I really hadn’t heard the term UI or UX until coming to Sac State to continue my study of graphic design. In an intro to web design course at community college, and for that matter in most previous of my previous design courses, the idea of “the user” was always to be kept in mind when designing anything. It goes hand-in-hand with any of the early variables in designing anything such as the format, function, audience, purpose, etc. To design anything without keeping the user in mind would be a costly mistake.
I first became familiar with the terms UI and UX in GPHD 5 at CSUS and it was introduced as concerning visual as well as sound and haptics. It had previously been referred to as “new media” and thats what I had known it as before then. There is overlap between the two, but my understanding now is that UI deals with physical reaction (how you- a human, physically interact with the digital interface) and includes screens, mice, touchscreen, keyboards, joysticks, etc, whereas UX is more complex and deals with the utility, ease of use and efficiency, and as the name implies is more concerned with the experience of that interaction. In short UI is the interface, how you interact with something (a website or app for example) and UX is what you take away from that interaction – the overall experience.
what is the experience? who is the audience?
The app I chose to talk about is called Road Bike by Runtastic. As the name implies, this company is previously involved with creating running apps (which they may be better at). It is an app I use to track my bike rides, to get stats and maps of my rides for my own enjoyment and information. The audience is other people like myself active and interested in biking. This would likely be a competitor to popular apps like Strava. I originally wanted to get Strava but my iphone is too old to support it, so that leaves me with Road Bike.
what about this example is provacative/interesting?
I’m really into maps. I can get lost in Google Maps for what seems like hours, following rivers, scouting peaks, looking up trails to hike and bike, etc. I always say if I could only have one app on my phone it would be Google Maps because of all it does. That said, I wanted something that I could not only look at and interact with maps but could track my routes and progress on. One of the joys of speeding down a bike trail is wondering to yourself “How fast am I going right now?” This app is great because it not only shows you on a map overlay the extent of your ride and its milage, but allows you to view things like top speed, average speed and keeps track of all this so you can see first-hand how you are progressing. It makes you want to ride more and beat your last time/distance.
in what ways is this example successful?
This app is successful in its ease of use. It is pretty simple. You open the app, hit start and choose the kind of biking you are going to be embarking upon (There is an option for race which I have yet to try). Then the timer starts and it begins tracking your milage and mapping your ride. I like that I can see my history of past rides and how I am progressing. Similar to a running app that I use, by virtue of itself, it makes you want to go out and do that activity. It motivates you to just do it. I also like that it gives me a rough estimate of calories burned.
how might you make it even better?
There is an option in the app to upgrade to PRO which may offer some of the features I am about to describe which I wish it had, but I am cheap. The app is great for what I use it for, although I do wish it had a more accurate reading for elevation change and a more accurate real-time speedometer. Right now the speedometer not very linear when viewing it while riding and seems to increase in mph by big chunks. But I suppose an actual bike computer would be better suited for real-time tracking on a screen, and most of the time I just turn on the app, put my phone in my jersey pocket and just focus on the ride, reviewing my states after the fact. I also wish that it had options and categories like “overall top speed” and “best average pace” or take both of these into consideration for “fastest overall ride”. But for what I paid for it ($0) I would say I’m pretty satisfied.
akeithblog 