The audience for this poster are students from Stevenson University that suffer from migraines. I am a student from this institution who suffers from migraines so it was easy for me to come up with things that benefit me when I am on the computer. The Dos and Don’ts that I have listed will be beneficial to the changes made to the Greenspring Review as migraines and headaches are common in my age group. Students are under a lot of stress and tend to get lack of sleep due to the large amount of coursework during the semester. Stress and other factors can result in a migraine that can hinder a student’s learning and work ethic.
Migraines can affect you in different ways. In general, they can cause you to be more sensitive to light, sound and smells. Sometimes they can cause nausea, vomiting, and blurred or hindered vision. Staring at a computer screen already strains the eyes but staring at one with a migraine is even worse. The Dos and Don’ts listed are to make it easier for someone who is migraine-prone to browse the Greenspring Review. Using low contrasting colors is preferred as it decreases eyestrain which can make they symptoms worse. Blue and green spectrum colors are known to be catalysts for migraines so it is recommended not to incorporate them in digital works (Bullock). Moving around too quickly tends to stress out the brain and stomach (if you are nauseated) during a migraine and the same applies to fast moving objects on a screen. Slow moving objects stimulates the brain less than fast moving objects which leads to less straining. Using large and easy to read fonts has the same effect as using low contrasting colors. It strains the eyes less with does not provoke a migraine. Using a more spaced out design/layout is an example of Jakob’s Law and the Principle of Least Effort according to Kalina Tykiel in her article “7 Psychological Principles for better UX”. Having a layout that is almost universal to other website and provides minimal effort to navigate through leads to better user experience. Incorporating a spaced out layout helps students with migraines navigate through the Greenspring Review easier with little to no effort on the brain. Making sure to have low sounding videos is crucial to migraine users. Loud and alarming noises and provoke a migraine which leads to pain and throbbing. Low sound will ensure that the migraine user will have no problems scrolling through the website.
I chose to use a grey background and lavender font because it is easy on the eyes. Lavender is also a calming color and it is not on the blue and green spectrum. I didn’t want the colors to be alarming or bright to correspond to the Dos and Don’ts about color. I wanted the poster to be calming, smooth to look at and read. The font I used is relatively large and easy to read. The layout of the poster is simple along with the wording. Separating the Dos and Don’ts on each side spaces them out. The icons used are uniform in color and are simple. I used a faint line as a divider to provide structure.
Works Cited
Bullock, Greg. “Computer Screens: The Effect on Headaches, Migraines and Concussions.” TheraSpecs, https://www.theraspecs.com/blog/computer-screens-headaches-migraines-and-concussions/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Doherty, Colleen. “How Your Computer May Cause a Headache.” Verywell Health, https://www.verywellhealth.com/is-working-at-my-computer-causing-my-headaches-1719432. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Tyrkiel, Kalina. “7 Psychological Principles for better UX.” Livesession, https://livesession.io/blog/7-psychological-principles-for-better-ux/. Accessed 19 February 2020.
“UI vs. UX: What’s the Difference between User Interface and User Experience?” UserTesting, https://www.usertesting.com/blog/ui-vs-ux. Accessed 3 Mar. 2020.