Part Four: Evaluation

Final design evaluation- is it fit for purpose?

Your final task is to analyse and explain how your final design is "fit for purpose."

"Fit for purpose" means that the design of a product adequately meets its intended use, meets the requirements, and fulfils the expectations of its users and stakeholders.

This section is really important - it basically determines whether you are at Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit, or Excellence for your "design" Standard. 

Level Two

Explaining the appropriateness of the design (Achieved)

This is the basic evaluation that shows your final design is "fit for purpose." You are explaining how effectively your final design meets the purpose and the requirements of the end users. 

A simple way to do this is to list your purpose and requirements, then show and explain what you included to meet these. A labelled diagram of your final design showing ways it meets the purpose and end user requirements can add greatly to this. 

Explain how your chosen design uses appropriate conventions (Merit)

A good way to do this is to label an image of your final design, showing and explaining where and how you have used the design conventions (principles) that you thought were appropriate. Remember, there were in your requirements.

Addressing relevant implications (Merit)

You've already researched these. Just copy then update what you've already written to make it clear HOW you addressed these implications in your final design. 

Meeting end-user requirements (Merit)

Because you have been getting user feedback and (hopefully) acting on it this should be easy. 

You just need to show how your design has been chosen and has changed as a result of the feedback you got. 

For example, you could show how most people voted on a first idea and this was the one you chose. Then you could show how a few people said to change something and you did this. Again, screen shots could help here.

Remember, you have to show all three of these things to meet Merit. 

Justifying how the chosen design addresses implications, end-user considerations, and uses appropriate conventions (Excellence)

Justifying means making use of your research, testing, and trialling information when explaining the three questions above. In other words, backing up your thoughts with evidence. 

You do not need to make another section. Rather your answers above need to be more detailed, and based on your research, testing, and trialling. 

Some examples: 

Conventions: "Alignment: I made sure the two text sections are aligned as this is a really common design convention in logo design."

Implications: "I have chosen these colours as my research shows this combination really works well for people with vision problems"

End user: "The feedback in my first survey showed this was by far the most popular option. That's why I chose it."

Level Three

Explaining the appropriateness of the design (Achieved)

This is the basic evaluation that shows your final design is "fit for purpose." You are explaining how effectively your final design meets the purpose and the requirements of the end users. 

A simple way to do this is to list your purpose and requirements, then show and explain what you included to meet these. A labelled diagram of your final design showing ways it meets the purpose and end user requirements can add greatly to this. 

Effectively using data gained from modelling and user testing to improve the design (Merit)

Because you have been getting user feedback and (hopefully) acting on it, this should be easy. 

You need to show how your design has been chosen and has got better as a result of the feedback you got. 

For example, you could show how most people voted on a first idea and this was the one you chose. Then you could show how a few people said to change something and you did this. Again, screen shots and referring to your feedback directly are important here.

Evaluate how your UX methodologies were used in developing the chosen design (Merit)

Evaluate means: to judge or determine the significance, worth, or value of something.

So this question is asking you to judge what benefits you got from using your UX methods to develop your design ideas. 

Make sure you talk about your two UX methods separately. 

You should be able to say a few examples (that could be taken from above) that show how they were valuable in improving your design.

It's also important to consider negative issues such as poor quality questions that led to confusion for end users, or getting feedback from people with limited knowledge, not getting enough feedback, etc. Be honest. 

Evaluate how the chosen design addresses relevant implications (Merit)

You've already researched these. Just copy then update what you've already written to make it clear how you actually addressed these implications in your final design. Screen grabs are again your friend. (You'll need to evaluate at least two).

Remember, you have to complete all three of these sections above to meet Merit. 

Justify the choice of user experience methodologies you used to develop the chosen design (Excellence)

Justifying means to show something to be just or right. In other words, it's backing up what you say with evidence. 

You're going to need to show how the methods that you chose were useful for the type of project you were completing, and the evidence you have to prove it. 

You should show how there are clear links between the methods you chose, the information it provided, and the impact on the final design.

Justify how the chosen design is suitable for the purpose and end users (Excellence)

This is an extension of the first (Achieved) section. 

You are looking to provide evidence that shows how your design has clearly met the purpose you were trying to achieve, how your design decisions were based on your research (e.g. use of design conventions), and how your design decisions support the wants and needs of end users. 

Screen grabs can be really useful here. 

Justify how the chosen design might be further developed in the future  (Excellence)

These requires you to explain what you would do in the next phases of your development - I think of this as explaining your journey from your final design to the completed outcome. For example you could explain the development process, explain your planned use of more complex tools and techniques (with examples), improved functionality or aesthetics, and the continued use of iterative cycles.