OUGD601: All 4 - Channel 4 re-designs 4OD

Channel 4 has announced that its 4oD service is to be replaced with a new brand, All 4, from next year. Envisaged as a  single destination for all of the broadcaster's linear channels and digital content, the new identity reworks the original Channel 4 logo designed by Lambie-Nairn...

The studio's 1982 "puzzle" identity remains an important part of the Channel 4 branding. While the new All 4 identity aims to emphasise that the reorganised services are born out of a single channel (and echoes the "pathwork" nature of the original design), it uses the various colours of Channel 4's existing brands (below) within the new look.

The static logo was created in a collaboration between Magpie, We Are Seventeen and Channel 4's award-winning in-house creative agency 4Creative (the overall brand identity was designed by 4Creative and We Are Seventeen).

"It's an important moment in Channel 4's history as this new identity links our digital future to our creative roots," says Dan Brooke, chief marketing and communications officer at Channel 4, "with the use of the much-loved multi-coloured logo, re-imagined for the multi-media 21st Century."

According to the broadcaster, the new All 4 user interface and functionality will launch initially on PC and iOS devices and will be extended to other digital platforms across 2015. The new interface will be structured around three "temporal states" – On Demand (past), Now (present) and On Soon (future).

4Creative:

Executive Creative Directors:
Chris Bovill & John Allison

Creative Directors:
Alice Tonge & Chris Wood

Business Director:
Nik Windsor

Senior Producer:
Nicola Brown

Senior Designer:
Kevin Price

Digital Producer:
Christos Savvides

Brand identity: 4Creative / Magpie / We Are Seventeen

Source

OUGD601: User Expectations Online - Great Expectations

I found this article on the Innovation Insights blog and found it gave some interesting stats and information. I have highlighted some of the points that interested me and some that I want to look into in more detail. 

Key:

           Interesting

           Look into in more detail

Got a sec? Not if you’re a mobile app.

With an ever growing market of mobile applications, user expectations for apps are at all time high right now. Apps are required to perform at very fast speed with high quality in order for the user to keep using those apps. The three main types of application that get used most frequently are e-commerce apps, social media apps, and gaming apps. No surprise there.

E-Commerce

Today, the majority of mobile users have used their phones or tablet to purchase something online. The demographic for retail shopping is quite large, with an age group of 18-54. In this demographic, the user is most concerned with load times. Every second counts, and the longer a page takes to load, the more likely the user will abandon the page. For retailers, this leads to lost sales and higher abandoned cart percentages. Data on how the performance of a shopping application affects shopper's behavior is fascinating:

• 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
• 40% abandon websites that take more than 3 seconds to load.
• 79% of shoppers who are a dissatisfied with website performance are less likely to buy from same site again.
• 52% of online shoppers state that quick page loading is important to their site loyalty.
• As little as 1 second of delay decreases customer satisfaction by about 16% - every second counts.
• 44% of online shoppers will tell their friends about a bad experience online. 
• 
  
• [Source: Kissmetrics]

Social Media

A large number of users use their mobile devices for social media. These are apps that have solidified their place in the daily, sometimes hourly, routine of mobile users. They aren't going away anytime soon. For a new social app competing against the giants of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like, it's really crucial that the app perform at a fast pace without sacrificing quality. For example, users that use chatting apps expect that sending and receiving messages be just as fast as if they were chatting in person.

Here are some recent trends that might make you rethink user experience when it comes to social media:

A surprising trend identified by Fast Company: the fastest growing demographic on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ is, believe it or not, the 55-64 age bracket. Your social app is no longer built for a young, mobile familiar crowd. To keep an older user in mind, the layout must be simple and easy to navigate.

Also, 189 million of Facebook's users are mobile only. This is probably a surprising number to some, but proves that you must consider how content displays on mobile devices. If users are not happy with the look and feel of an app, they will stop using it. Younger audiences, in particular, are not loyal to any one product and will switch to the newest, best, fastest product.

Gaming

Eastlabs gaming says the largest category of apps is games, and the majority of users are casual gamers. They want their game to be very easy to play, not too complicated, with rich graphics.

Casual gaming is the fastest growing category. This is evident if you look at top grossing games in Apple's App Store.

Social is beginning to play a large role in games as users want to play with friends. The majority of the top apps have a social media component. The most popular games are ones that allow you to play against others -- think Words With Friends and Candy Crush. These are easy to play whenever a user has a bit of downtime, and can be played with one finger, on the go.

The success of e-commerce, social, and gaming apps all rely on user experience. If you build an app and ignore these basic principles, you're likely to experience high abandonment rates.

The good thing is that user experience is something that can easily be achieved by spending some time and effort on your testing approach. Speed issues can easily be identified by doing load and performance testing on apps. Testing should also be multi-device, ensuring consistent layout and navigation across all devices.

Remember: it's not enough to just build your app and put it out there. Regular testing of the user expectations outlined above will not only help you create a better quality app, but will help you retain long term, happy users.

Nilesh Patel is QA/Project Lead for KMS Technology.

Source


For retailers, this leads to lost sales and higher abandoned cart percentages.

I find this sentence very interesting as it confirms in my mind that web users can be very lazy and expect things to load and work as quickly as possible. I myself fit into this category as I do not enjoy waiting much longer than 5 seconds for a web page to load. 

Blog post from Shopify


These are easy to play whenever a user has a bit of downtime, and can be played with one finger, on the go.

I think this statement will assist me when it comes to designing and developing my practical piece as I need to ensure that whatever I design works across a range of different digital platforms including iPad, tablets, iPhones and smart phones. As laptops and computers are under pressure from other alternatives it is imperative that my brand works across these platforms in order for it to be a success. 


The good thing is that user experience is something that can easily be achieved by spending some time and effort on your testing approach.

I know that experiments and tests will be something that I will have to spend alot of my time doing to ensure that my audience fully understand and engage with my product. I also think that it is the best way for me to understand UX and UI and put it into practice.  

OUGD601 - Users Expectations Online

I found this article online and think that it gives great insight into what users expect when they enter a web page. I need to take this into account as I plan to design a web page/site which appeals to a wide age range and must understand what people expect and what they will engage with. 

User expectations online

Understanding what users expect when they view your website is the key to meeting their expectations. Meeting their expectations should be a high priority .

Read Steven Smith's paper delivered at Museums and the Web conference 2008, Montreal, Canada.

The importance of meeting users’ expectations

By Steven Smith, founder and Director, Website Criteria

This paper is adapted from the paper Steven Smith delivered at the international conference, Museums and the Web, 2008, Montreal, Canada.

Contents

Introduction

Knowing who your audiences are

The three tiers of expectation

What influences users’ expectations?

Conclusions

Introduction

Over the next few years we will see user expectations and behaviour change in the following key ways.

• Users will increasingly use search engines for finding information on the Internet which will increasingly force website owners to present content in a manner friendly to search engines.
• Experienced Web users are less tolerant of poor design, content and navigation than novice users. The percentage of experienced Web users is growing, so organisations that have poor websites risk frustrating the ever-expanding number of savvy and experienced users. Poor websites will be increasingly penalised by users who know what they want and know better than to endure bad content and bad design.
• For certain websites, audiences will expect and want to interact more and more with the content.
• Many users will expect a certain range of websites to know/remember who they are and to be able to personalise their online experience – eg their favourite online radio station or stationery supplier.
• Improvements in access speed to the Internet and means of access (eg mobile phones) and the rapidly increasing number of web pages available through search engines, give the user two incredibly powerful weapons: information and choice.
• The increasing number of users with broadband connection makes the provision of interactive features and content in video and audio formats increasingly relevant and in demand – eg high-definition, interactive, live presentations featuring engineers, designers, museum curators, teachers, health workers explaining processes, objects and issues.

Knowing who your audiences are

You can’t hope to meet the expectations of your audiences if you don’t know who they are.

Don’t forget that your competitors are also an audience whether you like it or not. They will be looking at your website to see where your weaknesses are.

Categories of Web audiences include groups such as existing clients/customers, potential clients/customers, the public, students, researchers, tourists.

For each audience category you need to identify the characteristics that might influence that category’s expectations of your website – and their ability to understand and use it. The characteristics that require:

• gender
• age range
• culture and language
• education level
• occupation
• location
• internet experience
• connection speed
• connection device.

The three tiers of expectation

There are three tiers of expectation that together have a strong impact on a user’s perception of a website, their frustration level when using it and their willingness to return to the site.

Entrenched: The first tier of expectations is formed over time after visiting many websites. They are well entrenched in the user's mind and they are often subconscious and heart-felt – eg expecting the company’s phone number to be found in a link called ‘contact us’.

Formative: The second tier of expectations are those that are in the state of being formed in the users’ mind as a result of an increasing number of experiences of a particular aspect – eg a user notices that some sites offer a blog for feedback. They don’t expect to see a blog on every site, but it has entered their consciousness so when they see a blog they know what to do with it. Eventually, the presence of a blog may enter the first tier of their expectations – not necessarily for all sites – and the user will then expect to see a blog and be annoyed or disappointed if one is not available.

One-off: The third tier of expectations is formed the instant the user sees a web page and is unique to that web page – and it dissipates as soon as the user leaves that web page. The design, layout, words, images and navigation elements on the page all establish in an instant myriad of instant expectations – from the scope, breadth and depth of information being offered to what type of company owns the website. The third tier is also formed by the time and place in which the site is being viewed, the users’ reasons for visiting it and their existing level of understanding of the material being presented.

The aim of every web page is to meet as many expectations in each tier as possible.

What influences users’ expectations?

The expectation that users have of an organisation’s website will be influenced by a number of factors. The degree of influence of each factor will differ from user to user and from website to website:

• previous experience visiting the website
• age, cultural, educational and religious background
• comfort-level using the Web
• loves and hates about websites developed over time
• experience with the features, content and design of all other websites
• experience visiting other websites in the same industry – competitor websites
• speed and quality of access to the Internet
• degree of appreciation of the culture and purpose of the organisation
• understanding of the material presented in the web site – the jargon used in that industry
• reason for visiting the website – eg for research, interest, apply or to purchase
• degree of intention to visit the website – eg the visit may be totally accidental via Google
• integrity and influence of the referring party – a friend, a trusted website or source
• conditions under which the site is being viewed – space, place, time, technology.

Conclusions

Usability and design

• Abide by conventions unless there is a good reason to ignore them.
• Don’t make users have to think about anything but your content.
• Get to know the conventions and monitor trends.
• You only get one shot at positively influencing a user’s first impression, so make it good – on every page.
• Constantly test it with users.
• The more you exceed expectations, the more you will reap the benefits of an online presence.

Content and interactivity

• Provide the scope, depth, accuracy and quality of content they expect and you can deliver.
• Write for the Web, your audiences and for Google.
• Let users contribute, debate and commune with you online.
• Expect to increase the multimedia  content and interactive features in your website.

Management issues

• Develop an in-house understanding that you have an online presence and that it is always a work in progress.
• Understand your own aims, expectations and challenges.
• Resource it appropriately – money and time.
• Provide training for staff in creating and maintaining content, and understanding and monitoring users’ expectations.

Source

OUGD601: Context of Practice 3 - Dissertation Ideas

I think that the topic of my dissertation should reflect my interests - obviously, but I also want to use my dissertation as the foundation for the rest of my career. I think that this will be one of the last opportunities to properly spend a large amount of time researching something that interests me, so I want to make it count. Over the past two years I have discovered the types of design that I am interested in and I want to take the time over the third year to understand these areas in more detail.

I am drawn to digital design because I think it has a long and successful future but I also like the fact that it is constantly being developed. I want to focus my third year on this area of design so I need a full understanding of how digital design is created and the different stages that design goes through to ensure that it is successful. Having completed a placement at Numiko over the summer break I was introduced to UX and UI. These two titles form a significant sector of digital design as it allows designers to have an understanding of what the audience need to get from a digital experience. I also attended the Northern User Experience convention at Simple Usability in Leeds where I was introduced to Alex from gov.uk, this was an incredibly beneficial experience as it allowed me some insight into the business of usability within the world wide web. I plan to focus my dissertation on these two areas of development and gain an understanding of the different methods and stages researchers go through to propose a functional and successful design outcome. I will do primary and secondary reading research whilst also using my new contacts to gain more insight into the world of UX and UI as it is happening. I also plan to try and test some psychological studies on people around me, to enable to me to gain a more detailed understanding of the science behind digital design.

As the practical aspect of my dissertation is somewhat more important than my written response I want to create a brand with a digital output which has a wide age range when it comes to audience. I will brainstorm many different options for this brand and will test out any design experiments that I come up with in the mean time. I suspect that my idea will change when I have crits and one-on-one progress tutorials with my assigned tutor and I hope that at the end of my third year I will have a project that has developed to suit an audience.

Foreign Road Signs

Can you identify these foreign road signs? British drivers can only identify half - and it's pushing up insurance claims, survey finds

Millions of British motorists drive abroad every year, but many could be putting themselves in danger because they do not understand the foreign road signs, a new survey suggests. 

Insurance4CarHire put together a survey asking 2,000 British drivers to identify a selection of foreign road signs. Drivers correctly interpreted only half of the selection of road signs, the insurance company found. 

This is Money has selected 15 of the questions so you can see how you would have fared. The answers are underneath the final question. 

Spanish road signs cause the most confusion, with Britons correctly identifying only 38 per cent of road signs, the poll found.

The survey suggested that there is a link between confusion around road signs and the number of insurance claims it receives.

Lauren Mason from I4CH said: 'Unfamiliar road signs is one of the factors that contributes to UK motorists having to make insurance claims when driving abroad.'

She added: 'These findings highlight just how foreign the experience of driving abroad can be for UK motorists. Whether it's driving on the wrong side of the road, following different rules or just obeying a different set of signs, it can all add to the hassle of driving a car abroad.'   

Younger drivers had the most difficulty identifying the meaning of the signs, with those aged 18-34 recognising just 41 per cent compared to 48 per cent for those aged 55-64.

Confusing road signs is just one of the hazards faced by British holidaymakers driving abroad.

Drivers have also been warned to check their insurance policy before driving their own car in a different country.

While millions of British families take their own cars to the continent during the school break, as many as one in six motor insurance policies do not automatically offer full cover abroad, a second study recently revealed.

Figures compiled by comparison website GoCompare found one in six out of 245 policies would not cover you abroad unless you paid extra.

While these mostly offer third-party cover, they may not pay out if your car is involved in an accident or needs repairs. This means you face hefty charges to get your car home.

Policies also vary widely over the amount of time they will cover you while abroad. Some will offer you only three days per trip while others will cover you for as long as 180 days. 

 

This is Money has also warned drivers abroad to watch out for the so-called 'full/empty policy' enforced by some Spanish car hire firms, where hire companies charge customers for a full tank of petrol when they pick up the car and tell them to return it empty.

Drivers are also advised to read the small print carefully when booking a hire car abroad for hidden fees.

These could include young driver fees, fees for returning the car to a different place from where you picked it up, and compulsory excess charges.  

ANSWERS: Q1: 3. Q2: 3, Q3: 1, Q4: 2, Q5: 2, Q6: 2, Q7: 2, Q8: 2, Q9: 2, Q10: 3, Q11: 2, Q12: 2, Q13: 2, Q14: 2, Q15: 2 

Source

I took the short test and got 3/15.

OUGD505: Design Practice 2 - Product, Range, Distribution (Visual Research)

OUGD501: Context of Practice 2 - Module Evaluation