This course was the first to focus more specifically on User Experience Design, with an emphasis on conducting user research to identify issues first, then designing a solution for that followed by evaluating the design for its suitability and usability for users. This course taught me technical skills in Adobe XD as well as UX research and evaluation methods including the UX design cycle, conducting testing sessions and tools like SUS and TAM surveys.

The theme for my team’s project was “Transacting - designing for how we buy, sell, manage money and - specifically - shop.” Based on our user research early in semester, we wanted to create an app that more easily allows users to find products they are looking and for the best price. Pocket Apps was our solution, an app that allows people to search for various products - including the ability to scan a product’s barcode while shopping - then produce results from various stores and sites to easily enable the user to pay the cheapest price for the product they are looking for.

We went through two major iterations during the semester, the first to test functionality and usability and the second to test the overall look, feel and visuals of the app. We tested both iterations with users and evaluated the designs with the tools taught in class.