Design Research Dissertation Final Compilation

22/4/2024-2/8/2024 Week 1 - Week 14

Wong Kai Xin / 0353027

Design Research Dissertation / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / The Design School

Final Compilation


INSTRUCTIONS
 
Fig 1 Module Information Booklet


TASK 1

Fig 2 Dissertation draft (PDF)


TASK 2

Fig 3 Final dissertation Turnitin report before amendment (PDF)

Fig 4 Final dissertation Turnitin report after amendment (PDF)


TASK 3

flipbook link 
 
TASK 4

Fig 5 Research article (PDF)


FEEDBACK

Week 2

Dissertation draft

  • When using short forms use full form first for example : ui —> user interface (UI)

  • Visual clutter is part of usability issues, it’s one of the ways to counter 

  • Readability also under usability issues

  • Visual presentation is important, under answering research question 2

  • -Common issues faced can be 5.1, part of usability issues

  •  5.1 can start quoting to show evidence from primary data, relate back to literature review

  • (Compare when users are using complicated and user friendly ui designs

  • User patterns can be talked about in 5.1 

  • Find the common issues in socmed ecom ent ui


Week 3

Dissertation draft

  - Paraphrase analysis discussion intro

  - ⁠explain that it aims to answer research question what what what (recap research question there)  

  - ⁠change “simple user interface” to “user-friendly interface

- ⁠compare the two websites in 5.2 (5.21 airbnb, 5.22 irctc)

- ⁠suggest what is good in the user friendly in 5.3 and how it could be applied in the bad ui website

- have citations in analysis and discussion, look up ui/ux BOOK publications for quotations, further

explanation

- ⁠quote from survey

- ⁠common issues faced … must be from articles

- ⁠explain the flow of the discussion “the discussion will start by identifying the common issues

faced by users related to ui design then followed by…” the discussion will be supported by the

- primary data and secondary research (literature review$

- ⁠don't put article reference on top ( it will be put in the reference list) 

1- ⁠compare the literature reviews, not write one by one

- ⁠instead of writing like “article is well structured” talk about how related is the article to your topic


Week 4

Dissertation draft

  • Size of pictures make similar

  •  ⁠pic 1 use citation

  • ⁠tell about how it was identified, through which question of the survey, further elaborate, what percentage of people said this

  • same w visual clutter 

  • ⁠recap rq in 5.2 there

  • describe what is airbnb website

  • how one general image of the website

  • discuss WHY my participants think it’s a better website than irctc, cite their experiences

  • WHY they suggested dark theme, put quotes from my surveyors

  • support and show an example of some website that have all those 3 (dark theme, arrange content and customer review section)

  • ⁠customer review will do, don't add “comment”

  • “simple and well formed web design could affect brand value” can be used for book cover, it’s a powerful quote, for introduction of dissertation

  • can be a wrap up for 5.2 the suggest what’s good in airbnb and apply in irctc


Week 5

Dissertation draft

Literature review

  • Do not cite with the initials

  • et al. if a lot of authors

  • ⁠double check third article’s citing of the surnames

  • “two topics” instead of writing “similarities and comparison”

  • ⁠can compare their strengths n weaknesses, me

  • ⁠don't need to put numbers for references, indent the second line or third 

  • ”the first article” is wrong. Cite with author and year


     5.31

  •  Try to rationalise through your research on why dark themes are beneficial. Support your reasoning through literature

  • cite the airbnb intro and irctc

  •  ⁠the irctc website also have features that are user friendly

  •  ⁠irctc dont evaluate, tell about the functions first, describe. Current paragraph can put in  5.2.3

  •   ⁠discuss systematically, describe part by part on why one is better than the other


Week 6

Dissertation draft

  • Cut down the conclusion of each topic 

  •  ⁠don't need to write “the article by” to save some words

  •  ⁠cut out summary of key literature 

  •  ⁠conclusion put as introduction 

  •  ⁠each time the paper is mentioned, mention the year

  •  ⁠relook into each conclusion of the specific topics

  •  ⁠focus on continuing and completing discussion n analysis


Week 7

Dissertation draft

  Analysis and discussion

  • Bring the topic back to the two main topics readability and visual clutter

  •  Despite the visual design seems to be flawless some viewers still find that they have difficulties using this website: they have their preference when it comes to using these websites. Have a short intro 5.2.3

  •  Need more visuals to make points clearer


Conclusion

  • ensure conclusion related to discussion 

  • Can write “The findings of the research indicate that complex website design make it hard for users to understand the information they see”

  • “fix”change to “address”

  • Project design recco refer to recording earlier this morning

Abstract 

  • can still add on words for abstract till 250

  • Describe my method in abstract, a survey questionnaire was designed to collect data and how many people have responded to this

  • What is the discussion of the survey? The results of the survey


Literature review

  • No need the technology sentence from intro

  • Overall ok , cut down words esp on corrala and jung 2.2 and 2.1 too



Week 8 - ILW

Week 9

Book 

Cover

  • The look of this will not match the cleanliness of design in the cover 

  • Still can achieve complex cover in an organised way, can do photo collage/montage                 for ex polaroids, don't involve handwriting style, may not gel so well with the     insights of the book

  • Mayb can use diff pics of the websites to make cover

  • Overlay typography but in a clean way


Colour palette

  •  take out ff6969 so it will not clash w the red


Typeface

  • good choice of typeface

  • inter reflects more on website design and more structure going on so inter is a better option

Moodboard

  • boy w face n silhouettes not a good idea as it is more messy

  • ana-log is okay

  • three columns not encouraged as book is already quite small

Layout

  • layout more interesting in slide 4


Week 10

Book 

Book cover
  • Readability is bad

  • ⁠the impact of complex ui design on users

  • ⁠keep it simple and centralised 

  • One side for the heavy text (well-arranged content)


Week 11

Book 

  • No unity

  • “User interface on user” put in one line

  • “Complex” move closer to “of”

  • Acknowledgements and abstract one page each


Week 12

article

  • No need rationale

  • Take out headings

  • Don’t have to write generic info about survey

  • Be straightforward

  • First and second change to “why this survey is helpful”

  • “The survey was designed with google forms… yielding 58 responses”

  • “How” —> “survey design”

  • Be more detailed about questions asked


Week 13

article

  • Add header and footer

  • Convert to word file

  • Detailed feedback done on doc


Week 14

article

  • Add project recommendations

  • Detailed feedback done on word file



REFLECTION

The Design Research Dissertation module has been by far quite challenging, especially for someone who does not write often. It has been an eye-opening experience for me. 

Starting from my research methodology, I did survey last semester for my design research methodology module as it looked like the most effective and convenient. However, as I delved deeper, I began to realize the disadvantage. Surveys, despite their efficiency, often result in incomplete responses and lack the depth needed to truly understand user experiences. Participants may struggle to fully express their thoughts or misunderstand questions, leading to data that feels a bit flat and sometimes unreliable, which affects my data collection. Through this reflection, I’ve come to see the value of incorporating interviews into the research methodology. Interviews, unlike surveys, offer the chance for real-time interaction, allowing me to dig deeper into participants’ experiences and clarify their responses on the spot. This method promises richer, more detailed data, providing a clearer picture of users’ perceptions and uncovering specific pain points that surveys might miss. Including a diverse range of participants in these interviews would also ensure a more comprehensive view of how different groups interact with user interfaces, capturing a wider spectrum of experiences and insights.

I also realized that the current focus on just two websites, Airbnb and IRCTC, limits the research’s scope. While these platforms provide valuable case studies, expanding the comparison to include a broader array of websites could offer a more holistic perspective. Analyzing various websites would help identify common themes and differences in user experiences across different contexts. This broader approach would allow for more robust design recommendations, revealing what design elements consistently enhance user experience and which ones tend to detract from it.

Initially, I had doubts about what a Project Design Recommendation is and was stuck and confused on this topic. Through this module, I learned that it was ways that your research could be improved or enhanced in the future. For example what I said about regarding my research methodology.

Aside from what I thought could be improved for my research, I have also learned a lot more. My tutor, Ms Jinchi has also been consistently helping me to improve my work and I am extremely grateful for her. Although this was a challenging module, I eventually managed to cope towards the end thanks to her help. 

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