Expert visual design processes: A three-participant embedded case study of graphical interface design for instructional products.

摘要

This dissertation study seeks to answer the question "How do web graphic designers begin to create the visual interface or 'look and feel' for an instructional website?" This embedded case study is based upon a simulation task, the redesign of an instructional website (the case) carried out by three professional graphic designers (the embedded units). The three participants worked individually. Each of them were presented with the "Great Computer Mystery" website, containing mysteries for pre-service teachers to solve. The website content was complete however, the site had a very basic visual interface. The graphic designers were videotaped as they carried out two separate design sessions. Immediately after each design session, they participated in a stimulated recall session, where they watched the videotaped design session and commented on their design processes. The data collected included videotapes, written transcripts, sketches, and electronic files. The analysis process consisted of various stages of data mining: carrying out a card sort to identify initial categories of statements, coding using a database of statements and actions, writing early stories with multiple data types, mapping participants' processes, writing summary tables, and creating individual and composite process models. Commonalities among the participants included the use of resources to facilitate the design process, the use of exploration of colors and typography, and the primary focus on an anchor graphic that could be used in several variations. The individual graphic designers' process models also show a common sequence for the initial design and development of graphical objects and web page levels. The distillation of this process information is a prototype of a theoretical design model.