01

PROBLEM
Our team discovered a friction point where users were confused with the word 'settings' in the middle of the screen. It was unclear if it was a clickable element or just a title area for HOME. 

SOLUTION & DESIGN DECISIONS
After usability testing and research, I iterated potential solutions for this usability problem. One constraint was that I needed to keep the original design standard and location of elements. 
 
I iterated more than five versions to uncover the best solution for the user and the project constraints. I used common UI conventions with affordances and signifiers making sure there was appropriate user feedback to stay on task: 

Example: SETTINGS + Carot Symbol (see below) 

02

As part of a Spec Project, I used UX research methods and UI heuristic evaluation to find similarities and differences between LA Times and their competitors.

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My aim was to uncover and identify strengths, weakness, and potential solutions/opportunities for improving the interface design system. 

Key Takeaways

During my initial evaluation stage I found it most helpful to created a detailed heuristic Excel schematic/chart. This helped me organize my research goals and distill my gathered information into manageable chunks. From the Excel document, I then make various UX maps and written summaries of my findings to uncover product design opportunities and usability strategies.

When uncovering these details, I found 'a large amount' of common themes, strengths and heuristic similarities among these companies, so I decided to redefine my goals and research criteria. Instead of targeting similarities, I primarily focused on specific heuristic categories to uncover the 'uncommon differences' in these observations and studies.