UX Consultancy Report & Evaluation plan

The principle of simplicity ensures that user interactions are clear and intuitive. Complex processes or needless steps should not be imposed on users. This idea is especially important when designing for children, as their cognitive capacities are still growing. Complex interfaces increases cognitive load and can cause irritation and disengagement. The use of clear, large buttons with recognisable iconography is an excellent example of simplicity, ensuring that children are able to quickly navigate and understand what they are doing (Keay-Bright, 2012). 

Attention is the cognitive process through which people focus their attention on certain tasks or information (Lavie, 2010). It’s critical to recognise that whilst pursuing a goal, individuals typically tend towards the route of least resistance, making it difficult to catch and maintain attention. Because children have significantly lower attention spans than adults, this difficulty becomes much more evident when creating designs for them. 

There are various methods which can help children’s HCI design focus. Children are more likely to interact with vivid graphics, therefore using bold hues is a good approach. According to studies, hues such as yellow, red, and orange have a strong affect on attention. Additionally, design contrast has been demonstrated to help specific populations, such as autistic and dyslexic kids, dramatically improve their reading speed. Enhancing interactivity is another way to catch and keep a child’s interest. Including interactive characters in applications has shown to be effective in keeping young students interested. 

Memory is the psychological process of acquiring, encoding, storing, and retrieving information (Savarimuthu, 2023). It is critical for children’s capacity to learn, remember, and apply new information in a variety of contexts. Recognising the capacity and constraints of children’s working memory, which stores a limited amount of information at a time in comparison to adults, is critical in HCI design. 

An example of reducing the cognitive burden on a child’s working memory is through use of the ’chunking’ method, which divides relevant material into smaller, more digestible chunks, helping users to overcome fundamental memory restrictions and improve learning and retention. To help children learn, store, and apply their information more successfully, use plain language, clear visual aids, repetition, and opportunities for practice. 

The system should keep users up to date on its present condition and activities on a regular basis. This concept highlights the significance of clear communication between the system and the user. Users feel reassured that their activities have been recognised and processed when they receive fast and adequate feedback. Such feedback techniques, whether through loading indications, progress bars, or simple messages, decrease user uncertainty. Ensuring that consumers are never in the dark strengthens their trust in the system and give rise to a smoother, more intuitive user experience. 

The system should reflect users’ actual experiences and expectations. The use of intuitive terminology, symbols, and structures is emphasised in this idea. Users can browse more intuitively by using established patterns such as a trash bin symbol for ”delete” or a chronological sequence for events. The learning curve is reduced when the system is aligned with real-world logic, making the interface feel more approachable and user-friendly. 

This principle emphasises the need of enabling autonomy within system users. Users should be able to move freely and make decisions without feeling imprisoned or constrained by their interactions. Since mistakes are unavoidable, having the ability to easily reverse or redo actions is critical. These safety nets guarantee users can explore and utilise the system confidently, whether it’s going back from an unwanted page, correcting an input, or reversing a choice. The design respects the user’s autonomy and recognises the various pathways they may choose by providing such freedom, resulting in a more constructive and efficient user experience. 

The necessity of system-wide uniformity is emphasised by this principle. By employing consistent language, images, and actions, items’ functionality can be predicted by users, which decreases confusion. Users are saved from having to adjust to new meanings or relearn interactions by adhering to previous established standards. User confidence is increased by an authentic interface, which also makes interactions simpler and raises overall satisfaction levels. 

This principle emphasises proactive design techniques to reduce user errors. Rather than just fixing mistakes when they occur, the emphasis is on designing an interface that naturally directs users to the correct actions. The system can avoid common errors by providing explicit instructions or providing confirmation prompts before important tasks. Such precautions not only improve the user experience by decreasing annoyance, but they also saves time by avoiding the need for maintenance. 

This concept highlights the need of making interface components visible and understandable. Rather of expecting users to recall information from earlier interactions, the design should provide them with recognisable cues and suggestions. Users may rapidly recognise and select the right answer based on visual recognition by clearly showing alternatives, objects, and actions. This method alleviates the cognitive stress of recalling precise facts, resulting in speedier and more efficient interactions. A well-designed interface, in essence, should assist users by providing familiar visual cues, ensuring that they can explore and make decisions with ease and confidence. 

This concept emphasises the need of designing for a varied user group. While rookie users may require assistance and step-by-step instructions, experienced users frequently want shortcuts or additional capabilities to help them do their activities faster. A successful design will provide a fundamental experience for new users while also giving opportunities for personalization or efficiency-enhancing tools for more experienced users. The system may accommodate to varied competency levels by including features such as adjustable settings, shortcut keys, or advanced modes, ensuring that all users can interact with the platform in a way that is both comfortable and efficient for their requirements.

This concept promotes the notion that user experience may be improved via design simplicity. Users may become distracted and perplexed by an interface that is crowded with irrelevant information, which makes it more difficult for them to concentrate on important activities. Adopting a minimalist style can help designers make sure that just the most important information is displayed, which will make it simpler for people to understand and engage with. Additionally, a simple and attractive design not only simplifies user interactions but also produces a stimulating visual experience for users. 

The significance of user-friendly error handling is emphasised by this principle. The system should offer consumers clear and comprehensible feedback when they run into problems. The system should convey faults in plain language that is straightforward for the user to understand rather than using specialised jargon or misleading warnings. Beyond merely pointing out the issue, the design must to direct users towards a resolution and provide concrete methods for resolving it. By doing this, users may easily correct their errors and continue on with their tasks with little interruption. 

While systems should be self-explanatory, there are situations when users require further assistance. Any documentation offered should be user-friendly and easily accessible. It should be written in simple language, with a focus on task-oriented material that tackles frequent questions and problems. Offering step-by-step answers or tutorials can further aid users by ensuring they can swiftly address difficulties or grasp features, hence improving their entire system experience. 

Observation will provide qualitative insights regarding user behaviours, engagement, and areas of trouble. A topical examination will discover common patterns and trends, with flow diagrams serving as visual representations and noteworthy observations highlighted using video clips or annotated screenshots or heuristic markup. 

Statistics will be used to assess quantitative data on user satisfaction and qualitative input on preferences, with the results displayed in the form of bar charts, pie charts and graphs. 

Line graphs can be used to visualise trends as well as case studies to capture qualitative insights in the statistical analysis of the quantitative data of long-term changes and qualitative insights into the user experience, through prolonged use. 

Descriptive statistics will be used to summarise quantitative data on mistake rates and job completion durations, with bar charts comparing performance and annotated screenshots illustrating specific usability difficulties encountered by the users.