About

Hi, my name is Eilish McMenamin I am a recent Applied Pschology graduate with a Bsc from Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. I am twenty four years old and I was in the technology path of my course.

 You will find a sample of my best works in multiple areas including  UX & UI, Psychology & Research and  Graphic Design. These reflect both my work and my interest in each subject.

I have a particular interest in Graphic Design I find it to be very interesting. I hope to work on my technique and to create more work in my next year. This can be seen in the images I used in my websites and the infographic I created.

This course has also given me an interest in user testing which I hope to pursue further as well.

This course has provided me with many skills to further I career in the technology sector which I hope to do. Some of those skills include HTML and CSS, Photoshop and Illustrator and user testing.

Below you will find my CV!

Usability Testing for Love and Robots

In our second year Usability module we were asked to carry out usability testing for an Irish jewelry website named Love and Robots. There were two other students in my group.

We were asked to complete three usability tasks. We gave the participants consent forms and pretesting questionnaires.

Task 1- First Impressions: The participant was asked to look and scroll through the website for 20 seconds then asked what they think the website is for.

Task 2- The participant is given a scenario: The scenario was as follows: ‘Their friend Tom has been living in the U.S.A. for the past 5 years. Toms Birthday is approaching and is quite nostalgic about Ireland. You have decided to buy Tom ‘The Map Wooden Bow Tie’. You want a map of Dublin to be on the bow tie and engrave the back with a birthday greeting from you.’ The participant was asked to customize the bow tie and then purchase it.

Task 3- Shipping: The Participant was asked to find out how much standard postage to the U.S.A. is and how long it will take to arrive there.

The main goal for these tasks was to test the ease of use of the website. Each task was centred on completing a specific task to do with the main aims and uses of the website. The participants video recorded whilst completing the tasks and then the data was collected.

In conclusion, the usability testing went well and we were able to provide sufficient and helpful feedback to the company which they took on board.

‘Overall the Love & Robots website has a minimalistic aesthetic and a good use of grids and lines. Users weren’t certain what the company was about or that they focused on 3D printing but they were able to use the site and finish the tasks quickly and efficiently. There was also a lack of a search bar which would help users find things more quickly.’

Being able to do this usability testing proved to be very rewarding and a good learning experience. It gave me the skills I needed to perform  user testing for my own projects. It was also very gratifying to be able to work for such a company.

 

Let’s Go

For our third year Web Applications module we were asked to help create pages for a web app case study called ‘Let’s Go’.  Let’s Go was designed to help people with disabilities or those who suffered with anxiety leave their homes and navigate certain aspects of the outside world. There were several topics it addressed such as: eating, crossing the road, leaving the house etc. The topic I chose to work on was Shopping. I based my idea around a shopping list application. I researched the experiences of people with disabilities shopping and what exactly they had issues with when doing so.

The applications primary function was so that the user could choose which type of shopping they wanted to do first. Then once they picked a standard ready made list would be provided to them. As well as the option to add in new items. Next to each entry is a place to add in the price. This will help the user keep track of their money so that they do not over spend or go over budget whilst shopping.

I used a programme called Brackets to complete this project which I wrote using HTML and CSS. Brackets is an open source text editor used to design web applications and sites. I have previously used the programme to make a website which can be viewed here. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to work with the programme again and make something that would hopefully be used in future to help people.

First Website Design

In my second year Multi Media module we were asked to create a website that tackles the theme of helping students access college and resources. I chose to centre mine around the topic of mental health. More specifically providing resources for students who felt they were struggling with both keeping up with their mental health and college.  Below is an image of my websites homepage.

We were asked to use a coding program called Brackets, with this  I wrote all the HTML and CSS myself for the site. It was a very interesting experience to be able to learn HTML and CSS from scratch and implement it.

The content for the site was sourced from other websites as well as most of the images. Some of the images I took and edited them to match the colour scheme of the site.

I really enjoyed learning HTML and CSS for this assignment. It was good to see something tangible and interactive with code that I was able to write. I also liked how I was able to explore a topic in psychology and implement theory with practice. I hope to be able to implement this skill set in the future and create new projects.

Gender Infographic

In second year for our multimedia class we were asked to create an infographic using Adobe Illustrator. We were allowed to choose any topic we wanted and it had to be interesting and educational.

The infographic was to be used to help educate first years on subjects that were current and relevant in IADT. I chose to do mine on the topic of gender and attempting to explain the complexity of gender in current times. All the graphics used in the infographic I made my self. It gives a brief overview of the various topics that can be explored in gender. Such as the difference between a person’s gender and biological sex, how to use a person’s preferred pronouns correctly and gender identity and expression.

Before starting this assignment my knowledge of Adobe Illustrator was somewhat basic, however upon completion of this project I feel as though I am well skilled in the program. I used a lot of tutorials to help me found on https://www.lynda.com/. This allowed me to learn how to edit and create things correctly. I found this to be a lot of fun and I genuinely enjoyed the work.

Neuropsychology Board Game

For our neuropsychology module we were asked to create a board game. The aim of the game is to teach players about the different parts of the brain and their functions while also being fun. I helped to create this game along with two other classmates. The game is based off of Kurplunk, we named ours K’Noggin

The players are asked to pick a card which has a question relating to the brain on it. There are three levels of questions; easy, medium and hard. If they answer the question correctly they may remove the sticks from the chamber. Inside the chamber are marbles and the aim is to release the marbles with each round that is played. The player with the most marbles wins the game. The amount of sticks that can be removed per question depends on the level of the question. If it is an easy question one may be removed, if it is a medium question two may be removed and if it is a hard question three may be removed.

It is a very interactive game and it really tests the players skill and level of knowledge in neuropsychology. It was a very fun project to work on as it was really different from the rest of our assignments. It really show cased our creativity in different areas. My group worked really well together, and we all contributed to the creation of the game. I chose to include it into my portfolio as I believe it shows my ability to work in a team and my creativity.

About

Hi, my name is Eilish McMenamin I am a third year Applied Pschology student in the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. I am twenty two years old and I am in the technology path of my course.

You will find a sample of my best works in multiple areas including  UX & UI, Psychology & Researchand  Graphic Design.

I have a particular interest in Graphic Design I find it to be very interesting. I hope to work on my technique and to create more work in my next year. This can be seen in the images I used in my websites and the infographic I created.

This course has also given me an interest in user testing which I hope to pursue further as well.

This course has provided me with many skills to further I career in the technology sector which I hope to do. Some of those skills include HTML and CSS, Photoshop and Illustrator and user testing.

Below you will find my CV!