User study of Kandinsky desktop

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of modern life today. However, it was noted that users of social media use them beyond mere communication with immediate friends and family, but social media has been facilitating and providing platforms for users to form opinions based on the information provided as well. As a result, users are not just acquiescent recipients of information in social media networks but are increasingly enabled to actively spread information and garner their opinions of their own. We thus notice a spike in the propagation of new information and a myriad of opinions expressed.

Given the increase in volume of online conversations, there stood a need for a user-friendly and effective tool that could expedite the process for users to generate insights from these ongoing conversations. KANDINSKY is hence a state-of-the-art end-to-end social conversation visualization system that is inspired by the ideas and designs of abstract art. Its visualization plan is inspired by the famous abstract arts by Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky.

The purpose of this project is to evaluate and analyse KANDINSKY Desktop’s functions and its’ usability across the demographics. User research is essential and foundational to producing substantial insight to a system’s design strategy. Specifically, this project aims at aiding future endeavours to elevate the user experience of KANDINSKY, making it more relevant, appealing, and simpler than it is currently, creating the most optimal application that would entice a greater target audience.