Theme: culture and the design process
In Class Activities
Activity 1: Ethnography on the Edge
Ethnography presentation based on the reading we were assigned in class.
Activity 2: Design culturally neutral icons
At Home Exercise: Health/Fitness App
Did you know about 40 years ago Finland was one of the unhealthiest countries in this world? Now it’s one of the fittest countries. Then again I’m finding this information from an article written in 2005. Overall, Finland encourages physical activity. There’s even a national plan for people in Finland to get active and not sit too much! For this at-home exercise to adapt an app to another country, I chose the Nike Training Club app. The main reason I chose this app is because I have used it and am familiar with it.
Before I continued to make recommendations, I did a Google search on fitness in Finland and Finnish design. Doing this research allows me to understand Finnish people’s attitude towards exercise and fitness as well as to understand Finnish design. When it comes to fitness, I was surprised to read that Finnish people are pretty active. The government even has recommendations for the amount of exercise children should receive. According to one article, Finland tends to rank at the top of the most active European countries. My surprise mostly stems from the fact that I do not know much about Finland; I guess my reaction can be considered a bias. Did I have assumptions prior to my Google search? I honestly can’t remember. Back to the subject on Finland and physical activity, Finland is pretty active. Because of the government’s recommendation for physical activity, there are sporting gyms in every town and city in Finland (~30,000!). Because Finland has long winters, utilizing an app that has indoor workouts can be beneficial during that time. By the mini research on exercise in Finland, I assume that Finnish people appreciate fitness.
Albeit the design articles were towards interior design, I feel strongly that the concepts gone into color choices in interior design are reflected in Finnish sites, fashion, etc. One of the design articles mentioned that Finnish people have a strong relationship with nature, and this relationship heavily influences their style. From bold prints to colors, they are influenced by the sea, forests, islands, and so on. Finnish people are also modern. The Nike app itself already has a modern look, so there are just small changes I would recommend. My recommendations to the Nike Training Club app can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1L7dN2tpW3s0hvlPF7-HgiEEpp5kjnd32NOn2vCh39a0/edit?usp=sharing
The recommendations are based on the Horton and Aykin readings. My main obstacle was colors. I couldn’t find too many things regarding colors in Finland. Instead I used interior design and fashion styles of Finland to influence my color decisions. I also do not speak Finnish, so I used Google translate to compare character length for design recommendations.
Websites I used for information:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37306818
https://www.theguardian.com/befit/story/0,15652,1385645,00.html
https://finland.fi/life-society/exercise-benefits-everyone-in-finland/
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/288107/FINLAND-Physical-Activity-Factsheet.pdf?ua=1
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/07/28/426748088/how-finns-make-sports-part-of-everyday-life
https://www.vogue.com/article/finnish-interior-design-helsinki
https://finland.fi/arts-culture/welcome-to-finland-the-design-nation/
https://www.colormatters.com/color-travels/finland
Quotes
Sketch, Scroll, or Swipe by Next Billion Users
“Considering the three factors mentioned at the start—location, bandwidth, and community—can also help you determine which prototype method works best for your testing situation.”
It’s easy to overlook these factors when you’re not familiar with the area, and when not considered, data collected from the prototype text can be skewed. This is something I’ll make sure to consider if I ever get the opportunity to research in the field.
Nithya Sambasivan, Connectivity, Culture, and Credit
“At Google, we’ve taken the insights from our field research and developed a framework for designing technology aimed at emerging markets.”
I wish I could use the whole article as a quote, but I chose this to reference that there is a framework I can utilize when I want to do studies in emerging markets.
Global UX, ch. 8
“The ultimate goal is to make a connection between the research and how it can be used to move a project forward. That conversation starts with the informal debriefings and is continued through the work of analyzing and sharing the results.”
When I conducted an in-person study over the summer, I debriefed with my manager after each session to see what stood out to the both of us. My manager was the note-taker in a separate room. Our debriefings helped me start organizing my notes for when I would go back and watch the sessions.
Attacking the Phishing Epidemic
“The ultimate goal is to condition the user to a standardized interface that can both authenticate the validity of the resource as well as authenticate itself to the user before the user is willing to accept its legitimacy and input a password.”
I found the word condition in this quote to be really interesting because it makes me think of psychology. You want to get your users to get used to an interface, so when a phishing attack is trying to happen users can know what’s authentic and what’s not. Trust is important!
Taplytics, How Fintech Apps Use UX to Build Trust
“Apps should be designed with safety features and explanations that make users feel confident about entrusting the app with their money and personal info.”
I have done some tests on features of an app where users expressed that they wouldn’t want to share information if they didn’t understand why it was needed or how it would be used.
Exploration
Storytelling as a way to tell a team in your company your insights creative, and something I haven’t considered doing. I delved into it and found a Nielsen Norman article: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-stories/
Telling a story to communicate to the team to gain empathy for the users and for the team/stakeholders to get a better understanding of the users and why recommendations are being made to better fit their needs.
Thoughts
I enjoyed reading Jarrett Bato’s “Amazon Payments in Poland and Turkey.” It was nice to read about global research and design in practice. It put meaning to the topics we have learned so far about international user experience.
To me collaboration was the main theme in chapter 8 of Global UX. I say this because it’s about debriefing with others about the information, brainstorming what the findings are, and telling a story to gain empathy and buy-in from stakeholders. I found a graphic online that I thought represented this week’s readings.
Professional Inspiration
I want to utilize storytelling as a way to garner empathy from stakeholders and get buy-in to projects that could make a difference in emerging countries.
Hannah's Process Book 
