Our Very First Class.

Our first Principles of Usability class started with introductions. First we were introduced to the Syllabus. Don’t forget about the quiz every Thursday! Then some of us were reminded that we weren’t quite done paying for the semester we still had to purchase some books, a 1” three ring binder, post its, and some pens.

If you haven’t had a chance to get your books I found some quite cheap on Amazon…

After leaning about the class and each other we had to tell the WORLD! We created our first blog post. We had a little trouble with the blogging website, maybe it could have been a little more user friendly. And that brings me to our first discussion. Since the title of the class is Principles of Usability we talked a little about what the meaning of usability is. This brought up the user and how one may interact with designs. It should be easy for the user to navigate through a website or to follow directions. It is what creates good design. For example, I was wandering around Target between classes for a few grocery’s and it was not till I left that I noticed how easily I found everything. Maybe I didn’t notice because I was on the phone the whole time and trying to remember what coupons I had. So I guess that’s what its designed for, you can be careless and shop with ease.

We then chose a few items that we felt could be designed better- such as remote controls and gas pumps. The group that chose the gas pump said it was hard to handle, sometimes confusing, and could be made more convenient for the customer.

Adam

Thinker

Doer

I’m 31 (which is the new 21).  Hailing from St. Cloud, but now residing in the heart of suburbia Eagan, I am very glad to be a resident of the Twin Cities.  After gaining valuable years of life experience in areas such as saint, sinner, prophet, and roustabout- I taught myself to draw and decided that the world would be a terrible place without my graphic input.  This epiphany lead me to CVA, from which I hope to stake my claim in the world of graphic design.  I’m a libra who enjoys long walks on the beach, heart-felt conversations about drapery, and Sally Jesse Raphael.  Kidding- I’m actually a newborn snowboarder, like to exercise, tease people, and hang out with friends.

Welcome

Starting on January 18, 2011, the Principles of Usability class at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Each student will be taking turns recapping our class on the blog. The class will meet almost 30 times, and the class is about 10 – 12 students. So we’ll hear from each student 2 or 3 times. These posts will be graded, and should contain the following:

• Title

• Introduction and overview paragraph (What did we do?): Topics covered, Class activities, etc.

• Visual examples of the topics covered in class discussion. Be creative! (5 minimum)

• Conclusion: What the author truly learned, or was inspired by during today’s class, and explain how this will apply to their work as a designer

Other Requirements (only follow if you want a good grade):

• Use of subheads and attention to “scan-ability”, i.e. Keeping paragraphs at a desirable length, using helpful subheads

• Blog length of at least 500 words, but not more than 1,500

• Crediting visual examples if taken from another source, and linking to them

• Use of Categories and Tags that pertain to the subject matter

• Correct spelling and grammar — this will affect your grade

• Reference Smashing Magazine’s blog posts, and other well-known blogs. We will discuss what makes a good blog post, and who’s assigned to what blog.