1-3. Evaluating Digital Products Ver. 2022.03.31

Consider The Following...

To begin, please use the Google Form sheet below to answer the following question. Your answer will be anonymous. Once you have filled in your response, please look at the answers other learners have provided.

In this lesson, we will learn how to clarify a digital product's purpose in order to evaluate it. Once you have finished this lesson, please "evaluate" what you see here one more time.

Doing so will allow you to compare the "you" from before and after you have engaged the key question of each lesson. What is important is that you experience this learning process for yourself. When doing so, please remain aware of any changes to your vocabulary or perspective that have come as a result of this lesson.

What Is Evaluation?

Evaluation refers to the act of determining the value of an object. We intuitively judge websites or videos to be "easy to read" or "easy to understand" all the time. However, although we use these kinds of standards to evaluate products all the time, it is often the case that we are not conscious of the way that we make these evaluations.

Our powers of evaluation are closely related to our powers of observation. As one becomes better at observing, he or she will also become better at articulating the standards he or she uses to make evaluations. The more one is able to articulate these standards, the more detailed his or her observations will become.

In this lesson, we will learn about the process in which we first search for standards with which we can evaluate digital products by observing and interpreting their functions and then move on to actually evaluating said digital products.

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Approaches to evaluation

Standards of measurement are necessary when evaluating digital products. In order to create standards of measurement, it is necessary to first understand the product's goal. As an example, consider the goal of the video we saw in the previous lesson.

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Deciphering Goals Using Your Own Experiences And The Information Given

Try recalling your own experiences: what were you thinking or feeling after you saw the video? Try to infer what the purpose of this video is outgoing from what you remember of this experience. Make sure to carefully question the information you were given and try to think about [who] might have made this video, [who they might be making it for], and [what the video was about].

This video was made by [psychologists] for [general viewing on YouTube] so that they can broadcast [information about their research/visual experiment about Selective Attention]. We can thus glean from this information that the video was intended for a general audience and not only for professional psychologists.

Now, let's consider why they chose to upload this video to the internet. When doing so, we should think more concretely about what kind of change the digital product was intended to bring about in the user.

Please pay attention to the ending of the video. There are links inviting interested viewers to visit the researchers' home page or purchase their books. We can thus grasp that the researchers intended to help viewers become interested in the content of their research. Generally speaking, such links can be hints for understanding a digital product's purpose.

Hence, one possible interpretation would be to say that the researchers goal was to get viewers interested in their work.

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Goals Can Help Us Evaluate Features

Once you know the video's purpose, it is possible to consider standards of measurements by which we can evaluate its format and expression. In this case, we saw that the video's goal was to get [YouTube viewers interested in research on selective attention].

Below you can find some potential standards of measurement for evaluating the features of this video. At this stage the definitions for each standard do not need to be precise.

1. Is the intent for making the video clear to the [YouTube Viewers]?
2. Do the viewers actually get fooled by the [visual experiment on selective attention]?
3. Does the video make you interested in learning more about the [content of their research]?

As an example, we can say that the video is intended for a general audience on YouTube. Hence, we can say that the content of the video should be readily understandable even to non-specialists. This line of thought leads us to an important question: does the video make sense to people without a background in psychology? Let's think a bit harder about this point. For instance, many television programs try to use phrases and expressions that would be understandable to 2nd year middle school students as their standard for whether or not something is easy to understand. Thinking in this way, we could borrow some pre-existing evaluative standards when trying to evaluate whether or not this video could be understood by non-specialists.

Have you managed to get a grasp on the idea that an object's goal can serve as its evaluative standards? Put differently, it means we can come up with evaluative standards by working backwards from the goal of the object in question.

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Analyzing and Evaluating Functions

Now, keeping the video's goal in mind, please try to evaluate the functions of the selected expression. Why did they make the video? Well, the goal was to introduce a visual experiment concerning one type of cognitive bias. It is evident that videos are well-suited for this task because they can allow viewers to directly experience this experiment. Hence, the chosen media format coincides with the creator's goals.

Furthermore, the video has been designed so that after viewers have had the opportunity to be surprised by the experiment (and become interested in the topic), they will be provided a link to researchers' site where they can purchase their books. The first barrier between viewer and link is whether or not they become interested in the topic at all. For this reason, it is necessary to construct the video thus that viewers will be surprised by the results of the experiment.

So what if the title of the video was "The Invisible Gorilla"? Would that not be problematic? If viewers already know a gorilla will appear, the experiment will lose all meaning. Thus, we can see that this video has carefully chosen what it expresses to the viewer in accordance with its goals.

In this way, we can evaluate digital products by thinking about how the information it provides has been arranged with respect to its goals.

Are We Achieving Our Goals?

Here, we will consider the concrete process in which we evaluate the expressive means of a product outgoing from its intended purpose. Let's continue using the 2019 Graphic Design Trend that we saw in the last lesson for inspiration.

First, let's think about who is making the website, who the intended audience is, and what the website will be about. Once we have done this, we can think about how the website is intended to "change" the user.

This webpage was made by [Adobe] for [people who want to make a website] and intends to show that [Adobe Stock is useful for finding pictures outgoing from the latest visual trends]. Hence, we can see a process in which the user's interest is piqued by popular keywords and visuals, they go to look at the Adobe Stock site, and finally utilize Adobe Stock for their own website.

In order to convince viewers follow along this pattern, it is crucial that the keywords and visuals be conveyed to them in an easy to understand manner. Hence, we can assume that the intended purpose of the website's functions is an easy to understand conveyance of popular keywords and visual images.

Here, we will focus on two perspectives for making something easily understood: the interaction between visual expression and linguistic expression as well as the interactions between different visual expressions. Doing so will help us learn about how to evaluate a website's features.

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Linguistic Expressions and Visual Expressions

This website organizes recently trending visual images by keyword and introduces some photos that match with each of the keywords provided. If we had to pick between one or the other, we could say that this site focuses more on visual expressions than linguistic expressions.

Now, let's clarify the differences between visual expressions and linguistic expressions. Both have their own merits and demerits.

Words Create Distance, Pictures Create Connections

This is what was stated by Otto Neurath in his book Isotype, in which he pursued an internationally accepted method of pictoral communication (what we would now call a pictogram). Neurath believed that the use of pictures was necessary in order to overcome the language barriers that present themselves in international society.

Noirath's words can teach us one more thing about language and pictures: words are able to categorize objects, while pictures are able to show connections that cannot be so easily categorized. Words are analytic while visual expressions are synthetic. Please keep this in mind.

Being able to understand the characteristics of visual and linguistic expressions and blending them effectively is crucial for making things easy to understand.

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The Information Acquistion Process

Next, we should look at the way in which users process information provided to them. In order to observe something, it is necessary to think about the interaction between the textual or visual information provided and human users. I hope you remember that there are broadly speaking two different types of users.

What I want to emphasize here is that the order in which information is presented will change how it is perceived and understood. Humans construct meaning by making sense of what is appearing in front of them. The Adobe Spark page has a sequential access format, so the order that information is presented in is pre-determined. We interpret information by following along with it in the order it is presented to us. From this, we are able to understand the meaning of what we are seeing.

Now, how does the page 2019 Graphic Design Trend display linguistic or visual expressions to us? Please take a look as you scroll on.

This website starts by displaying keywords at the very beginning. Please look at how information is conveyed in the area after the title.

In this case, the user's understanding will be based on the process of [understanding a keyword >> interpret 3 pictures based on that keyword]. Does this match with the website's goals?

Try changing your perspective. You will remember that thinking about what would happen if we replaced certain elements of a digital product is useful for understanding what those elements do. So what would be different if we changed the order in which information is changed after the title?

In this case, the user will now experience a process in which [they freely interpret 3 pictures >> they compare the image they received with the keyword on the website]. This kind of display is certainly possible.

So, let's try thinking about the website's goal one more time. As you will recall, the goal is to provide popular keywords and visuals in an easy to understand manner.

Visual expressions unfortunately bring with them potential differences in understanding between individuals. If users were allowed to freely interpret the 3 photographs, they would likely struggle to grasp their meaning (save rare cases in which all 3 photos are very similar).

However, if you provide the keyword at the beginning and limit the ways that information can be processed, the differences in understanding between individuals will diminish. If we are trying to make something easy to understand, then logic dictates that "constraining" information in such a way that differences between individuals would be preferable.

Hence, displaying the keyword and outline to the user before providing visual explanations can be evaluated as an effective means to achieve the intended ends of the website.

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Interactions between Visual Expressions: Pictures

From here out, we will use photographs as an example to try to understand how visual expressions are made up of a combination of complex elements. Photos are picked according to the message one wants to convey and goals one hopes to achieve through their display. Here, we will think outgoing from [choice] and [arrangement] in order to observe the functions of a photograph and how we can evaluate them.

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Choice

In order to determine whether or not a certain photograph is approrpiate for the digital product it is being used in, we should first ask several questions. Who or what is the main subject of the photograph? What message does the photograph convey? We can then see how well the responses to these questions match with our intended goals.

Let's start by looking at the page for the keyword [Brand Stand] on [2019 Graphic Design Trend (Created by Adobe Stock)]. This keyword should help us imagine a company attempting to fulfill its corporate social responsibility. The standard for whether or not a photograph is a good choice will be if it matches with this image.

This particular keyword can be understood in various ways, but any understanding of it should be related with messages concerning sustanable development goals and cultural diversity. Hence, we can say that these photographs match with the goal of this page.

Now let's look at the page on [Disruptive Expression]. This image of disruptive expression carries with it a strong message. Here as well, whether or not the photograph is a good choice will depend on how well it fits with this message.

The photograph on the right shows people throwing tools around all over the place. It seems very festive. This happens to be a picture of the Hindu Holi festival and seems to match well with the keyword at hand. On the other hand, though, the picture on the left is of a woman making a peace sign and seems entirely undisruptive. Why was this chosen? If we look for more information, we can see that the peace sign signifies regret in Greece. Depending on the cultural constraints, we might be able to say that this photograph also matches with the page's goal.

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Arrangement

When we see visual expressions that are made up of multiple photographs, it should be quite easy to understand the message that the creator wishes to express. However, have you ever stopped to think about how the message was conveyed?

By thinking not only about what the message but also about how it is being conveyed, it becomes possible to evaluate the functions created by the interactions between all of the photographs present. On this note, I would like you to take a look at the following layout.

First, I want you to think about which photograph is the centerpiece of this arrangement.

As a general rule, the biggest photograph will be the centerpiece of the whole display. Furthermore, because larger photographs will naturally draw our visual attention, it is easier to bring attention to them as the centerpiece. On the other hand, the other photographs help support the main photograph from the side.

Additionally, depending on the photographs size and location, the order in which the user sees it will change. The creator here has adjusted the flow in which information is presented to the user so that the most important photograph is seen first.

Thus, when we evaluate the arrangement of photographs, we should ask if the size of each photo is appropriate and if the photographs lead our visual attention in the correct fashion. Put differently, we evaluate if goal and function are properly aligned by asking if the correct photo has been chosen as the centerpiece and if the support photographs are not accidentally taking our attention away from the centerpiece.

Thus, we can determine that Layout [A] is a "sketched work".

Now, let's pretend you are the editor for a page on [Portrait of an Author]. The designer you asked to help with the page has suggested layout [A]. How would you evaluate this choice?

Stop and think about this for a bit. If you were the editor compiling a page with the title [Portrait on an Author], how would you evaluate this page?

If you were to try to showcase the author's way of life, then you, as the editor, should make the author - and not his or her work - out to be the centerpiece of the layout. By doing so, you could come up with the following kind of layout.

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As we see here, we can evaluate if the goals and functions of a digital product match up by paying attention to the interactions between linguistic expressions and visual expressions, as well as the interactions between different visual expressions.