Part I:
Coding a hotel website:
2.
The user
group for a website for a hotel is quite a broad one but there are several
groups we can specify with some certainty:
- We can safely assume that the website will be primarily used by users over 18 years old. Users under 18 are unlikely to be booking a hotel for themselves. They either will not have the financial means, interest in booking a hotel or a method of payment available to them.
- We can assume that the user group is not limited to those who have a large amount of technical knowledge or education as people from all backgrounds may be in the position to book a hotel from time to time.
- We should assume that the website should be designed for users on the move as they will often need to find directions to the hotel, especially if they are visiting the area for the first time.
3.
We will
absolutely use mental models in designing of our website for the hotel. Mental
models are psychological representations of real, hypothetical, or imaginary
situations. We will have to use mental models carefully to deliver to the users
a message which connects with their understanding of what they would like their
stay in a hotel to be. We can use mental models to take advantage of a users
expectations and desires of their stay, using various means to suggests to the
user that their idea of a perfect stay in a hotel is exactly what this hotel
will provide.
4.
Again, we
will certainly be using metaphor in the design of our website as well. A
metaphor is a figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it
is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated
object. We can also use visual metaphors, such as icons to suggest an idea.
(e.g. Skueomorphism). We can use this idea in many wasy such as in the
form of icons, colour (red to denote stop, pause or caution, green to denote
go, good or correct etc.) We can also utilise a kind of extended metaphop buy
designing our website to represent a window into a kind of idilic scene which a
stay in our hotel may represent. We can design the site with luxurious text and
images to suggest to the user that their stay will be the same kind of
experience.
5.
Part II:
Perception and Attention:
1.
These
sites are very interesting in terms of discovering more about visual
perception. It is interesting to see how the eye can discern images and
patterns. For instance, I could see some of the images immediately while other
images took longer to discern. The image of the woman’s face being hidden in
the trees and the reflection of the lake was particularly tricky to spot. One possible
reason for this that I considered is that we expect to see a face the right way
up and because that face was laid out horizontally, it took me longer to
discern. Another interesting aspect was that once an image was discerned within
the pattern or original image, it was impossible to not see it. It was
interesting that once a pattern has been learned to be discerned in such a way,
it stays in the mind.
The
images based on closure were equally interesting. They showed that we can
naturally close off and complete images that are only partially revealed. Users
can be given an image and we can be assured that they will be able to see the
images we desire them to see if they designed in such a way that allows them
to. We can see this extensively in the way many logos are designed. Often we
see logos which are incomplete or make use of negative space which allow users
to read the full logo in a dynamic way.
2.
The
several games that I played tell me that in general I am fairly strong in terms
of visual memory. I achieved a score of 14/20 which seemed to be an average
score.
While
playing these games I realised that I was utilising several of Gastalt's
principles to try and remember and recall the visual patterns. Some of the
principles used were:
Proximity- How close the icons were to each
other played a huge role in remembering where they were.
Continuity-
I found
it easier to remember patterns if they appeared in a line or shape rather than
randomly.
Similarity- The fact that the icons were
similar made it easier to re-form a mental image of where they were on the
board when they had disappeared.
Closure- Similarly to continuity, I found
that when the icons appeared in certain shapes I was able to remember them in
terms of their grouping and this included areas I remembered to be empty.
This
exercise is a very informative one in terms of helping us in interactive design
as it can show us useful ways of making a visual patterns or display memorable
to the user. We can design our elements in such a way that we can take
advantage of the Gastalt principles named and others to leave a subtle
impression on the users mind and create our websites with ease of use for the
user in mind. Also this kind of exercise can be informative in teaching us how
to design a website which a user can use with ease when returning to the
website in the future as they will be able to remember how the site works if
designed simply and effectively.
3.
In this exercise
I managed to count the number of times the ball was passed correctly, and I did
see the gorilla (however, I think I have seen this video a few years ago, so
possibly remember it from the first time I had seen it, I remember I did not
see it the first time.).
This is
relevant to HCI because it shows us the power of focused attention. When our
attention is focused we can discern very complex visual patterns, such as the
one illustrated in the video, However to do this, we must force ourselves to
block out all other visual distractions. For instance in this example, we can
assume that most people subconsciously told themselves "focus on only the
white t-shirts". While doing this we effectively block out anything that
is not white on screen from our immediate attention. This is important for HCI because
it shows us the power of focusing the users attention on what we want them to
see but it also tells us that users will only be able to focus one aspect of
the webpage at a time.
