PORTFOLIO
Responsive Web
Design, Research, and Development
UX Research
LivingSocial's
Takeout & Delivery
UX Design
Design, Research, & Testing
The Kitchen Sink
  • George Mason Human Factors Website
Methods Used
  • Wireframing
  • Heuristic Evaluation
Tech Skills
  • HTML/CSS Coding
  • Responsive Design
  • Photoshop Mockup

Responsive Web Design

Challenge

The Human Factors Department at George Mason was looking for ways to accommodate the increasing number of mobile users visiting the site while also updating the visual design and addressing any potential usability issues.

Doing Work
  1. I determined that a responsive site design would be best for allowing users of all types and contexts to take full advantage of the site.
  2. A group of other Human Factors students and I conducted an Heuristic Evaluation of the existing site to identify the major usability problems.
  3. An issue that came up repeatedly was a confusing Information Architecture plagued by crosslisted items, redundant information, and unclear terminology. To fix this, I proposed an IA revamp, and created a new site map to guide the redesign.
  4. I then created a wireframe of the new mobile site (responsive means mobile first!), then expanded the layout to wider configurations with quick sketches.
  5. From here, I put together a hi-fidelity Photoshop mockup to establish the visual design.
  6. Using HTML, CSS, and some Javascript, I coded the home page into a fully functioning responsive site, a version of which is viewable here.
  • Takeout & Delivery
Methods Used
  • Prototyping
  • User Testing
  • Think Aloud Protocol
Tech Skills
  • Axure

User Experience Research

Challenge

Looking for ways to increase the user adoption of their food ordering service, LivingSocial's Takeout & Delivery team asked me to launch a research project examining the food ordering experience for first time users.

Doing Work
  1. I first set up an open-ended scenario and recruited first time users to participate. My aim was to keep the task as lifelike as possible (I'm all about context), so I set up the scenario so people would actually be ordering their lunch for the day.
  2. Due to schedule conflicts, the full lunch-ordering scenario was not possible for all participants. This led to two groups: one group who pretended to order lunch and received a voucher to be used at their disgression, and one who really ordered a meal.
  3. I conducted both in-person and remote tests, using think-aloud protocol and recording sessions with Silverback.
  4. Upon analysis of the videos, I came across a key insight: participants who were really ordering their lunch were behaving radically different than participants who were just simply going through the task.
  5. Although participants from both groups had very similar task completion times, participants who were actually ordering their lunch for the day were very erratic along the entire process. In fact, voucher-only participants averaged only 9.5 clicks from beginning to end, while lunch ordering participants averaged over 30!
Lessons Learned

First and foremost, the huge effect the true to life task had is a great insight into the power of context in user testing situations. Setting a user up in an arbitrary task is often just that: arbitrary.

Secondly, decisions are hard! Users of T&D have very few options when it comes to narrowing down results. This spurred a few other research projects looking into this issue, both of which helped to identify user mental models and some other interesting ideas still being explored.

  • ENERGY STAR Buildings & Plants
Methods Used
  • IA
  • UX Design
  • Usability Testing
  • Wireframing
  • Prototyping
  • Card Sorting
  • Inferential Statistics
  • Inventing Methods

Researching, Designing, and Testing for the Web

Challenge

ENERGY STAR's Buildings & Plants website was in need of an overhaul when an opportunity for a redesign came up.

Doing Work
  1. A thorough heuristic evaluation with three human factors experts, along with a few user think-alouds, revealed a site with a tone of information, but lacking in organization
  2. An open card sort was run to confirm these organization issues by testing whether or not users could make sense of the home page's vast array of links, features, and content.
  3. The results were just as suspected. This Similarity Matrix shows a complete lack of agreement among raters. In fact, the only reliable groupings were those with those cards with the words "Energy Star" in them - regardless of their actual function.
  4. These data called for an IA overhual. Cues from the card sorts, think-alouds, and user goals identified by Energy Star were taken into consideration. This resulted in a simple nav structure with the flexibility to handle all of Energy Star's diverse content:
    ASSESS - IMPROVE - SAVE - COMMUNITY
  5. Using Delphi Sketching, desired site features and characteristics were identified, and the new site's layout was born. These features and the new navigation structure were then incorporated into a wireframe.
  6. Additional subpages were designed and Axure prototypes were put together for both the redesign and the live site. It was time for usability testing!
  7. Results showed significant improvements for the redesign in all major dependent variables:
    -Time: participants finished 280 seconds faster(p<.001)
    -Errors: particpants averaged 10 fewer mistakes(p=.002)
    -Usability rating: participants ranked the redesign as more useable (p=.002)
    -Aesthetics: participants ranked the redesign as more pleasing (p<.001)

RESUME


Work

Brady Corporation - UX Designer/Analyst


Milwaukee, WI

  • UX Design and research for Brady's LabelMark mobile and desktop applications
  • Helping to develop the next generation of Brady's portable printers

LivingSocial - UX Intern


Washington, DC

  • Worked as main UX researcher for the Takeout & Delivery service
  • Designed and ran in person and remote usability tests
  • Developed hi-fidelity prototypes using Axure

MYHQ - Research Intern


Washington, DC

  • Helped build extensive literature review of gesture-based remote control research to be used in the design of a next-generation TV remote control



School


Master's Degree


George Mason University


Human Factors and Applied Cognition


December 2012

Bachelor's Degree


University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire


Double Major: Psychology, Advertising


May 2008


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ABOUT

My name is Peter Nash. I'm a cognitive psychologist and UX professional in Milwaukee, WI. I have a passion for UX, user centered design, and creating products that are efficient, safe, and enjoyable.

I love any sport that involves a frisbee, hockey skates, or the Packers, and I have a thing for cheese.

If you wanna chat, shoot me an email at ptr (dot) nash (at) gmail.