User Interface design

An important aspect of any web application is the user interface (UI). A website is more than just a group of pages linked together. It where you, your product or your company communicates with clients or customers. First impressions are important and it can make a lasting impression. This is the same for your websites as it is for human interactions. There is nothing worse than visiting a website for something you really need and then getting lost in a space-time continuum. If you are an e-commerce site, you not only loose a customer, you also loose the chance of repeat purchases as well as future customers’ referrals. In short, you lose revenue, and revenue is the key. It is, therefore, important for a website to have a user-friendly, easy to use and navigable interface. It should create an experience for the visitor. One that the user will enjoy and want to experience over and over again.

It is acknowledged that the UI will have a huge impact on the success of Jamz. In order for Jamz to be successful, the site must not only attract users but also retain them. Much of the users’ time will be spent on the website to create music and to interact with fellow musicians. The UI and site features will have to create a fun and interactive website. It may sound simple, but it is a challenging task as seen by the many failing websites in cyberspace.

We began the process by creating mockups of the UI using various designer tools. The decisions made during this process were not random. Several steps were followed. Firstly, we had to get an idea of what our user based would be. Understanding the demographics gave us an idea of who our targeted audiences are and what are their likes and preferences. For example, younger audiences prefer websites with bolder colors. Then, there is the debate between standardization and localization. Should a website adapt to the various cultures and regions? McDonald’s website, for example, varies across regions. Secondly, understanding and clearly defining how the users will interact with our website. While our primary focus is on the website, there is also a consideration for a mobile application. It will give our users different ways to interact with our product. Within the application, there will be video streaming, live chats as well as message feeds and blogs. Combining these elements into a single cohesive unit is critical while integration with a mobile application must be seamless. Thirdly, while we want to create a unique web application, we recognize that the Web has standards. For example, a link on a webpage is in blue text and when the mouse is hovered over, the pointer changes to indicate it is clickable. Changing web standards such as these will diminish the users’ experience and is simply awful. Fourthly, an easy to use UI. We want to enable users to find what they are looking for easily and can navigate the entire website without much effort. It, therefore, means, not many web pages, menus, links, banners and the much hated, popup ads. Finally, feedbacks are important. Our design is a continual process and we will seek to improve based on feedbacks from the users. We have attached below two potential design for our homepage. Please feel free to comment. As our design process continues, we will be releasing more screenshots.