Tag Archives: user research

2016: Year in review

Jennifer Blatz UX Design 2016 year in review

Seems like everyone has a year in review. What celebrities died this year? What were the biggest news stories? What can we expect in 2017? Well I am not going to recap all the biggest news for 2016. Instead, I would like to reflect on the crazy year it has been for me and to see if I actually accomplished ANY of my goals. ha ha.

To start with, I took a look at my mid year post “Mid Year: Revisiting My Personal Goals” to see how my goal accomplishment were stacking up there. Well, as you can see from the article, I missed few and hit a few. That’s ok, because my career to a huge shift in the middle of the year that caused me to quickly start a new job and move across the country.

Accomplished
  • Re-learned Axure. I did, but I have not practiced it as much as I should have so I probably forgot a lot of the actions.
  • Continue writing blog posts. I wanted to hit 30 blog posts this year. I am pretty sure I did that. I want to continue this practice in the new year.
  • Join a side project. I helped out with Wingspanarts. As of today, the site has not launched their redesign. But I hope they will find a great developer and do so early in the new year.

So those were my major accomplishments. My list was much shorter than I hoped. But I am OK with that. Like I said, I had some major career shifts this year and I needed to focus on sharpening new skills needed for the job. My plan is to think about my new goals for the new year and write a post soon.

Until then, I hope you had a wonderful year. I hope you accomplished some goals, and don’t beat yourself up about the ones you did not knock off your list. There’s always next year to revisit those goals and to make new ones.

Like we all know in UX, it is ok to learn from your failings. Also, it’s ok to pivot in your goals when life hands you changes. Just go with the flow…in 2017.

Winery App Prototype

Winery App UX prototype by Jennifer Blatz UX Designer
It’s never too late to revisit a project that you have put on hold for awhile. I am inspired to breathe new life in to my Winery App.

This was an old project that I have put on a virtual shelf for a few months. I think It’s time to revisit it and think about doing some user research to assess if there is a need for an app of this nature.

The Temecula Winery App came to me one time when I was wine tasting in the region. I wanted to know which wineries in the area had some of my favorite wines: merlot, viognier, maybe some zinfandel. Now, as a dog owner, I am interested in what wineries are pet friendly. Specifically, I would like to know which wineries allow dogs inside the tasting room, vs. which ones prefer that they stay outside.

When you are cruising through wine country, is not the time when you want to try to search several (often not updated) winery websites, looking for what wines they have for sale. And most of them (if any do) do not mention if they allow dogs.

So I thought this app might be helpful to people visiting the area. But even if I think it would be a good idea, I need to validate my idea with others. I need to do some user research and to see if others think their is a need for the winery app. This is an important step that too many startups, and founders to not take the time to do. They think their idea is in high demand because it’s their idea. Or they ask their friends and family, who ever so politely indulge them and say, “Yes that is a great idea.”

My goal is the next time I go to Temecula, I am going to talk to some other wine tasters and assess if there is even a need for an app like mine. I am sure after visiting a winery or two, approaching strangers and asking questions about this topic will only become easier. ha!