Wayback Machine Redesign
LTD Competency Alignment
Objective 2.2: Students are able to manage and optimize analytics collected by learning and performance systems to develop criteria to measure learning impact and talent development.
UXU Competency Alignment
| UXU Competency | Project Alignment |
|---|---|
| Needs assessment and task analysis. | Started with problem analysis to define project requirements. Analyzed users, environment, tasks, project scope, information needs, similar products, etc. to inform project management and design decisions. |
| Design frameworks and theories. | Considered frameworks and theories of user experience and usability including feedback, consistency, affordance, equitable use, simple and intuitive use, tolerance for error, internal locus of control, and cognitive load. Additionally, referred to Gestalt principles of design (proximity, common region, similarity, and symmetry). |
| Usability data collection and analysis. | User testing included pre-test, user observation, and system usability scale (SUS). |
| Usability engineering or iterative design through prototyping. | Improved upon lo-fi prototype (PowerPoint) via peer and instructor feedback. Iterated hi-fi prototype (Justinmind) after running user testing. |
| Diversity and inclusion methods to increase efficient and effective use. | Created personas to ensure inclusion, diversity, and accessibility needs were met. Considered these design principles throughout development and testing of both prototypes. |
Description
The Wayback Machine allows users to view archived versions of websites; however, the site’s unintuitive design might cause issues for users. The site’s unintuitive design makes the site difficult for some to use. Our group collaborated to design, develop, prototype, and evaluate a reimagined Wayback Machine.
We used Microsoft PowerPoint to create our lo-fi prototype before building and iterating the interactions in the Justinmind prototype tool. Due to difficulties with the tool, we created a video walkthrough of the Wayback Machine Redesign [8:03] to showcase the design.
Details
Course: IS_LT 9461: Interaction Design
Semester: Fall 2022
Project Type: Group
Role: Designer, writer, editor, subject matter expert (SME), researcher, project coordinator
Learning Process
We started the project with a needs assessment and gaps analysis to define our goals and objectives. This allowed me to create four personas (Image 2) with diverse needs to guide our decisions based on interaction design, information architecture, and accessibility principles. I also created metaphors which enriched how we consider the user needs for the site.
After iterating from lo-fi to hi-fi prototype, we completed usability testing with users to collect and analyze data which proved essential to the final prototype (Image 1).
Reflection
The main challenge of this project came from the unreliability of the prototyping tool. We fixed our hi-fi prototype many times, and it still did not work quite right in the end—even with a paid account. However, we adapted to the situation and recorded a video to capture the interactions found in the prototype.
Throughout the project, I helped lead the group by coordinating meetings to discuss the project requirements, interaction design principles, and user needs; communicating with the group and individuals to ensure the timely delivery of content; collaborating on data collection and analysis; and managing the development of the prototype and final report.
