Understanding the User

I spend a lot of time on the internet. But until recently, I never really noticed the internet. I took websites for granted, and didn't realize how much time and effort goes into the creation of something people may spend only a few seconds looking at. Websites were just websites, and as long as they worked and gave me what I wanted, that was the end of it. 

After participating in the User Experience Research, I realized that every detail of a website is thoroughly researched, planned and implemented. News organizations don't just slap up old stories, they think about which to publish, where to put them, what they'll link to, and how users can find them.  An important part of this process is getting input from users so the website will fit their needs and preferences in the best way possible.

Card Sorting

The card sorting was an interesting activity. I thought it would be easy and straightforward, but it quickly became clear that categorizing topics is difficult. Photos seemed to belong in every category, and specific interests such as books and fashion were hard to group together in a way that made sense. This activity most revealed the challenges in creating a website, as designers have limited space yet they want to include as much as possible to appeal to the greatest number of users. 

Surveys

Filling out the surveys was hard for me, especially when it came to prioritizing topics. Often on a website, I click on what appeals to my interest-sometimes it's world news, other days it's a weird human interest story. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices given on the surveys, and I don't really see how one website could effectively appeal to people with interests that can be so diverse. But I guess that's the job of the researcher and the web designer-not a simpleton like me. 

Observing Classmates

One of the most significant things I noticed while observing classmates is how quickly people click away from a page.  Even on CNN.com, where there are plenty of stories to read and pictures to look at, people do not spend much time actually reading an entire story. I think a large part of user research is meant to find ways to keep people on a site, so by observing the typical habits of users, it shows what they are likely to stay on, and what they click away from. 

What now?

With so many people using the internet, it seems impossible to design a website that appeals to everyone. Not only do people have extremely different interests, they also have different habits. I know people who spend hours on one website, thoroughly reading stories and exploring what it has to offer. And I know people who skim through every story and are done with the internet in less than 10 minutes. In the end, it is the content of a website that must appeal to the user to keep them coming back. But if that content is organized better than a website with similar content, the choice between the two sites becomes clear. I don't think I could ever be a user experience researcher, but I now recognize the role it plays in defining what makes one website better than another.