Before taking this class, I believed that design followed a uniform approach based on my understanding of design thinking from CS147: Intro to Human-Computer Interaction. However, CS247B taught me that design involves a vast array of methods and exercises that can be utilized to gain a better understanding of the user’s needs, thought processes, behavior, and motivation.
Overall, I enjoyed conducting user research and involving myself in creating a product that aligns with the daily struggles of many people. As someone with an extroverted individual with a growing interest in design, I found the interviewing and study processes to be particularly engaging, specifically hearing about our interviewees’ personal stories and experiences. I realized that working with a group of teammates with similar motivations and interests as me was extremely rewarding and FUN. I also appreciated the opportunity to conduct baseline and intervention studies to assess the impact of the gentle nudges we provided to our participants. However, given the limited 10-week timeframe of the class, our team couldn’t test our solution for an extended period. It would have been ideal to conduct additional usability tests with a diverse range of participants (non-Stanford students) to gauge their reactions to various break reminders.
I particularly enjoyed the UI design process, including moodboarding, style tiles, sketchy screens, wireflows, and so on. Drawing from my prior experience creating flyers and graphics for social media, the visual design principles came more naturally to me. I found experimenting with different variations of our Oasis extension screens in Figma particularly enjoyable.
Throughout this class, I learned that sketchnoting was an immensely valuable exercise in drawing out information quickly, especially as a slow reader. I enjoyed the sketchnotes throughout the class and believe that the ethics discussions would have been more insightful if sketchnotes were required.
Accessibility was a top priority for our team throughout the design process of Oasis. As a browser extension, we aimed to create a solution that would work for individuals with a variety of abilities and environments. Therefore, our break notification included several options for users, including taking a break, snoozing to a later time, or shuffling through the break options to select a different one. These options gave users greater agency in how they approached taking breaks and how their environment, feelings, and abilities would impact their breaks. In the onboarding process, we provided users with the option to customize their experience and set their preferences for the types of break reminders they wished to receive. This was crucial to give users more control over how they incorporated the Oasis browser extension into their workflow. We also considered stress cases where individuals with different injuries and abilities may have difficulty performing specific stretches. Our customized preferences aimed to provide a solution for individuals in these various stress cases.
By incorporating universal design principles, we created a product that was accessible to users of all ages, abilities, and environmental factors. We were able to incorporate this universal design while still staying specific to our target audience, which consisted primarily of college students and new graduates working in office jobs. The start, shuffle, snooze, and skip options were our team’s way of incorporating accessibility into our browser extension.
In addition to our focus on minimalism and user-friendliness in designing the Oasis browser extension, we also prioritized creating a seamless user experience that would not disrupt the user’s workflow. To achieve this, we carefully considered the different cognitive loads that users may experience during their work sessions, and ensured that the design and functionality of our extension would complement and enhance their productivity rather than hinder it.
As a sophomore studying CS+HCI, I am grateful for the opportunity to take CS247B early on in my undergraduate career. This class allowed me to explore options beyond software engineering in the tech industry. The UX research and design resources provided in CS247B have been invaluable in my exploration of UI/UX design in my future career. I would like to thank Christina and the teaching team for making my experience so enjoyable and rewarding, and I hope to see you all in future HCI classes!
