Category Archives: Uncategorized
Voice UX
What is Voice UX
it’s where your able to use your voice to do things instead of touching a screen. Voice User Interfaces are found in almost all of our devices, tv, phones, and smart home devices.
some the products out there today that use this type of interface would be, Alexa, Google home, Apple Home Pod, and more. Adding this type of interface would be beneficial to your users, since it adds a better usability and accessibility. By adding this technology it can be very beneficial for your users since it helps tremendously with providing a more accessible way to use the product. So anyone with a disability can instead use their voice to do things as they would if they used their hands.
Designing for Voice interfaces are very different from graphical ones sinces its not designed in the same way. When designing for voice interfaces you need to keep all the verbal content clean, clear and short. Too much information can overwhelm the user. Your essential goal as a voice designer is to design the interfaces as if they were using the product with their hand. You want the interface to be as seamless as possible.
User Experience Research
User Experience Research is incredibly important to creating great User Experiences. As stated by interaction design foundation, “research is the systematic study of target users and their requirements, to add realistic contexts and insights to design processes”. The research can reveal detailed information which will help create a better product.
When conducting this research there’s a lot information out there to gather so just try and organize your findings so it’s easier to read and show the team. This will help you create better solutions to the issues. You will be able to learn what many people have issues with and possible ways to overcome these issues. If you were creating an app, you would need to do research on the topic of the app and figure out who your target audience would be. Once this is done your research should explicitly show how this app will help the user and what the outcome will be. Some types of reasearch that can be done to create better User experiences are:
Observing which is where you just observe what the user does and from there you can see any setback or issues they come across.
Attitudinal which is where you simply listen to all the issues or anything that the user has to say about the experience.
Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com 
Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com
doing both can also be done and I personally recommend doing both since you can obtain a very clear view of the user and how their experience is. So understanding what it is the user wants is the first part. Next figuring out how the user feels towards the experiences. Next test the experiences by doing usability testing and making sure your designs are clear, and accessible to anyone. After the testing observe and put down any more issues or concerns that the user has with the product. Do some pros and cons of what the user likes what they don’t like. After understanding your user to the best you can, you can implements the designs and create wonderful user experiences.
UX Usability
What is Usability?
Usability is measured by how well and efficiently someone can interact with your product. For a user to be able to use a product efficiently, efficiently, and easily is fantastic. The goal is for the user to be able to achieve whatever it is that they are wanting. There quality components that go into usability such as, Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Errors & Satisfaction.
- Learnability: How easy it is for someone to achieve their goal with your product.
- Efficiency: After they have learned what it is they need to do, how fast can they accomplish their task?
- Memorability: If the person leaves and then comes back how easy is it for them to remember how to accomplish their goal?
- Errors: How many and how big are those errors when they are accomplishing their task?
- Satisfaction: how amazing was it for the person to use this product. As in how well were the design when they wanted to accomplish whatever it is they wanted to accomplish.
Usability can be very detrimental to a product. For example, if a website’s usability is difficult the likely of that person coming back is very low to none. In order to create amazing usability on a website, the website itself needs to be easy to navigate. The site also needs to make sure the words on the page are easy to see and not too small. The designs also need to be not too distracting. In order to achieve good usability is feedback from the user. If we can observe what the user is doing when they use the site. What the Strengths are and weaknesses we can obtain enough information to create a user-friendly product! By uncovering the issues, learning the opportunities to improve, and learn about the users we can create a incredible user experience.
UX: Accessibility
Ever had a difficult time using a site for some odd reason? Did you get it figured out by getting on support? If you did that’s great! Now, what if you weren’t so able to call for support because you weren’t able to use the site the way you wanted to. For some people, it’s not so easy for them to do the same things we do every day. When we’re looking up information we just click a few buttons and find the answer. For some, it’s not as easy as clicking a few buttons to get to our destination. So instead we need to accommodate those peoples to better help them get to their destination.
A great way can do that is by making it easier to use websites and applications. Not just being able to access the information but the ability to aid someone into getting there. So what we need to do as designers, coders, and any content creator is to enable users of different abilities to be able to use our site the same way someone without those disabilities would too. So when making our website, one great thing to keep in mind not everyone might be able to see simple text. So we need to add a speech reader. so people who may not be able to read so well or see can have the speech read to them. Another addition would be, adding high contrast which makes the site’s colors easier to see for people with eyesight problems. If you go to Dunkin Donuts you can see they have a button for this. Another great option to add in is buttons. this seems like a common thing but some sites and apps don’t really use much since everyone grew up phones and knows a touch screen works. This isn’t the case for older people. They may have a problem navigating somewhere so better to put clear and easy to buttons on places they would be useful. For example a list of items that they use a button/scrollbar to move up and down on the page. Another great example would be, voice commands. Kinda like Siri, So if someone who can’t physically move their hand or such, can talk and tell where the cursor should click or go. There are numerous ways of helping aid people who are not so able to do the things we find normal. It’s best to accomplish those tasks to help people out and make their lives a bit user friendly in a different way.
If you want to try the speech reader, all you have to do is highlight text, left click and go to speech to have this article read to you.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
A Film Review
The movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood portrays what it was like in Hollywood in 1969. The Lead actors and actress is, Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt as Rick Dalton’s stunt double, and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate. The movie shows how Hollywood movies were made and what it was like for everyone the Golden Age. this movie also shows the dark tragedy that took place in Hollywood at that time. this movie takes place during the Manson Murder and shows how it happened. I think people who appreciate the art of film and the cinematography will surely enjoy this new Quentin Tarantino movie.
Let’s talk….
Before beginning, I want to say how I will approach this review. I will talk about the movie and what goes on throughout. I also want to talk about the perspective of what it was like in 1969 and the tragedy that took place during this time. So, with that being said let’s begin the review!
The story
With Rick Dalton struggling to find more roles in Hollywood Cliff Booth his stunt double goes wherever Rick tells him to go. Whatever Rick is doing Dalton is not far behind. They drive together, eat together, and have a drink together in Rick Dalton’s mansion. Rick soon discovers his career is going down and doesn’t know if he will be able to keep Cliff as his stunt double. Soon a producer sees Ricks films and provides him with a role in a movie. As for Cliff, Ricks’s movie set has a few people who don’t appreciate Cliff since has killed his wife years ago. So, Cliff is not welcomed which means he is not working as much and just attending to Rick Dalton’s needs. Sharon Tate whom we see only a small amount of times has one main scene that is easily laughable. In one of her scenes she is seen walking to a theater and realizing she plays in one of the movies being shown, she then asks if she can go watch it. Which then turns into a back and forth conversation between Tate and the cashier. Eventually, the doorman lets her in and while watching the movie she props her very interesting feet onto the seat in front of her. I do not know what Quentin Tarantino has with women’s feet but it’s very unnoticeable throughout the film.
Hollywood in 1969
Mr. Tarantino basically relives his childhood through this movie. He captured all every detail of Hollywood back in 1969. He made the theatres, cars, and the whole environment exactly how it was back in 1969. He creates the most amazing scenes throughout the whole movie. The angles and perspectives, Mr. Tarantino captures are stunning. If you are someone who really enjoys cinematography, you will definitely enjoy this. Aside from that, Leonardo DiCaprio’s acting still amazes me today. His acting is phenomenal and so energetic. He brings so much life into his character with the way he talks and walks. He really goes beyond the standards of acting.
Throughout the whole film, Rick and Cliff are two people who are basically like brothers. They do about everything together and just that Cliff really looks out for Rick. Near the end of the movie in the ending which was covered by heroism was a dark tragedy that is said to be the end of the 1969 golden age. With that being said, there was a man named Charles Manson. He was a cult leader and along with him were Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel. They were ordered by Manson to kill Sharon Tate. This was a true event but, in the movie, it turns the event into a happy manner. I cannot go into detail with this being such a graphic case.
The Manson Murders
Basically, what went down was Charles who ordered the attack was mad at the people who lived in Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate’s house before. They refused to make an album with Charles and Charles was also obsessed with the Beatles. Particularly the “Helter Skelter” song which spoke to him to carry out the task. So Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel drove to the Polanski residents and carried out the attack. Fun fact, the dialog at the end of the movie was the same exact dialog used by the Manson Family when they carried out the attack. While carrying out those extremely graphic attacks they wrote on the wall in the blood of the victim’s “pigs” and “Helter Skelter” to send a message. This was their last attack before being detained by police and now serving life sentences since the death penalty was ruled out in 1969. Still today there are a few Masons families serving those sentences and trying to obtain parole.
The Love Letter
Mr. Tarantino really amazes the audience and the whole world by altering the past. He shows a happy ending in 1969. Quentin Tarantino makes this movie his second to the last film he will make. With the ending he wanted it to be a happy one so there’s now a proper goodbye to Hollywood from 1969. This movie was said to be his love letter to Hollywood.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9V4ZGrvkzw&w=560&h=315]Here is how Once upon a Time started to come together. How Quentin Tarantino turned Hollywood back into Hollywood 1969
Live blog
1994 Winter Olympics – Tonya Harding Ice Skating
1994 Winter Olympics was held in lillehammer, Norway. I will be live blogging the ice skating part of professional figure skater Tonya Harding. She is an american figure skater and is the first women to land a triple axel. I am watching Tonya Harding Figure Skate. Here is the video I watched, It’s history of the 1994 olympics, I had to find another video detailing tonya harding performance which you can see here
9:32 pm Tonya gets interviewed and tells why her lace broke and why she didn’t land the triple axel this time. I think she performed extremely well for what she has gone through for her career as a figure skater.
9:30 pm Tonya gets her results and I personally think she did an amazing job
9:29 pm Tonya finishes her performance, goes back to her bench and awaits results.
9:28 pm she lands a triple Salchow (Here is a tutorial on the jump)
9:27 pm she lands a triple Loop (heres a video showing triple & double loop jumps)
9:26 pm she lands a triple flip jump.
9:24 she lands her first jump which was the triple lutz
9:22 pm Tonya Harding starts her performance
9:20 pm Tonya Harding comes back to perform having fixed her lace from earlier
8:51 pm the judges allowed her to perform after the next figure skater to fix her laces.
8:47 pm Tonya tells the judges her lace for her skate had broken while she is crying.
8:45 pm She did her first time and she did not do what she was intending on. she skates for a bit and then starts to cry, and makes her way to the judges table.
8:42 pm Tonya is starting her performance to the her song.
8:40 pm Tonya’s coach was telling her what she has to do for her performance
at 8:37 pm the Figure Skating part was starting and the next performer was, Tonya who was struggling to get outside and when did she was still tying her shoes.
at 8:00 pm There were flags and singing during the introduction of the Winter Olympics
Style Guides
When looking at different style guides they are usually for maintaining a companies branding and content. This way when producing anything such as the content on your applications everything stays consistent. You want to make sure your content is like the competitors. Your content should be better and recognizable by anyone and accessible by anyone. When creating style guides you follow a set of rules and just making sure the material you produce follows those rules.
For example, when Apple shows off their phones it’s usually shown in a keynote and each piece of content is on a clean surface or background. They show their phones off with a great close up details and popping colors with big bold texts. Also, everything is minimalistic. Apple goes with usual whites, blacks, and greys as their color schemes. As for Google, they also have phones and their color schemes are their whole brand. It’s the Blue, Red, Yellow and green colors that make google recognizable by billions of people. This is how they show people their products. Through those particular images and colors. On the other side Apples, style guides are like this, they use some gradients to make their product pop out to us. The way they use big bold text on their website you will quickly know that this is an apple product. So style guides are basic guidelines to help keep your information and products consistent and different from others
Places to Travel
Here are a few places I’ve travelled to and highly recommend going.
First off San Francisco, which is an amazing place to go to. It’s located in California. There’s numerous activities to do. The city is amazing to walk through, there’s a lot of tech companies there, and There are some amazing beaches to visit. We went to Bakers Beach. From there you can see the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge. sometimes there is goat yoga on the beach, I haven’t personally gone but i heard it was amazing. There are so many things to see in San Francisco such as the golden gate bridge, which you can bike or walk through. There are facts about the bridge right at the entrance. Also another place to go see are the Painted Ladies. If your a Full house fan like me you will find this place very interesting! You can sit on the lawn have a glass of wine and just chill. Its very relaxing. Another great place to see is the Alcatraz Island. It was a prison to many military people from 1934 to 1963. we were never able to get tickets because they sell out very quickly. You need to book almost a year in advance. Finally my most favorite part were the Wineries. These wineries will let you try their grapes that they use for their wines. Viansa Sonoma Winery & Tasting Room is a great place to start your tour. They have a wonderful grape garden and outside seating. They even have a hall where you can plan special events.
The Queens home! The city of London has so much to offer. There are tons of amazing views and places to go see. for starters Piccadilly Circus, here you can see all the really cool building london has kept for the past years. You can go to outlets or grab food and their food is spectacular. The best thing to have in london is the Kebabs and Fish n chips. If you like tea just as much as I do you will appreciate this place. It’s called Fortnum & Masons, Elizabeth II has shopped here and many queens before here have also. There are literally tons of teas to choose from and each with very distinct flavor. They also have tons of honey to choose from. Fortnum & Masons also have customizable hampers, Coffee, teas, and even alcohol. London can be a very fun place to travel to for the sightseeing and activities.
This next place will take your breath away, Santorini Greece. The sights of Greece are unbelievably remarkable. There are so many things to see and do here. For starters the sights, which there are no bad angles of greece! Everywhere you look you will be amazed of how beautiful the island really is. When we went we stayed in a hotel which was on a cliff and overlooked other islands. You will see some photos that shows how some people’s views would be from their hotels. From our Hotel we were 9 miles away from the center of Santorini. So we hiked along the cliffs and walked through beautiful paths.
Furthermore, we have Kalambaka Greece. It is a breathtaking site, all their houses must have red roofs to keep their culture alive. From there you can go up to the Holy trinity which has numerous churches all along the side of the mountain. It gets a bit chilly but it is worth seeing. We also got to attend the churches no charge, just no pictures inside the churches. The specific tour we did was a sunset tour and got to experience a blissful sunset on top of the mountain. It’s hard to say what enjoyed about it because it was so enchanting.
Finally, we have The Fives Beach Hotel & Residences – All Senses Inclusive, We came here for a wedding and it was outstanding. The hotel restaurants had very diverse food and amazing flavors. The views from the rooms were also beautiful. The hotel is build around a forest which you can walk through to the beach. The beach is very clean and there’s a boardwalk which leads out into the ocean. there are Bars, Massage places and activities also on the beach and next to the resort. The food is absolutely amazing, the use incredible flavors. The service is also outstanding, they will make sure you feel right at home! If you ever travel to cancun this is the place to stay. It is also gated so you are very safe.
If you want to check out my Google Earth presentation about these places you can click the link here – Google Earth.
The Life of Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is a People-helping, Filmmaker, and one of the most highest-paid American actresses in the world. She is American and Bosnian and travels extensively around the world. She earned citizenship in Cambodia from the prime minister. She is a producer and director for many of her movies. Angelina is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. From American movies to producing her own Cambodian fact-filled story, Angelina does it all.
To begin, Angelina Jolie is the daughter of actor Jon Voight and actress Marcheline Bertrand (who had passed away in 2007 due to cancer). She has a brother named James Haven who is also an actor. She has married 3 times first to Jonny Lee Miller in 1996, then Billy Bob Thornton in 2000 and finally, Brad Pitt in 2005 and They sadly got a divorce in 2016. I was rooting for “Brangelina”. As for her education, Angelina went to the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. After, She went back to high school to finish and later attended New York University to study film making and writing. If that career didn’t go the way she wanted it to, her backup plan was to be a funeral director because of how unhappy she was when her grandfather had passed away. Angelina and her mother used to watch loads of films when she was younger. She was mesmerized by the film industry and started acting professionally at age 16.
Is there anything Angelina Jolie can’t do?
From then on, Angelina has acted and directed many of her films. A few notable films she has acted in are “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, “Tomb Raider”, “salt” and “Maleficent” one and two. Angelina is not just an actress, She is a mother who has three biological and three adopted children. Angelina Jolie is also a Humanitarian, who has won countless awards for helping people around the world. She gleaned aid for many refugees across numerous countries such as Cambodia, Darfur, and Jordan and countless more.
Charity work and foundations.
Angelina gives back to not just her community but to many others outside of the United States. She has donated millions of dollars to charities over the years. She has started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation with husband Brad Pitt, which helps eradicate poverty, helps the well being of others, and conserves wildlife and resources. She has also supported tons of foundations including the Doctors Without Borders which she and Brad donated one million dollars to. It is an international Medical Humanitarian organization that is created by Drs. and Journalists.
The main objective of this foundation is to help aid those affected by violence, neglect, catastrophe, health care, and tons more around 60 different countries. Angelina has one of the biggest hearts and makes one of the biggest impacts on the earth by helping millions of people daily from her foundations and donations. In 2006 according to look to the star’s website, they state “according to tax records” she and Brad Pitt donated 8 million dollars total to several charities worldwide.
Her movies deliver such power and energy and inspire millions of people. One of her most recent films, which she has directed co-wrote and produced was “First They Killed My Father”. This movie was based on the slaughter of millions of Cambodians in the 1970s. She had many of the real Cambodians to star in the film and even had her son who she adopted from Cambodia as a child to be the executive producer on the film.
Angelina is many things, Humanitarian, Film director, producer, writer, and actress. She has achieved many great honoraries throughout her lifetime. Angelina has helped a tremendous amount of people around the globe in efforts to improve education, better living conditions and much more. Her hard work and dedication speak for itself.
