Mike Harmala

User Experience Design Portfolio

Kids Create

Research, Create and Design a Solution to a New Social Product

Dates. 11/2009—12/2009
Course. Information Architecture
Collaborators. Me + 2 talented peers
Summary. Our final project for this course required us to design a system for a new proposed concept called “Kids Mall USA”. This would be a retail space where kids could “sell” their artistic creations in some way. We needed to create a solution around the system that would allow scheduling, sale, navigation, and organization of content to make this possible. Through this process we:

• Discussed project scope and goals, and wrote an interview script in order to learn about potential users’ desires and needs. We then approached and interviewed several parents and their children at the local mall.
• Incorporated findings into the discovery of a system solution and constructed wireframe mockups of the main KidsCreate interface architecture.
• Submitted a report and presented the final project to three experienced professionals in the field.

Responsibilities. I helped prepare the interview script and administered a number of the interviews at the mall. I also designed wireframes for the interface, designed the report and presentation, and helped present to the class and other audience members.

Result. We received positive feedback from others, and one judge commented that the interfaces were well developed and thought out. It was a great learning experience involving a tight deadline and rapid design process. The project problem was unique and required us to develop a strong case for its feasibility.

Images.