Design Critiques

What makes some designs good and others bad? Why do some designs work while others don’t? Posts in this category offer thoughtful design critiques of modern digital interfaces, with commentary inspired by Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things.”

Design Critique: Zara’s Desktop Website (2023)

Ask any well dressed person walking the Manhattan streets- they probably got part their ensemble from Zara. Zara is a e-commerce website that sells clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products and perfumes. This article attempts to critique the websites design decision using Don Norman’s book- “The Design of Everyday Things” and the 10 Usability Heuristics coined […]

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Assistive Technology: The Echo Dot (5th Gen)

Smart speakers are devices that act as a loudspeaker and voice-user interface with an integrated virtual assistant. The Echo Dot is a smart speaker with Alexa, the virtual assistant technology in Echo Dot that allows interaction through voice commands. Through Alexa, users can perform various tasks by talking to their smart speakers like searching for information, creating to-do lists, and shopping on Amazon.com, among others. This post aims to evaluate how users with disabilities may interact with some features of the Echo Dot.

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Assistive Technology: 3-D Printing Prosthetics

Assistive technology is a term that describes tools used by people with disabilities to accomplish tasks. For this blog entry, the assistive technology I chose to discuss is 3-D printing prosthetics design. I was introduced to this technology through PBS’s program Move to Include. (Link to 3-D prosthetics segment) Move to Include is a PBS-produced

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SpeechEasy devices for altering auditory feedback

Assistive Technology: SpeechEasy & Electronic Fluency Devices

For people who stutter, Electronic Fluency Devices may be used to enhance fluency in speech production. These devices alter the feedback users receive when speaking to create a “choral effect, or the perception that one is speaking in unison with others,” according to the Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center. “Choral speaking has long been a method used in therapy to increase fluency or decrease stuttering.” Devices like SpeechEasy, though costly, may help people who stutter with speech fluency if desired.

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Assistive Technology: Read&Write

Read&Write is a literacy software produced by the company Texthelp that allows users to embed tools such as screen masking, speech/text conversion, and page simplification to existing webpages and programs. By providing these tools, Read&Write can help make education more accessible to students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.  What are learning disabilities? 

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