Blog Post #1: Topics of Interest

 I have a few (admittedly vague in some cases) ideas for research this semester.

  • Effect of Font and Background Color - Madi inspired this idea, but I think it would be interesting for me to research the effect of font color and layout because I've seen them at play before and would like to get a better understanding of how they can impact what they're being used for. More specifically:
    • I've noticed on state K-12 exams we could change the font and background color, and I think the idea was that different colors made things both easier to read and easier to focus on depending on the person. I'd like to know more about this.
    • A similar concept to what I previously mentioned is at play in my job at CaptionCall (captioning phone calls for deaf people); we have the ability to personalize the font and background colors in the window where we caption calls. Again, I'd like to know more about the effect of this.
  • TikTok Usability - Based on our first class discussion, I think it would be interesting to research how effective TikTok is as a method of promoting things. I've seen a lot of people use it for promotions, but unless they're famous and/or good at working the algorithm, I'm not sure how good it is for promoting things and would like to learn more. And given how new-ish TikTok is, it's probably a relatively untapped/ongoing source of research too.
  • DSU Website Usability - I know it might sound like cheating to use one of Dr. Bacabac's examples, but I and another friend of mine have both written articles about how usable the interface for DSU's website is and whether the "update" was really an update or more of a reskin. I'd be interested in expanding that research.

We'll see what happens as the semester goes on. 🙂

Comments

  1. Jesse CowleySeptember 1, 2021 at 3:38 PM

    The CaptionCall job sounds interesting. I never would have thought about the font and background color of the captions--I think that would be really fascinating to learn more about how that effects those who use them. These are some really good ideas with some solid, real life implications. It will be exciting to see what you end up doing!

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