 

Kai 19:58

Yeah, that’s pretty easy. Okay.

 

Tingyu Zhang 19:59

So the next question, to rate it on a scale of one to 10 How much do you like the food delivery website?

 

Kai 21:00

I think I’ll give it a seven. It’s not horrific. I’m using it more if I’m getting a bit more familiar with what’s going on. But I wouldn’t give it eight because it did take a little bit as we’re doing this interview for me to kind of figure a little bit out. But I can see that if you improved it, it could be very well done. Just the main concern is like navigation. And for someone like me, to be able to know if I could eat or not.

 

Tingyu

Okay, maybe add some descriptions and texts. Yeah, about vegetarian food or not, right?

 

Kai

Yes.

 

Tingyu

Or something allergic.

 

Kai

Yeah. Someone who has a gluten allergy. Or like peanuts. That’s another one.

 

Tingyu Zhang 21:08

Okay, thank you so much. So the 10th question, how much do you dislike the food delivery website?

 

Kai 21:20

Because the three out of 10 for that one. To have a complete score. Three. The thing that knocks it down to seven out of 10 is again like the navigation. It can be a bit more visually appealing. But mostly navigation just.

 

Tingyu Zhang 21:46

thank you so much.

 

Kai 21:48

Because you don’t want your customer to have to try to find everything and scroll through everything.

 

Tingyu Zhang 22:00

Okay, so the eleventh question. What do you care about most in the food ordering process?

 

Kai 22:09

The descriptions. That’s how I can tell. Or if there’s a symbol that helps me determine if it’s vegetarian or vegan.

 

Tingyu Zhang 22:20

Okay, got it. So, the twelfth question. Do you think it is well organized?

 

Kai 22:32

Because I have issues with navigation and the orders kind of off I would say it’s not terrible, but it could use some improvements. Like maybe have more sides because it looks kind of randomly placed things that would consider sides and different categories. So like combining those or like the pastries with the desserts. And having things be like this is an appetizer, this is what’s listed for dinner. This is dessert and these are sides, like a more logical ordering of categories.

 

Tingyu Zhang 23:14

 Thank you! So the 13th question, do you think it is user-friendly?

 

Kai 23:28

I think it’s fine for what it’s doing. But I think like an English speaker. Like someone does not know any Chinese would have trouble. They’d be able to guess based on some of the visuals and they could use a translator. But I think for it to be user-friendly in the United States, the English translations would have to be better and consistent.

 

Tingyu Zhang 24:01

Great, thank you. Okay, so the 14th question. What challenges do you face in the ordering process? How does this make you feel?

 

Kai 24:18

About the size of things were like, what was a tray? And again, being able to distinguish what’s in a dish like can I eat it or not? Or am I just I only can order for my family at this restaurant? Like, am I going to be able to eat or is it just my family’s going to be able to eat？

 

Tingyu Zhang 24:49

Okay, I got it. So this makes you feel a little bit frustrated or it’s not very convenient, right?

 

Kai 24:57

Yeah, it’s not convenient.

 

Tingyu Zhang 25:00

The 15 question, is there any way in which you feel the challenges could be resolved?

 

Kai 25:04

Just in the description or having a symbol that shows if something’s vegetarian or vegan.

 

Tingyu Zhang 25:16

That’s it. The last question. So how do you think the website can be improved in website design interaction?

 

Kai 25:24

Better translations, better navigation, consistency, and how you know the photos are shown and tweaking like the titles.

 

Tingyu Zhang 25:46

Okay, thank you so much. That’s over!

 

 

Homework — Assignment 7

If your case study involves creating personas, you might develop a questionnaire to help you identify and sort different kinds of users. Or you might imagine a couple of different kinds of users and then develop a questionnaire to verify or deny your imaginings. If you go this route, share your plans and your draft questionnaire(s) with the class.

If you aren’t yet ready to directly engage your case study, here’s an alternative assignment.

AI Persona Experiment

A. Why do we need to know about users?

According to Observing the User Experience, the author believes that

1. The users we actually have are different from those we imagined having
2. Our users are not all the same.

So personas, correctly developed and used, are the most valuable to have before we start developing anything: a product or service, a redesign, a new feature set, or a new identity. They can also help in introducing an existing product or service to a new market.

 

B． What is a persona?

According to Personas- A Simple Introduction, personas are fictional characters, that we create based on our research to represent the different user types that might use our service, product, site, or brand in a similar way.

As described in 2005 by designer Kim Goodwin, “A persona is a user archetype you can use to help guide decisions about product features, navigation, interactions, and even visual design.” This “archetype” is not a real person, but a synthesis of facts and observations about real users that lead to a memorable character.

 

C. Why do we need a persona?

1. By creating these characters and taking them through scenarios, UX designers and stakeholders can gain a sense of familiarity and empathy with the users. Creating personas can help us understand our users’ needs, experiences, behavior, and goals. It can help us step out of ourselves, and help us recognize that different people have different needs and expectations.
2. It can also help us identify with the user we are designing for.
3. Personas make the design task at hand less complex, they guide our ideation process, and they can help us to achieve the goal of creating a good user experience for our target user group. Few companies these days develop anything without identifying a target market, and many also create market segmentations. However, because we can identify a market segment doesn’t mean we know how to design for the people in it. Creating personas can help us have good design as great design comes from understanding our user‘s behaviors. Personas, unlike market segments, represent goals and behavior patterns, not demographic attributes or job responsibilities.
4. Persona can assist design in serving as a shared reference point. Over time, they can even function as an efficient shorthand. Rather than describing a feature with long sentences, we can say “it’s for ***” . “***” represents a shared understanding of a class of user experience issues that are important to the success of the product.

 

D. How to do it？

1. Research for Personas

1). Internal interviews.

If we work as a UX designer in a company, we can conduct a few short one-on-one interviews with stakeholders, experts, the people who work directly with the product like salespeople, support staff, market researchers, technical sales consultants and trainers.

What distinct types of users have they observed, if any?

What impacts do they see various user types having on their work or on the business?

2). Research with participants

Most of the data we draw upon on create personas should come from qualitative research with individual users or potential users. Structure the interviews or field visits around people’s entire experience with our product or service, not around specific tasks. In recruiting participants, we should represent the entire range of our target user base. While interviewing, keep a list of good quotations, problems, and anecdotes.

3). Market research review.

In a company, sales and marketing often have detailed demographic profiles and market research that can give our big picture breakdowns of our audience. If we have a market segmentation, especially one that draws upon usage data or other behavioral data, it’s worth consulting. But don’t just make personas that reinforce market segments.

4). Usage data and customer feedback review.

Consult customer forums or community sites by the company or others can support systems for frequent user questions and problems, which can provide supporting data for making this information part of our personas.

We can also create provisional personas.

2. Creating Personas

Analyze the Data

What do the people have in common?

Are there problems that seem to crop up frequently?

Are there shared aspirations?

Then make a list of the important ways in which users vary.

Look for patterns in our interviews and usage data and consider what aspects of our users tend to drive their goals and needs. First, find attributes that matter to the selection and use of our product. Then identify those that distinguish different subsets of users from each other.

3. Prioritize attributes and patterns

From our data, we will likely see a number of patterns that could turn into persona. We need to decide which attributes are the most important to us. If we have the time, review the factors with stakeholder experts outside of the research team. If we don’t have the time, use market research reviews and usage data reports to guide an initial cut.

4. Define our personas

We need to draw upon the personal details and anecdotes we observed in our research to synthesize realistic people from the clusters of attributes.

Don’t be afraid to go with our gut in creating the personas and telling their stories.

In some cases, adding details is as straightforward as creating a specific “fact” that falls within an attribute range we have defined.

1). Don’t create wacky idiosyncrasies. Strange features tend to distract from the important attributes. If there are attributes that all personas have in equal measure, we don’t make our persona an Olympic-class ice skater. If there are attributes that all personas have in equal measure, we don’t need to describe them in each persona. We need enough detail for realistic, memorable personas, but don’t load them up with information that is not relevant.

2). Flesh out the rest of the attributes, using materials gathered from our interviews. We may want to write a little story about it, incorporating details drawn from similar users.

3). Complete the persona by creating a story tying all the attributes together, highlighting the problems and anxieties.

NB:

we should not have too many personas. One good rule of thumb is to have one persona per main organizational role or customer type. We present multiple personas, and prepare a one-page or one-slide explanation of how the personas represent different combinations of attributes.

 

To get the full benefit from the process, the personas need to remain in use.

They should be documented, shared, updated, and used in everyday product development.

 

5. Prioritize

Not all personas are equally important, so the group should prioritize them.

6. Document

The document we create must reflect the needs and concerns of its audience.

A basic persona contains the following elements:

1). The name of the persona

2). A description of the person’s needs and aspirations for the product or service

3). The persona’s immediate goals in using that product or service

4). His or her abilities and experience

5). His or her perspective on the task and the product.

6). A portrait is the final element. We can pick a picture that is fun and can be a good way to wrap up a long brainstorming session. Find a source of stock photos (We can get one from a stock photo website such as https://www.gettyimages.com/ )

NB:

Don’t choose any images that might trigger negative reactions or be controversial.

Never use pictures or names of people we know when creating a persona.

Or, for that matter, never base a persona on someone we know personally. It’s distracting and restrictive when it is time to change the persona.

7. Share

Summarize the personas in an easily usable form. In a company, we can create a one-page snapshot version of our personas, introduce them in an introduction meeting, create posters with the picture and key attributes of the user, and tack them to walls.

8. Develop with Personas

1). Personas can serve as bases for recruiting screeners. Or we can think about how features work for the various personas

2). We can get people thinking in terms of personas by using the persona names in our documentation and specs.

3). Use personas to evaluate our competitors. Use a competitor’s product and try to determine which persona it’s creating for. Try to identify how our personas would use it. Whom would the sites be attractive to? Why? Where do they succeed? Where do they fail?

9. Regularly Update

Personas should be sanity-checked and updated on a regular basis.

10. Build Characters, Not Stereotypes

1). Don’t give our personas too catchy names which will make the users have different associations.

While personas are fictional characters, they should be sympathetic enough to unite a team in designing for them. Associate our personas with cliches and stereotypes undercuts this function.

For example, it may seem like a good idea to give our personas catchy names like “Jeff Toolbelt” or “Dutiful Doris.” It’s true that these types of names are evocative and memorable. But they also invoke people’s preexisting associations with certain phrases and images. Since we are not a mind reader, we cannot predict what those associations will be. For all we know, the associations might be negative, disrupting any empathy we are trying to build. And worse, since people will have different associations our catchy names might actually create disagreement instead of unifying people.

2). Don’t find photographs that look like models in generic stock-photo poses.

We should try to find photos that look like ordinary people going about their lives. It’s better to use an illustration than a photograph that looks fake. That’s why we gave Jeff and Doris names that sound like real people and gave Jeff a photograph that looks like a snapshot taken by a friend.

 

11. Connect Personas to Action

1). Rewrite our personas around needs.

2). Use personas to guide team design brainstorms.

3). Link together personas with design scenarios to start organizing and prioritizing that brainstormed functionality. However, be careful not to introduce design requirements or proposed functionality into the persona itself. The purpose of the persona is to inspire multiple design concepts, not document one or two.

12. Don’t let Personas stand alone.

Personas should be used alongside scenarios, experience models, task analyses, and traditional written reports.

 

E．My personas for the pick-up Chinese food ordering service website（created by Claude.ai）

1. Create a persona with a name, needs, goals and pain points for a pick-up Chinese food ordering service website in Atlanta for 1 Chinese client (19-year-old female freshman who is a picky eater）
   

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-asian-woman-using-her-laptop-in-a-cafe-royalty-free-image/1193021447?adppopup=true

Name: Meimei

Demographics:

19 years old

Female

Chinese international student

Freshman at Georgia Tech

Lives in campus dorm

Needs:

Quick and convenient meals that fit into her busy student schedule

Consistent, familiar flavors that appeal to her picky preferences

Easy ordering and fast pick-up options close to campus

Goals:

Find 2-3 go-to dishes she enjoys and can reliably reorder

Avoid veggies, spices, or ingredients that are too unfamiliar

Stick to affordable menu items that are filling but don’t break her budget

Pain points:

Feeling overwhelmed by large menus full of items she won’t try

Being unable to customize orders to her taste (e.g. no veggies)

Ordering something new that arrives but is unappetizing to her

 

2. Create a persona with a name, needs, goals, and pain points for a pick-up Chinese food ordering service website in Atlanta for 1 Chinese client (a 25-year-old male worker who wants affordable dishes)
   

https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?family=creative&phrase=a%2025%20Chinese%20worker

Name： Da Lee

Demographics:

25 years old

Male

Works as an accountant

Lives alone in an apartment complex

Needs:

Budget-friendly meal options under $15

Filling plates that satisfy hunger on a tight budget

Easy access to coupons and discounted combo plates

Goals:

Find affordable go-to orders for quick dinners after work

Maximize quantities and nutrients per dollar spent

Discover new low-cost dishes by experimenting with the menu

Pain points:

Menu items that seem overpriced for portion size

Missing out on deals or coupons due to disorganization

Treating himself to pricier plates once in a while but feeling guilty about it

 

3. Create a persona with a name, needs, goals, and pain points for a pick-up Chinese food ordering service website in Atlanta for 1 American female client who loves to eat sweet and fried Chinese food.
   

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/a-32-american-worker?assettype=image&alloweduse=availableforalluses&family=creative&phrase=a%2032%20American%20worker&sort=mostpopular

Name: Amy Thompson

Demographics:

32 years old

Female

Works as a marketing manager

Lives alone downtown

Needs:

Quick access to Americanized Chinese dishes

Convenient ordering of her fried favorites

Options for sugary desserts and appetizers

Goals:

Satisfy cravings for bold, intense flavors

Discover new sweet, fried, or saucy menu items to try

Have meals delivered fast so she can relax after work

Pain Points:

Waiting a long time for delivery of indulgent cravings

Missing out on desserts or add-ons due to minimal menu browsing

Ordering dishes that are too spicy or intense for her comfort level

 

Useful Links:

1. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/personas-why-and-how-you-should-use-them
2. https://www.gettyimages.com/
3. https://claude.ai/chats

 

Homework — Assignment 6   Inside Out Surveys and Questionnaires

Read the excerpts from the Resources. Find some other advice about designing and administering questionnaires in whatever format you like, text, video, interview an expert.

Deliverable(s)

Blog what you learned about designing and administering questionnaires. If you have personal experience, please feel free to share that with us as well. If you have some initial questionnaire questions for your final project, share them with us.

 

• A. What I have learned about surveys & designing and administering questionnaires.

 

1. What is a survey?

According to Observing the User Experience, a survey is a set of questions that allows a large group of people to describe themselves, their interests, and their preferences in a structured way. Using statistical tools on the results, UX designers can reveal broad characteristics about their users and extract interesting patterns. But, if UX designers do not design the survey carefully, they can ask the wrong people the wrong questions, producing results that are inaccurate, inconclusive, or even deceptive. Web-based surveys are especially vulnerable because, lacking any direct contact with respondents themselves, their accuracy relies on their ability and willingness to honestly report their opinions. Without direct contact (whether through in-person visits or analysis of behavioral data), UX designers cannot tell whether respondents’ descriptions of themselves or what kind of service they really use.

 

2. What is a questionnaire？

A questionnaire is a research tool consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires are commonly used in fields like market research, social science research, opinion polling, and customer satisfaction surveys. They allow researchers and organizations to collect data from a sample of people in a structured way.

 

3. Setting a Survey schedule for my UX final project

Date	Activity
3.11-3.18	1)    Determine test audience and goals. Finish redesigning a Chinese food ordering website.
3.11-3.18	2)    Start writing all the possible questions.
3.19-3.25	3)    Finish writing questions and review with a few people. 4)    Revise or rewrite as necessary. Write a report draft. Choose an online survey provider.
3.19-3.25	5)    Set up my survey using the service I chose. Pilot test, using both collection and tabulation software. Write report based on pilot test results.
3.19-3.25	6)    Rewrite questions based on pilot test feedback; review with a few people.
3.19-3.25	7)    Finish preparing online questions. Test survey for functionality under multiple conditions.
3.26-4.1	8)    Field the survey. When done, remove the survey site immediately and shut down data collection.
4.9-4.15	9)    Begin analysis.
4.9-4.15	10) Complete analysis. Begin report.
4.22	11) Complete report. Present to others, discuss, and note directions for further research.

 

4. Brainstorm Our Questions

• Keep the survey goals in mind and brainstorm every possible question we can think of that we want to answer with the survey.
• We can ask our friends or classmates for their opinions about the possible questions. And then share them our lists so they are not biased by our ideas. After that, we can see if any additional questions should be added to our initial lists.

 

• Two different survey goals are descriptive goals and explanatory goals.
• 1). Descriptive goals: aim to profile the audience in terms of personal characteristics like what they own or what they want. We do not try to understand how any of the characteristics affect each other.
• 2). Explanatory goals: explain people’s beliefs and behaviors by discovering relationships between their answers. For example, a descriptive survey would seek to know which features people use and what their average incomes are, whereas an explanatory survey would try to explain how the size of their income affects the features they prefer. Explanatory goals aim to find inherent relationships between characteristics.

 

• There are mainly 3 categories of survey questions.
• 1)Characteristic questions:

a). Demographic questions. These questions are about who the respondents are. Who is he/she? How old are they?  What do they do for a living? How educated are they?

b). Technological questions.   These questions ask about their digital technology setup and experience. What kind of mobile phone do they own? What is his/her physical& software environment like？

• 2). Behavior questions: outline how someone behaves.

a). Technology use. These questions ask users how they use the technologies they care about. How often are they online every week? What kinds of things do they use their cellphones for? What kind of computer experience do they have?

b). Usage. What product features do they use? How often do they use them? What are the reasons they come to the site? How long have they been using it?

c). Competitive. What other sites do they visit? How often and how long have they been using them? What features do they use?

• 3). Attitudinal questions: inquire into what users want and believe.

a). Satisfaction. Do they like the product? Does it do what they had expected? Are they able to do what they want with it?

b). Preference. What do they find most compelling about the product? What do they consider unnecessary or distracting？

c). Desire. What do they want? What features do they feel are lacking?

 

5. Write the Questions.

The close-ended questions provide the respondents with limited answers they must choose from. They can’t air their opinion the way they want, and their response is minimal.

On the other hand, open-ended questions allow the participants to respond as they wish, no holds barred. They are given the opportunity to share their opinion and their thoughts entirely.

• Close-ended questions: show most in the survey. They may be more suitable for the survey situation when there may be hundreds of or thousands of participants.
• Open-ended questions: appear most in interviews. They require much more effort from the person answering them and from the analyst. This is desirable in long interview situations with a few people. Also, they can provide answers in situations where researchers have no clue about how to write the question in a close-ended way. But they need to be used carefully and sparingly.
• The most common type of closed-ended question is the single-answer multiple-choice question. It has a range of choices for the respondent, only one of which may be picked.
• Another common type of question is the checklist. This question consists of a list of answers, any number of which can be chosen.

 

6. Some tips for designing questions:

1). Don’t make people predict their behavior.  People’s past behavior is usually better at predicting their future behavior than their statements are.

2). Don’t overload questions. Each question should contain at most one concept that we are investigating. Compound questions are frustrating for the respondent who only agrees with half of the question, and more complicated for the analyst who needs to infer the respondent’s perspective on both parts of the question.

3). Be specific. Avoid words with multiple or fuzzy meanings (“sometimes”, “around”, “roughly”, “any”). When speaking in units other than money, percentages, or other common abbreviations, make sure that the whole name of the unit is written out (“thousands” instead of “K”,etc.).

4). Never shut people out. Questions should always give people an option that they feel applies to them.

5). Stay consistent. Ask questions the same way every time. This means more than just using similar wording for similar questions. You should also strive to maintain consistency in meaning in the order of answer options and in the way the questions are presented.

6). Avoid extremes. Extreme situations rarely happen, and most people infrequently find themselves exhibiting extreme behavior, so avoid situations that require or imply the need for extreme behavior. (Avoid “every time”, etc.)

7). Make questions relevant. If people are confronted with a list of questions that don’t relate to their experience or their life, they’re not likely to finish the survey.

8). Use Likert scales. Likert scales are a familiar method of presenting multiple-choice answers. They consist of a statement or series of statements followed by a choice of 3, 5, or 7 options (most surveys use 3 or 5) that define a possible range of answers, including a neutral middle option. (“Rate the following aspects of the food websites for how interesting they are to you” .)

 

7. Edit and Order the Questions

• One way to maximize the number of responses to a survey is to keep it short. Most people should be able to complete the survey in 20 minutes or less.

Surveys that take more than 20 minutes begin feeling like a burden and respondents have to schedule time to do them. Since on average reading the instructions takes about 5 minutes and each question takes 30 seconds or so to read and answer. This limits us to about 30 questions total. Keeping a survey to 20 questions leaves us with a safe margin.

 

• The question order is as important as the wording. Question order should pace, focus, and selectively reveal information.

A survey is like a short story. The beginning grabs the readers’ attention, drawing them in. As they read the survey, they begin to get an idea of what kind of information the survey is trying to find out.

In the middle, big ideas are explored, and “twists” on the basic plot are introduced as certain avenues of inquiry are followed.

Finally, loose ends are tied up, and the survey ends.

 

4 parts of a typical survey
1)      An introduction	l  The purpose of the survey, l  Instructions for filling it out, l  The estimated duration of it, l  Contact information in case questions arise.
2)      A beginning	l  With teaser or interesting questions to draw the attendees of the survey in, l  Should not be demographic questions (which may bore people and ca n be seen as intrusive at the early stage)
3)      A middle	l  Alternating questions l  Questions should be grouped thematically (using small titles to categorize the questions)
4)      The end	l  With all the remaining demographic questions l  Providing an open-ended field for general response l  Reiterating the contact information.

 

8. Write the Instructions

1). General instructions

1)      The survey is important.	“We want to make… a better service for you. Your participation is very important to us.”
2)      What it is for.	“The survey is to help us understand the needs and desires of the people using…”
3)      Why people’s answers are safe.	“All of your answers are confidential and will be used strictly for research. There will be no sales or marketing follow-up because of your participation in this survey.”
4)      What the reward is.	“By completing this survey, you will have our gratitude and a 1 in 100 chance of winning a…”
5)      Who is responsible for the survey.	This survey is being administered for*** by …
6)      How long the survey is running.	This survey will run from March, 26,2024, until April, 1, 2024.
7)      Who to contact with questions.	If you have any questions or comments about this survey, you may enter them into the form at the bottom of the survey or mail them to*** at ***@***.

 

2). Individual question instructions

Question instructions should be simple and straightforward. Most close-ended questions won’t need special instructions, but open-ended questions should say exactly what kind of answers we want. For questions where we want a single answer, but people may feel that any of several options may be adequate, make it clear that they have to select what they feel is the strongest option.

 

• B.  Personal experience about an interview.

Currently, I have no experience in designing a questionnaire and conducting a survey, so I just want to share my thoughts about some do’s and don’t in doing an interview.

 

1. Choose the participants from different age groups, occupations, and genders.

If our surveys are not targeted at a specific age group, job, or gender, we should invite as many people from different groups as possible to achieve more convincing results.

Gender may make a difference! Last week, when I interviewed 4 Chinese about their experience with the food website. I found that 2 females had much better ratings than 2 males with rich experience designing the website themselves. Two men’s working experience may influence their judgment on the layout and structure of the website. However, 2 females may focus more on the aesthetic aspect of the color, images, and fonts. Just as Dr. Pullman said, I need to invite more women and men participants to test if different genders have specific preferences in website design.

 

2. Tell the participants that we have nothing to do with the product or service in advance.

As most of the participants we want to interview or invite to participate in a survey are our friends, acquaintances, classmates, colleagues, or even relatives, it is better to tell them beforehand we have nothing to do with the product or service itself. Otherwise, they may want to please us or say something nicer than it is because they want to be “good people” who do not hurt us instead of “good respondents” who tell the truth.

 

3. Better not to choose close relatives as the participants.

Last week, I invited my husband as the interviewee. Although he told me some of his true opinions and perceptions about his user experience with the food website, it was hard not to be judgmental towards his answers when they were not what I expected. We argued for some different ideas during the interview. If we invite some acquaintances with some social distance, it is easier for us to be more rational and respectful of their unexpected answers.

 

4. Designing questions is an ongoing process.

I told each interviewee the interview took them around 20 minutes. But after I interviewed the first 2 people, I found the interview with 16 questions took up almost 40 minutes. It is very significant for me to make the questions fewer and briefer. Just as Dr. Pullman said, “Your goal is to ask the least number of questions possible to learn what you need to learn”. I need to revise my questions and delete some questions with repeated ideas. Also, I need to order my questions with some grouped themes, such as “UI, UX, and Functionality” to make them more logical to answer.

 

 

Some useful links for designing the questionnaires (open-ended/ close questions):

1. https://www.invespcro.com/blog/open-ended-questions-and-closed-ended-questions-what-they-are-and-how-they-affect-user-research/
2. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-art-of-asking-open-ended-questions
3. https://copyhackers.com/2022/03/what-is-an-open-ended-question/

 

Homework： Enlist a friend (or 2) to spend 10 (?) minutes using an app while you record them using it. Don’t tell them anything about the software, just the process, that you will turn on a screen recorder, record what they do and say for ten minutes and then ask them some post-experience questions. Reassure them this has nothing to do with them personally; it is not a test of their abilities or intelligence or anything else. This is just about the software and there are many testers contributing data so no pressure of any kind. Remind them to speak freely as they use the software.

After the recording, do a post-engagement review: play the video back and ask the participant to comment whenever they feel like it. Stop the video where they want to speak and record what they said and where they said it.

Post-engagement interview — how did they feel about the whole experience. Have they any advice for you? You will not use any of this advice in subsequent iterations of this test unless what they found is a fatal flaw. You want each iteration to be done in an identical fashion. But you also want to learn over time so the next time you do something like this, use what they taught you.

Goal： to test if a mobile website is accessible and user-friendly that lets Chinese users and a few American Chinese food lovers order meals from the food website on their mobile phones quickly and easily at their convenience.

YiFan is a Chinese food restaurant nestled in the heart of Johns Creek in Atlanta, which offers fusion cuisine.

It offers a pick-up food ordering service through the website https://qmenu.us/#/yifan/menu/1645135062215.

 

Usability test：

1. I recruited 4 participants who have some experience with ordering Chinese food via online platforms including 2 friends, my husband,1 schoolmate in GSU, and 1 student at an American University.

To truly understand the needs, behaviors, and motivations of the users I’m designing for, my research identified 2 pain points:

1). Ease of Use

2). Time

2. I used Zoom & Tencent Meetings to record them how to use the website to order their favorite 5 dishes for the Lunar Chinese New Year’s Eve in 10 minutes！
3. I conducted an online interview afterwards to ask them 16 questions about the positives and negatives of using this food mobile website.

Before the usability test：

I told them these instructions clearly and asked them to think aloud while doing the tasks. The think-aloud technique was used to extract information about the users’ thought processes during the task.

“Please take 10 minutes to order your favorite 5 Chinese dishes for Lunar New Year’s Eve on this food ordering website. You need to log in to the website using the Chrome search engine on your laptop. But you need to click toggle device toolbar mode (Ctrl+Shift+M) so it can show the mobile menu mode on your laptop, as it is convenient for me to see how you click and scroll down the menu with the recorder. This is for my user experience research need instead of for commercial use.”

1. You don’t have to go through the full process of buying them. Just order 5 dishes and put them in the shopping cart then cancel.
2. When you browse the website, feel free to speak out loud about your positive or negative feelings towards any button, image, tag, or any other design element on the website, which will be helpful for my research.”

During the usability test:

Task 1: Go to the site https://qmenu.us/#/yifan/menu/1645135062215. Task 2: View the Menu Scroll down to the bottom of the main page to find the necessary information on the menu.

Task 3: Find their favorite dishes Find the “menu category”, and choose 5 favorite dishes for Lunar New Year’s Eve.

Task 4: Put dishes in the cart Put 5 dishes in the cart and click on “Check-out”.

 

Task Time and Completion outcome:

The average task time of 4 participants, the number of problems per task on average, and the task completion of the 4 participants are described in the following table.

Participant 1 Task completion

Participant 2 Task completion

Participant 3 Task completion

Participant 4 Task completion

 

After finishing the task of ordering the dishes:

I evaluated the usability of the website by interviewing each of them with these questions and made a summary of their opinions.

Interview Questionnaire:

1. How easy is the website to navigate and search?
2. Does each food title make sense?
3. Do you think the Chinese and English fonts are big enough to see?
4. Do you think the main color of the food website is visually appealing?
5. Does the food description help?
6. Is each photo large enough to see?
7. Can you find your favorite dish quickly？
8. Do you think it is easy for you to put the dishes in the cart and be ready to check out？
9. Could you rate it on a scale from 1 to 10? How much do you like the food delivery website?
10. How much do you dislike the food delivery website?
11. What do you care about most in the food ordering process?
12. Do you think it is well-organized？
13. Do you think it is user-friendly?
14. What challenges do you face in the ordering process? How does this make you feel?
15. Is there any way in which you feel these challenges could be resolved?
16. How do you think the website can be improved in web design and interaction?

 

Based on the test answers the strengths of the website were:

1. The website is somewhat easy to use and follow. The rating from 4 users on average is 6.8 which means it can meet basic users’ need for ordering dishes. (2 females give ratings of 8 and 8.8 respectively, while 2 males having experience with website setup give ratings of 5 and 5.5 respectively.)
2. The color of the food website is generally visually appealing despite that the white background with red logos lacks innovation.
3. It is very convenient for all the participants to put the dishes in the cart and click on the checkout button.
4. Most of them can find their 5 favorite dishes on the website in 10 min, although 1 person uses more than 10 minutes and complains the menu lacks any vegetable dishes and ones for vegetarians and vegans.

 

The main problems of the website were:

1. The website is not so easy to navigate and users cannot find dishes very quickly without the help of a moderator. On average, they need to spend 7 minutes and 57 seconds to find 5 dishes, because the users cannot find the grey “category” button on the bottom of the main page very easily.
2. Some food titles are too complicated for most users (3/4) to comprehend because there are some very difficult and are Chinese words to recognize and pronounce like “燎” in the title of Stir-Fry Abalone with Asparagus.
3. Some Chinese and English fonts are big enough to see but for some Chinese food descriptions are too small to read and the price tags are not obvious to see at all.
   
4. Food pictures and Chinese/English fonts are not very placed in an orderly arrangement.
   
5. Although the food description in the smaller fond helps to some extent, some information like the weight and size of the crabs is missing in Yolk Salt& Pepper Dungeness Crab. And not all the dish has detailed food descriptions.

For instance, in Stir-Fry Abalone with Asparagus, there are no labels about the weight of the main ingredients of abalone and clients cannot know whether it is spicy or contains any allergic food ingredients.

6. Some food photos are not large enough to see as they are not panoramic views of the food and most of them are not authentic food they made (just downloaded from other food websites.) 
7. Half of the participants say they cannot find their favorite dish so quickly due to a lack of searching tools and no clear category button on the website. So it is not so well-organized and user-friendly.

8. In Featured Items, there are two repeated pictures of the rice.

 

Expected improvement for the food Mobile Web according to users’ feedback

1. Add breaking up of appetizers（cold Chinese dishes）, entrees (main dishes), side dishes, desserts, soup, salad, vegetarian food, vegan food, gluten-free, and halal food on a category on the top of the home page.
2. Add distance between the pick-up spot and the client.
3. Add on-site search and search filtering options like recommended dishes,  recently viewed dishes, and most sold dishes！
4. Change some Chinese food titles to easy ones without any complicated Chinese characters.
5. Put Chinese and English fonts in two different rows to make them clearer and put the food pictures just on the left side below each tile.  
   
6. In terms of texts, only make the food name and the price bolder and obvious to see. The price should be in red rather than the package information as some users care about the prices of the dishes the most！
   
7. Only make detailed food ingredient descriptions visible on the separate specific items page after they click on the title of the food to make them clearer.

For instance, in Stir-Fry Abalone with Asparagus, add descriptions about the weight of the main ingredients abalone on the specific items page and add flavor tags to let users know whether it is spicy or contains any allergic food source.

8. Invite some professional photographers to take delicate panoramic food photos made by YiFan restaurant to replace some fake ones from other food websites. Users may first pay attention to the food pictures and then to the titles as a picture is worth a thousand words.  Make sure that the food images are real otherwise the dishes may disappoint the clients after being served.  For instance, the Red Kidney Beans Chestnut& Stewed Duck Pot photo should have shown the full view of the duck. The image should have been more visually appealing taken by photographers who should have placed the dish on the beautiful tablecloth and used bright lighting. Clear and fantastic pictures can enhance clients’ appetite and help them to order the dishes more quickly.

Besides, the first picture on the top of the menu should be a real photo of the fantastic restaurant environment of YiFan instead of a chicken picture from another restaurant.

9. In Featured Items, delete repeated pictures of the rice and add more popular vegetable dishes.
10. Add typical Chinese food like dumplings on the menu, because Chinese people have the custom of eating dumplings on Lunar New Year because the dumplings themselves look like money pouches and are said to represent fortune and prosperity in the coming year.
11. Add coupon or discount information for the new user on the top of the menu to attract the first users.
12. Add ratings next to the food title using the number from 1 to 5 or label how much percentage of people like it. Add tags like Top Offer next to the dishes that are extremely popular as the users who see these tags may follow the trend to order the dishes.
13. Add tags about flavor below the food titles (typical flavor: savory, spicy, sour, sweet).
14. Add a food review at the bottom of the page.

 

Summary:

YiFan’s overall online Mobile Website UX performance is mediocre. It can meet basic needs for users to find the main meat dishes for pick up! However, they cannot choose what are their favorite dishes in a short time and cannot meet their diverse needs such as food choices for appetizers, vegetables, and dumplings for the festival. Their UX is especially thwarted by usability issues related to unclear and not panoramic food pictures, poor navigation categories, and no searching tools.

 

Homework — Assignment 3-Assessing Zoom’s Features and Usability for Screen Recording

Review one software and show us how you came to your evaluation. You can write your review as text, text and screen captures, a talking head video, or use the software itself to make a video. Blog your review of the software you test drove. Positives, negatives, thumb up or thumb down or wiggly-finger indecisive.

 

• What is the importance of screen recorders to UX designers？

Screen recorders allow UX designers to observe how users interact with an interface or prototype. This helps identify usability, pain points and opportunities for software and product improvement. The designer can see where users get stuck, what confuses them, and how they navigate the interface.

 

As a beginner with technology who feels intimidated by using complex applications, I choose to review Zoom as it was the first online class, video conferencing platform and video recorder I used in China in the spring of 2022 during Covid19 pandemic to connect to Canadian colleagues in Ontario.  For UX/ UI researchers, Zoom is a popular and user-friendly tool for interviews, video conferences and video recorder all over the world.

 

• What is Zoom？

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that can be used for video conferencing meetings, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat.

Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing software systems on the market because of its easy-to-use feature set and affordable pricing. According to Zoom’s S-1 filing in early 2019, more than half of Fortune 500 companies are using Zoom, and it earned an average NPS of more than 70 in 2018. Today, more than 500,000 companies’ meetings use Zoom Software on a daily basis.

Zoom One Basic

1.     Free	Yes
2.     One button install	Yes
3.     One button launch	Yes
4.     Basic Recording Needs	Yes
5.     Lightweight output	Yes
6.     Editable output	No
7.     Help	Yes
8.     Tutorials	Yes
9.     Positive industry reputations	Yes
10.  Provide free transcription	Yes
11.  Provide free translation	No
12.  Highly customize	Kindof

 

1. Pricing

• Is Zoom free to download?

Zoom is free for download and use on desktop computers and other internet-ready devices through the “Basic” subscription plan. The free Basic plan for individuals allows up to 100 participants and 40 minutes of meeting time per call. This plan includes many of the same features as the paid plans, such as virtual backgrounds, breakout rooms, and improved security. However, it does not include streaming, reporting, live support, and so on.

Here is the table of detailed Zoom pricing.

As you can see, Zoom pricing starts at $12.49 per user, per month for Zoom One Pro, which includes Zoom Meetings of up to 30 hours in length, Team Chat, and 5GB of cloud storage.

My perspective：

I think the time limit for the free version is acceptable to users with basic needs and the host can ask the participants to join the link again after 40 minutes session. But the drawback is that we can just download the recording of meetings to our own computers without cloud storage using the free version.

 

2. One Button Install

Zoom Meetings are supported on a range of devices, including but not limited to mobile devices, iPad, Chromebook, as well as operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux via the available client download.

The Zoom app installs easily with a simple download and setup process.

My perspective：

Zoom app is easy and simple to install and set up and I just spend 2-3 minutes in total to install it.

The first thing I do is to open up the Internet browser Chrome and go to my frequently used search engine Google. Then, on the URL address line, I just type in Zoom. It is very easy to find the first link is the official website of Zoom. Below the title, I just see “Download” very clearly and click on it.

 

 

It leads me to the website and the first option is Zoom Desktop Client. It is used for any laptops or desktop computers. (You can also use cell phones to download the Zoom-One Platform to Connect app.)  After clicking on “Download”, it takes me just around 10 seconds to get an exe file on the upper right-hand corner of the Chrome. Then I click on it and initialize it in a few seconds without malware or virus reminders as it is a legit site.

Then I see a very clear home page of Zoom.

 

3. One Button Launch

I find that whenever I am using Zoom to create a meeting, join a meeting, and record a meeting, it is super fast and easy, which may just take me less than 1 minute.

• Do I need a Zoom account to join a meeting?

No. While the person who starts a meeting and invites you will need an account, participants aren’t required to sign up for Zoom. Join a Zoom meeting from a Browser (you will need the meeting ID and passcode) In your web browser, go to zoom.us/join. Enter the meeting ID provided by the host/organizer. Click Join.

• How to host a meeting in Zoom?

I try only 5 steps to host a meeting in the navigable Zoom.

1). Sign in to the Zoom desktop client

2). Click the Meetings tab.

3). Near the Upcoming tab, click the  tab to schedule a meeting.

4). Change the Topic and the Time. I click on Recurring meeting to make it recur on a daily/weekly/monthly basis and click “Save”. So I don’t need to schedule a new meeting too frequently.

5). Click Start.

 

4. Basic Recording Needs                                                                                   

• Is it simple to start a screen recording in a Zoom meeting?

It is very easy to start a screen recording within an ongoing Zoom meeting.

1). Sign in to the Zoom. In the navigation menu, find the Record tab.

2). Click the record tab to start recording.

3). Click the square button on the top left corner to stop recording.

4).  After clicking End Meeting with Everyone, Convert Meeting Recording just pops up and I wait for around 1 minute. It converts the meeting recording to an MP4 file. It shows on the Recorded tab.

 

5. Lightweight Output

Software is considered lightweight if it utilizes a limited amount of RAM. For example, an operating system is considered lightweight if its kernel requires a small amount of memory (said to have a “low footprint”).

• How much space does a 1-hour Zoom recording take?

Recording screen sharing uses about 20MB of storage per hour while recording video uses about 200MB of storage an hour. This is an approximation, since the resolution and types of video or screen sharing content can affect the amount of storage used.

 

My perspective:

Zoom is a lightweight app because I record a 16 min video conference and it uses only about 40 MB. Recordings are saved as MP4s which are reasonably light. The quality is satisfactory.

 

6. Editable Output

My perspective:

I cannot edit recordings within Zoom, but the MP4s can be edited in external video editors, so this this the drawback of Zoom.

 

7. Help

My perspective:

Zoom offers a wonderful support tab on the main page and gives users access to a FAQ and search page easily. Users can also read feature articles with the most typical problems of using Zoom and can use a Chatbot to chat with the artificial support team online.

I think users can get very clear answers quickly by searching their answers to their questions in the search box. But the Chatbot seems not very smart in understanding every question.

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en?_ga=2.195135980.1969842599.1706919625-909900721.1706919625.

 

8. Tutorials

Zoom provides short video tutorials on common topics, which are very helpful for green hands on https://support.zoom.com.

 

9. Industrial Reputation (Pros & Cons)

Zoom has a positive reputation as an easy, reliable video conferencing tool.

According to Forbes Advisor, Zoom became a lifesaver for many companies with employees working at home. The brand is an industry leader and one of American’s favorite telecommuting apps.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/zoom-review/#:~:text=Security%20Concerns,reluctant%20to%20create%20an%20account.

As quickly as Zoom gained popularity, it also gained a fair bit of backlash over its privacy and security issues. While Zoom remains a top-rated web conferencing platform, its spotty security history might make some reluctant to create an account.

 

10. Provide free transcription

Zoom provides free transcription services which are very convenient for textual analysis. I just click More and choose Caption Language to English. Then it can transcribe automatically when I speak English.

Live transcription is a feature in Zoom meetings that provides robot transcription services, which enables script-to-text transcription meetings and webinars. It is important to note that this feature is enabled by the host of the meeting or webinar once it begins. However, participants will not see the Live Transcript option unless the host enables it, also the transcript is divided into sections, each with a timestamp that shows how far into the recording that portion of the text was recorded.

 

11. Translation

For the free version, I think there are no translation services for online meetings and no built-in translation for screen recordings. And I need to use other translation tools Like iTour Translator to get translated captions when I interview foreign UX users like Chinese. The tools allow users to have the speech automatically real-time translated and access captions in another language. For example, if a meeting participant is speaking in English, other participants can view Chinese, Spanish, or German captions.

 

12. Highly customize

 I think Zoom provides basic customization options for screen recording. However, it is not as highly customizable as some other advanced screen recorders.

 

With Zoom’s video filters, I can add some fun and creativity to a video call or improve the appearance of the video. These filters can include things like virtual hats, glasses, and makeup, as well as more creative effects like changing the color or shape of my face. To use the video filters in Zoom, users simply need to click on the “Video” icon in the bottom left corner of the Zoom window, then click on the “Video Settings” option.

Studio Effects allows me to add facial effects such as eyebrows, mustaches, and beards, and I can even change my lip color. These effects remain in place even as I move around in the video.

I am extremely fond of the studio effects in Zoom, which can improve my appearance and boost my confidence in interviewing UX users. It is because the features can help me hide facial blemishes or improve the appearance of my face. Besides, Zoom filters are easy to use and can be applied with just a few clicks, making them a popular feature for personal and professional video calls.

But we need to be careful not to use some weird special effects to distract UX users from the usability test, which may have a negative influence on the test result.

 

Summary

Zoom’s free screen recorder is wonderful and convenient to use for basic quick recordings and it can capture screen, audio, and webcam nicely with speech-to-text transcription. Nonetheless, it lacks advanced features like editing, tagging, translations, and advanced customization.

In addition, the video resolution and recording quality of Zoom aren’t always great. Zoom relies on the strength of an internet connection for quality, and will automatically adjust our quality if our connection cannot support a higher resolution. To get the best possible quality recording from Zoom, we have to enable HD video, create a great recording space, optimize our internet connection, and position our camera correctly.

 

We can refer to “How to Improve Zoom Recording Quality | Video & Audio Guide”, to know different ways to make our recordings in Zoom better.

https://riverside.fm/blog/improving-zoom-video-quality#:~:text=While%20the%20platform%20is%20convenient,can%20make%20your%20recordings%20better.