Most of my research is quantitative as I seek to understand “why.” I can conduct in-lab usability testing as well as remote usability testing. I have experience creating research plans, organizing research, conducting research and creating research reports. Empathy is needed for every step of the process, I use it to understand the end user, but I also use it to understand the stakeholders and designers needs.
Most of my research is quantitative as I seek to understand “why.” I can conduct in-lab usability testing as well as remote usability testing. I have experience creating research plans, organizing research, conducting research and creating research reports. Empathy is needed for every step of the process, I use it to understand the end user, but I also use it to understand the stakeholders and designers needs.
UX Design Projects
I concentrated on UX Research, but have previously worked as a designer. My UX Design is about discovering problems and opportunities and being able to act on those discoveries. My goal is to create designs that solve problems and exploit opportunities. I do this by using different techniques. My training in anthropology and years of UX experience have developed my knowledge of user-centered techniques.
Elysiacw's projects
Projects:
Please check out the different projects I have been involved in. These projects have helped me apply and build my skill set.
The City of Dalton is in the middle of economic turmoil. For the better part of a century their main industry has been carpet manufacturing, but the demand for carpet has plummeted. Dalton wanted to rebrand itself to bring in new innovation industry. To get a sense of what, or who Dalton really was we looked at multiple aspects of the town, including the history of the town, the history of the carpet industry, who the current residence of the town were, and what networks make up the communities.
"GalaxyAdvisors" is a small start-up company that was created by a group of computer scientists at MIT. This company has been successful in the last few years but has been having problems growing. To solve its problem we have to align its self perception and its costumers perception
The focus of my thesis was to examine this ability of science fiction and use science fiction as a tool to help prepare for the future. The project started with taking notes on over 70 years of science fiction dating from the 1940s through 2011. It ended in creating activity cards that businesses could use to better prepare for the future.
The City of Dalton is in the middle of economic turmoil. For the better part of a century their main industry has been carpet manufacturing, but the demand for carpet has plummeted. Dalton wanted to rebrand itself to bring in new innovation industry. To get a sense of what, or who Dalton really was we looked at multiple aspects of the town, including the history of the town, the history of the carpet industry, who the current residence of the town were, and what networks make up the communities.
Unfortunately most of my recent work is confidential and I cannot include is here. However these projects display the range of both my design work and my research work. If you want to learn more about my research process and how I help a team better understand their users, please visit my research page.
ShopSCAD
Introduction:
The project focused on increasing sales and the consumer's experience in a retail setting.
Background:
ShopSCAD is a small retail gallery that features the works of students, professors, and alumni from the Savannah College of Art and Design. The retail space's main goal is to showcase the works the university produces and, through the sales of the products, the student, professor or alumni can make a wage.
Objective:
The project revolved around understanding the needs of the business and addressing its main problem. Many people would walk into the retail outlet, look around and not buy anything. This project took about 6 weeks to complete.
Process:
Ethnography was used during the research process. While being as unobtrusive as possible, I timed how long people spent inside the store, and took notes about what they stopped and looked at. We also took notes on the interactions between the clerk and the client.
The team explored the relationship to the school and students, as well as the relationship between the different outlets (the two online stores and the web store) and the consumer.
During the analysis phase, I created models and conducted a competitor analysis.
Results:
I discovered that the consumers were often stunned by the prices of the products. Our solution was to provide more information about the artist, and the history of the work. This was done so the consumer would see the work as an art piece or pieces not as manufactured goods. We determined that more room in the shop was needed to enable to give the work more space. A better website was also needed, one that contained more information about the work and the artists themselves. Many of the suggestions have been put into place, and have helped the store.
(Team: Researchers and Designers )
Galaxy Advisors
Introduction:
The project's goals were to re-brand the company, improve its public face and solve their time crunch.
Background:
"GalaxyAdvisors" is a small start-up company that was created by a group of computer scientists at MIT. This company had been successful but had problems growing. The company specializes in software and provides services.
Objective:
The team needed to re-brand the startup and make what they were selling clear to the consumer. I focused on strategies to make the company more efficient. This project took about 10 weeks to complete.
Process:
I interviewed current customers who were pleased with the company. I asked them what they thought of the company and what they liked most about their service. The company’s founders were also asked similar questions. Potential clients were interviewed and shown the websites. They were asked to explore it and to answer questions about it.
I conducted a competitor analysis comparing their services to other software and services currently on the market. I analyzed the company’s structure and practices. I looked at how they spent their time.
Results:
The team created new branding material for the company, including new logos and concepts for their online presence. The new website helped clarify what the company does and what services it provides. The team created a style book for the company so they would have an easy to understand visual language.
I restructured their training practices. The company had a time management problem due to the size of their team. I proposed a slight restricting of their workshops to utilize the students working with them more efficiently.
(Team: UX Strategist, UX Researcher, UX Designer )
Outpost10f Homepage
Introduction:
The project focused on re-invasion the homepage and make it mobile friendly.
Background:
Outpost10f (OTF) is a science fiction and fantasy fan community. Founded in 1997; it is a Canadian non-profit organization and has members from all over the world. They needed an updated homepage that was mobile friendly, welcoming to new users but did not alienate current members.
Objective:
The new homepage had to be welcoming to potential members by being clearly labeled and easy to navigate. It also had to incorporate the needs of the current members by keeping elements of the previous homepage and by being easy to maintain. Critically it had to be mobile friendly. This took about 3 months to complete.
Process:
I started with research. Working with the leadership of the site I had them list out and rank important elements of the homepage. I conducted a survey among the new members. I created sketches and worked with the community’s leadership to refine my sketches and to create wireframes. After the wireframes were created, I tested them by having members of the community tell me what they liked and didn’t like about the website. They also rated the features. I tested them with non-members to get their reactions. The nonmembers were tested so that I could gain insight on visitor’s reactions.
Results:
I worked closely with a programmer to create a working prototype and that prototype was tested by both members and non-members. After refinement, the homepage went live.
(Team: Project Manager, Developer, UX Designer )
Helping Haiti
Introduction:
I looked into various funding solutions, strategies and scenarios to help a non-profit organization function better while they work in underdeveloped countries.
Background:
The focus of this project was to help equip a nonprofit group (MassLabs) with the knowledge and plans to effectively work in Haiti and other undeveloped nations. Mass Labs is a nonprofit architecture organization that has been working on creating buildings that can function in different climates and in developing nations. One of their major ongoing projects is working within Haiti, they are dedicated to building hospitals for the local people.
Objective:
MassLabs wanted to grow without sacrificing quality and with adequate and stable funding. They needed ideas to help them expand and stay fiscally viable. This took about 10 weeks to complete.
Process:
A large part of my research revolved around reviewing case studies involving other non-profit groups that had successfully worked in Haiti and parts of Africa. We also interviewed people who had lived and worked in Haiti to get an idea of what life was like there. I used government and university reports to gain insight into the life of the citizens and workers living on the island nation. I also reviewed ethnographies created by an anthropologist on the ground to guide me in my understanding of Haiti.
The business model canvas allowed me to get a better idea of their current structure and whom they were working with, as well as helped me develop ideas for growth. The team and I also created visual maps of the current structure along with Masslabs partners.
Results:
I created scenarios that focused on what could happen in the following 5, 10 and 15 years. One of the 5-year scenarios was fairly accurate and ended up mirroring real events.
The team created a list of funding ideas; these ideas included using field schools and using art to provide money for their projects. My ideas along with the ideas of my teammates were included in a book that was given to the company.
(Team: UX Strategists, UX Researchers, UX Designers )
Re-Thinking Dalton
Introduction:
This project focused on developing design solutions to make Dalton a "creative city."
Background:
The City of Dalton was in the middle of economic turmoil. For the better part of a century, their main industry has been carpet manufacturing, but the recession has hit the city hard as the demand for carpet has plummeted. The city leader's decided that they needed an infusion of "young creative's" and this would solve their problems. hey came to us and requested that we assist them in coming up with a solution to their dilemma. The first task was to determine what the real problem was, why has this city been hit so hard by the economic down term and why was Dalton not appealing to young creative people.
Objective:
To get a sense of what, or who Dalton really was I looked at multiple aspects of the town, including the history of the town, the history of the carpet industry, who the current residence of the town was, and what networks make up the communities.
Process:
There was also an effort to find case studies of similar towns who had been able to transition themselves into a "creative" city. I conducted intense ground too get a sense of what, or who Dalton really was we looked at multiple aspects of the town, including the history of the town, the history of the carpet industry, who the current residence of the town were, and what networks make up the communities. There was also an effort to find case studies of similar towns who had been able to transition themselves into a "creative" city.
Results:
I entered this study with the awareness that we would not be able to provide detailed solutions for Dalton, but we knew that we would be able to assist them in understanding their own problems in depth. I was able to assist other groups in bettering their understanding of Dalton. In particular, we presented our work to two urban design and architecture students, which aided them in the creation of plausible solutions for the town.
(Team: UX Designers, Urben Designers, Researchers, Archtectes )
Steo Medical
Introduction:
The company’s old website host was closing, and the owner wanted to modernize the site. Previously I had helped the owner with presentations.
Background:
The owner viewed this as an expansion of that. The original project was to create a basic website with some information about the company. The expanded project included an online catalog so that potential clients, both manufacturers, and hospitals, could see what the company offered. The expanded website also needed to include information about Steno Medicals partners. The team made a framework for a small church in Georgia to create workshops and events to better engage and connect with its members.
Objective:
The owner needed a modern website that featured all of the companies’ products and highlighted the companies’ partners.
Process:
The project started with a complete understanding of the business needs, and with the owner's goal for the website. Multiple wires were created and the ones that most matched the needs of the business and the taste of the owner were selected. Once basic wires for the site were made, content was created and the catalog was assembled. Various revisions to the catalog were made over the course of a few months. After the pieces of the site were gathered the project was handed over to a developer. The developer and I worked together through technical limitations, as the design had to be modified.
Results:
A small business website was created. This website highlighted the products that were offered and the partnerships this company developed.
(Team: UX Research/Project manager, and Develper)
A Girls Magazine
Introduction:
Magazine sales are down and they are losing popularity as digital media becomes omnipresent in people’s lives.
Background:
A major magazine company came to us with a problem, how does the print industry survive and adapt themselves to the digital age? They wanted to expand into products and possibly services.
Objective:
The goal was to recreate a teen fashion magazine that was relevant to today’s girls. Simply re-lunching the print magazine would be pointless, a new system had to be created that would engage the next generation of readers. This project took about 10 weeks.
Process:
I created a customer journey map for both buying a magazine and for buying something that was advertised in the magazine. I explored their online presence and discovered a lack of relative advertising. I learned about magazines’ revenue sources. I created services, and product sketches and I also created a SWOT analysis for the magazine.
Results:
The team and I created a multi-aspect program that tied a print magazine into other products including a social networking site, and services. These products and services would be affordable; they would be environmental and or social conscience and they would be targeted at both the girls and their parents. The revenue would come from relevant advertisements and by buying these products and services. I created products such as a device that allowed the user to message their locker or their parent’s fridge. The team developed services such as a system for renting luxury goods. My Team and I suggested a system to endorse teen-friendly products, and a new website concept was developed that included social networking. At the end of our project, we presented our ideas to the CEO of the company.
(Team: Industrail Designer, UX Designers, UX Researchersl)
From Blue Sky To Deep Space
Introduction:
My thesis focused on futurism and created a business tool.
Background:
Science fiction has a history of foreshadowing technological advancements. We saw versions of small, portable touch computers on numerous television shows, in movies and read about them. The focus of my thesis is to examine this ability of science fiction and use science fiction as a tool to help prepare for the future.
Objective:
The goal was to create a tool that could be used by organizations to better prepare themselves for the future.
Process:
Both interviews and surveys were conducted. This was done for a variety of reasons. Interviews with published science fiction authors informed me of their thinking process and gave me insight in to why science fiction has a foreshadowing ability. Surveys with designers were also conducted so that I could compare the process of designers to Authors. Additional surveys were done to assess how international science fiction is. The project started with a review of current science fiction. This review consisted of taking notes on over 70 years of science fiction dating from the 1940s through 2011. For consistency, I looked at "Astounding/Analog Science Fiction and Fact". The science fiction magazines were examined both for technological and cultural themes, individual technology references and patterns.
Results:
A tool was made that used the lessons learned in science fiction. Factors were created that help predicted success or failures and workshops were designed to help create products that can face tomorrow’s challenges.
