Wireframe Designs
At this point in the process of redesigning that app, TV Time, I have captured and organized the necessary information to relay a cohesive site map that initially drove my rough wireframe designs. I related back to what Jesse James Garrett explained throughout chapters six and seven of "The Elements of User Experience", how the product (the application) acts as functionality while also being a source of information.
The author states many times that it’s essential to keep in mind how your users will interact with the application's design through aspects that often get overlooked or fall into the background. These include, for example, the differences between text fields, list boxes, checkboxes, and even action buttons, which all do not impact the users’ experience in the same way.
Even before selecting how the user will interact with the application through tabs and buttons, a design must plan out the entire global navigation system. In short, that should show how the user can get from the home page as the base to any other page or tab in the application without any trouble. All designers should include this piece of planning in their process to visualize how navigation will be followed through any number of paths.
As it is important to thoroughly design the visual aspects of the application, it is just as crucial to plan out the bones of the app, or the content that will be filling the pages and informing the consumer in the end. Garrett reiterated that “Information design plays a role in interface design problems because the interface must not only gather information from the user but communicate information to the user as well” (126).
Once all the arrangements of the information were completed and I felt confident to begin designing the first stage of the wireframes. The first stage of wireframes I created was relatively simple, with basic lines and symbols to indicate photos and videos that would soon fill the space in the final design. Only a handful of skeleton screens were designed for the draft of wireframes before user tests were initially conducted.
The first user testing session I initiated was with users between the ages of 50 and 60, to assess the basic accessibility of the application and design errors that I might have overlooked. In this first session, I was informed that my type was not as legible as it could be as well as the button size was on the smaller side, and was hard to see where to press without any of the colors and drop shadow effects being incorporated.
I didn’t want to use my color scheme and visual design elements as a crutch to create a sleek visually appealing application, because if the interactive aspect of the design didn’t function properly and couldn’t be accessed successfully by all levels of ability, it wouldn’t be considered a successful redesign in my eyes or in the eyes of anyone interacting with the application and wanted to use it to its fullest potential.
Once the final, or one of the final wireframe designs is completed, I will begin user testing among a larger range of ages and abilities to further create the best design for tracking one’s tv show viewing activity and wrap all the elements I’ve created throughout the entire ideation and design process together.
