In semester two, I will have to write 3 essays. First one is a 2000 word comparison essay on topic ‘Analyse, compare and contrast two examples of graphic/design interface or two examples of user experience online from the 20th and 21st century‘.
My first idea was to compare design and user experience of old (one of the first) websites ever created and new ones. The reason why I thought it would be a good idea was that design of one of the first websites was very simple, consisted only from text and maybe a few pictures, that was it so they couldn’t give users a lot of user experiences apart from information that they were looking for. However, technology and everything developed so much since then that websites these days not only give completely different user experience to users but also information that they can get. I thought it would be interesting topic to research but when I had a conversation about my task with my sister, she gave me a better idea what to write about.
I am going to write about Amazon and Facebook. These two websites are great for this topic as there is sooo much to research and write about.
How I intend to do it
I will do a deep research about Amazon and then Facebook for example who, when, how, why they were created (basic information). I will write about user experience on Amazon and what it gives to users for example shopping online while you’re sitting at home watching tv, ability to find anything you want to buy without having to go around shops (sometimes when you go to the store and they don’t have what you want, they advise you to look online), easy and accessible website. I will use information from lecture in semester 1, where we watched a video about ‘virtual revolution’ and one of the topics was Amazon. Everything that you type into search box is remembered so they can offer you similar things you might be interested in or similar things that people who bought the thing that you want to but were looking at; basically it influence you and your decisions. There are many more things to write about.
Then I will write about user experience on Facebook for example it allows you to contact people on other side of the world that you would not be able to know without Facebook, keep in touch with friends and family, free and easy access to fun but also I will talk about ‘dark sides’ of it like loosing privacy and ‘paying the price for free using of Facebook’ (this will link to my research in semester 1 about social networks and also to Jane McGonigail’s talk on TED – social networks might give people feeling that they belong somewhere. Also Sherry Turkle’s book called ‘Alone Together (Why people expect more from technology and less from each other)’). It will be relevant to Amazon as well.
Later on, I will move on to design part of these two sites and compare them.
I must say that I’m looking forward to write this essay as it is going to be very interesting to read and write about.