#designkit

We got looking at some of the design kits out here on the internet both IDEO and Frog’s toolkit where discussed. But I wanted to have a look for myself and explore them more to see what I could find. I had a look at both but I really like IDEO’s version (sorry Frog’s toolkit). I took a look out this video:  WHAT IS HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN?. Which if you are unfamiliar with breaks it down in a very clear and visual way.

Project: UN Women Gender Data Portal

Description: A card sorting exercise is a simple way to bring out ideas on what’s most important to people you’re designing for. An open card sorting exercise helps place unorganized cards into labeled categories - which often helps with the information architecture of the website. Card sorting can also be done virtually in case your users are remotely located. If your organization has very little to no UX budget, do not fret! Trello is an easy and free tool to use. Just create a board and invite the user to participate in the activity. Make sure to give clear instructions on what this exercise aims to do and what their tasks are.

Read more on the Card Sort methodology on Ideo.org’s Design Kit. 

Determining what to prototype is part of the ideation phase of design. Written shortly, it is the process a team can go through that will help to further progress design implementation and practice by the use of one or more prototypes in a way that allows for critique and new inspiration. In some ways, this can be thought of in the way that we think of “focus groups” or “trial groups” in that a small group or individual will get to try out a basic prototype that will determine the future development.

Benefits:

Allows for more thorough feedback

Good for quick analysis and improvement

 Downsides:

Can use lots of materials

Making prototypes can take awhile

Prototypes are often built “scrappy” and may not last long

 One of the most important things I believe should be followed, is that the prototypes are just that, they aren’t really meant to make it to another stage of the design process. The main goal of determining prototypes is to find what is to find important details that may have been overlooked in the concepts or schematics. Determining what to prototype can bring to light these issues and anything else that is deemed important. A more refined prototype can be developed later, and this can be a very worthwhile precursor.