UX200
Creative Digital Design
Project Brief - Preparing For The Future
You are tasked with researching and identifying what User Experience and User Interface (UX and UI) stands for, how the NHS has implemented this to their organisation and how does it help their clientele? During this project you will create an Interactive PDF/PowerPoint which underpins your research and understanding of UX and UI:
- Explain how its usability has effectively been acknowledged and used
- Explore how the ethical and data protection has been delivered to users
- Explain the importance of accessibility
- Explore the design process of what you think they have used; such as software and design production.
In a short evaluation present yourself as a designer to explain what you would do differently (with your current knowledge of digital design processes and industry sense) and how you would make the NHS current use of UX and UI more accessible.
Project Reflection
The first part of this module proved to be particularly interesting for me. I found the application of user experience and user interface design to be incredibly well thought out within the context of the NHS. My research for this project involved exploring various web blogs, YouTube videos featuring internal NHS workshops and talks on design, and consulting general UX/UI methodologies i could find online. This allowed me to assess both the strengths and limitations of the NHS's UX/UI implementation in their app and desktop site, especially considering the challenges of serving such a broad target audience, with various accessibility requirements.
I was really impressed by their consideration of accessibility and commitment to data protection laws, like GDPR, which are critical for the success of an organisation of the NHS's scale. This study of real-world UX/UI practices served as an excellent foundation and a great introduction to the next part of the module. It also allowed me to demonstrate my understanding of fundamental design concepts and design processes within a bespoke presentation
Project Brief - Designing For The Future
You are tasked to build skills and show ideas with detailed planning/designing for UX and UI by evidencing and reflecting on a body of work. You will be looking at advancing towards the future and how you can upgrade current UX/UI using the Adobe Suite. How will your design come to life in the future? You will be designing through traditional and digital skills such as: Wireframe designs Project branding Sitemaps Proposal Using ongoing skills/digital production techniques
You are to design a piece of content for an interactive device that has touch screen and motion tracking capabilities. The device should be able to give the user information that is relevant to your chosen company with product and services in mind. You need to consider design principles, including layout and form with a contemporary design theory to entice users.
You may select a company of your choice for this module and adapt brand guidelines for your concept. However, please use a company that would benefit from such a feature like this making sure the demo is fit for purpose.
The Project Will Contain design concepts including: Brand guide, Wireframes, Sitemaps, Final Product test, Conceptual demo in situ
Additional Elements: Branding design Concept design (Design of the device), Design moodboard (Pinterest), Character And Paragraph Styles, Gridbase Layouts; UX Accessibility, Adaptive, Affordance, Approachable and Architecture for locations for device.
Documentation for this module will be in the form of a digital sketchbook, wherein you will capture your learning and development in the form of ideas, screenshots, and reflection, with process and journey.
You should be reflecting and acknowledging KSBs throughout, identifying what you have done, why you have done it, and what you could do differently.
Learning Outcomes
LO1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of fundamental concepts and processes of digital design/user interface design.
LO2
Apply creative, analytical and technical processes associated with interface design in solution to a brief.
LO3
Reflect and comment on processes working within professional parameters on a digital design project
KSB's Addressed In This Module
K1 K2 K3 K4 K7 K9 K10 K11 K12 K13 K14 K18
S1 S2 S3 S4 S6 S7 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16
B1 B2 B3 B4 B5
Project Reflection
This project was definitely a tough one to carry out, but it was incredibly rewarding. It really pushed me to explore new design reasoning and think deeper into UX and UI design theory for my own work. Getting back into After Effects and starting to sculpt within Blender helped me discover some new software combinations and tools, which is going to be incredibly useful for future projects and will really boost what i can offer to increase user-centred design. As an apprentice, I'm still getting comfortable with these programs, so tackling them so intensely was a real learning curve. I genuinely loved the creative process, but time was tight, so I sadly had to prioritise some areas over others.
The user research I did right at the start was invaluable; it directly shaped the design and content for Boundless Books. Moving forward, I'm aiming to bring in lessons learned from my previous NHS project, especially when it comes to accessibility. Even though I'd already picked a colour scheme, I'm really keen to fully apply WCAG standards and lean into layout grids. This will help make sure my designs truly meet diverse user needs, particularly for groups like older users. I've already started this with features like AI text-to-speech in amazon, "adjustable" font sizes, and specific font types, all to make the prototype clearer and more accessible, ultimately benefiting the final product.
Next on my list is getting to grips with Rive, its all-in-one approach looks incredibly promising for future work, especially at my place of work. I'm also eager to apply the 12 principles of animation we covered in a previous workshop to the micro-interactions within my prototypes. Some hardware limitations meant I couldn't get the highest quality Blender outputs this time. Upgrading my equipment will hopefully let me add the proper materials, shading, and rendering for future exports.
I think I managed to get a good handle on the basics from this module, and even some intermediate, parts of this task, and I carried them out to a reasonable standard. If I were to start the project again, I'd definitely spend less time on branding and focus more on the user journey. I'd also figure out how to make my prototypes more visually engaging and user-friendly with more research into UX best practices or by using software like Rive or ProtoPie. I genuinely enjoyed working on this project and the subject matter as a whole. I'm excited to continue exploring the ins and outs of UX/UI design in future modules and my work-based projects. In fact, I've already started applying some UX/UI principles at work, like strategically placing visual elements in email campaigns and on landing pages to boost engagement and, hopefully, increase revenue for the company.
