Muthulakshmi Mahesh's Blog, page 2

Why is Following Users’ Mental Models Essential for Intuitive and User-Friendly Design?

The user’s mental models are the individuals’ assumptions about how the user experience works. Users develop mental models in their minds based on their prior experiences when they were using various products, websites, and applications. These form expectations in their brains to improve their daily lives.

This psychological concept is related to Jakob’s law.

Jakob’s law states that “Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.”

We can understand that:

People intend to get a smooth user experience so they follow the same process when they find similar websites.People feel familiarity is important because of which they can complete their tasks faster rather than learning a new model.

Designers can implement common design patterns in a few strategic areas such as page structure, navigation, workflows, etc.

Real time example

Add to cart 🛒 purpose was to match a physical shopping experience to consumers’ mental models of shopping online. An item is added to a cart by a customer. They continue to shop, adding and discarding products without paying for them. They then check out and make the necessary payments.

Create an exact copy?

Its true people may wonder, having similar digital spaces might be monotonous. But if the conventional location of the navigation bar is set on a different side by not following the mental model then the users cannot depend on their past experiences and would have to newly learn the functionality of the app. Try answering this question- ‘Will the user be focused on completing the task of buying a product or will he be learning the function of the app?’ According to his set priorities, he will be intended to fulfill his purchase decision.

So creating something completely new might lead to these difficulties, however, to experiment with creating new experiences, it is necessary to conduct usability testing which will allow us to let know how the user is feeling while using our app and dive into user research before implementing those changes.

Why not following a mental model is an unintuitive design?

People who buy online will also behave the same way how they behave in physical stores. I can relate it to an illustration demonstrated in my digital marketing class. In a clothing store, if a consumer asks the salesman about the return policy, the salesman addresses his query on the spot.

If the consumer with the same mindset asks a question in the chatbot then it should connect with the agent and answer the question immediately to avoid frustrations else it might lead to an unintuitive design if it says ‘we will answer in a few hours.’

Wrapping up

Understanding UX mental models and how to apply them can help designers create designs that make sense to people and create an intuitive, straightforward experience. The user research and testing should align with the mental models.

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Why is Following Users’ Mental Models Essential for Intuitive and User-Friendly Design? was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Understanding Mental Models in Product Design

The user’s mental models are the individuals’ assumptions about how the user experience works. Users develop mental models in their minds based on their prior experiences when they were using various products, websites, and applications. These form expectations in their brains to improve their daily lives.

This psychological concept is related to Jakob’s law.

Jakob’s law states that “Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.”

We can understand that:

People intend to get a smooth user experience so they follow the same process when they find similar websites.People feel familiarity is important because of which they can complete their tasks faster rather than learning a new model.

Designers can implement common design patterns in a few strategic areas such as page structure, navigation, workflows, etc.

Real time example

Add to cart 🛒 purpose was to match a physical shopping experience to consumers’ mental models of shopping online. An item is added to a cart by a customer. They continue to shop, adding and discarding products without paying for them. They then check out and make the necessary payments.

Create an exact copy?

Its true people may wonder, having similar digital spaces might be monotonous. But if the conventional location of the navigation bar is set on a different side by not following the mental model then the users cannot depend on their past experiences and would have to newly learn the functionality of the app. Try answering this question- ‘Will the user be focused on completing the task of buying a product or will he be learning the function of the app?’ According to his set priorities, he will be intended to fulfill his purchase decision.

So creating something completely new might lead to these difficulties, however, to experiment with creating new experiences, it is necessary to conduct usability testing which will allow us to let know how the user is feeling while using our app and dive into user research before implementing those changes.

Why not following a mental model is an unintuitive design?

People who buy online will also behave the same way how they behave in physical stores. I can relate it to an illustration demonstrated in my digital marketing class. In a clothing store, if a consumer asks the salesman about the return policy, the salesman addresses his query on the spot.

If the consumer with the same mindset asks a question in the chatbot then it should connect with the agent and answer the question immediately to avoid frustrations else it might lead to an unintuitive design if it says ‘we will answer in a few hours.’

Wrapping up

Understanding UX mental models and how to apply them can help designers create designs that make sense to people and create an intuitive, straightforward experience. The user research and testing should align with the mental models.

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Is competitive analysis necessary in UX design?

Is competitive analysis necessary in UX design?

A real time example could be Starbucks. Purchasing a cup of coffee has become an "affordable luxury"- Starbucks sets itself unique from its competitors using “pricing strategy” considering premium option for profit maximization.

We need to research major competitors to get some insights on their strategies. Here are some of the ways to research the competitors-

i) Understanding our competitors:

Firstly, we need to find our competitors. We can do this with the help of user research interviews. On understanding our competitors we will know where we are in the market and it will also allow us explore new opportunities. Furthermore, it will help us set our product and marketing tactic unique.

It’s important to know about our competitors as it will not only inform us in taking design decisions but it will also help us in formulating overall product strategy.

ii) Group the competitors:
Direct competitors: There are direct competitors who offer the same product at similar price points to satisfy customers' needs.
Indirect competitors: There are indirect competitors who offer different value proposition to the same customers.

iii) Gather information about each competitor:

It is necessary to look around, research and gather relevant information. The collected information can be added in the spreadsheet.

Name, url, direct or indirect competitor.Summary: It an be a brief about the company’s value propositions, target audience, product and interesting findings.Pros: If they have advantageous product, design details, solutions.Cons: If there are any usability issue, missing feature, negative feedback/ reviews.

iv) Define product strategy
There must be a focus on how the customer interacts with the product and what he feels while using the product.

Observe market gaps: With the help of competitor analysis, it will be easy to figure out if any feature is missing out in the competitor’s product.Find what strategies work: It is possible to find out the kind of marketing strategy to employ to generate more conversions.Look what idea this market lack: Based on the results, we can identify the things to be improved to attract more potential users.

v) Successful product

By building value into our innovation strategy, it is possible to provide more value to the customers. Generally, most companies offer at a lower price with a maximum benefits to pull the customers attention.

Wrapping up:

In this competitive world, it is necessary to stay updated to the changing trends doing a competitive analysis will help us recognize how we can enhance our own business strategy.

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Importance of empathy in design thinking

Empathizing phaseUnderstanding Empathy

Empathy refers to the ability to understand and experience the emotions, and feelings of another person. In short, it means ‘putting ourselves in the shoes of the others’.

Empathy in Design

We know Empathy is the first and foremost step in design thinking which we need to follow throughout the process of ideation, prototyping, and testing.

The designers should try to solve the problem which the users face, so when they understand the mindset and the natural environment of the end-users, the designers can arrive at a favorable solution that addresses the problem and also meets their needs. So we as designers need to question what we observe instead of forming a biased opinion. The research should be conducted with the intention to understand more about the users by eliminating judgments and assumptions.

Empathy is an inborn ability but also it can be developed in time when we observe facial expressions, and body language and listen to the other person without assumptions.

Empathy mapping

Empathy mapping is one of the crucial tools that will let us make a clear picture of what the user is actually going through. Based on the results of qualitative research, we can chart out the empathy map. It will also help us in gathering more user data in the aspect where the data is insufficient.

Each of the above quadrants will help us to delve into the minds of our target audience.

What the user says: In this section, the designers can quote the words uttered by the users. We can observe their behavior and the actions that they make when they are in a conversation with us.

What the user thinks: We can explore the minds of users with the help of the results gathered in qualitative research. We can recollect what the user felt by their tone. The way how they respond to our questions can also make us understand their feeling.

What the user does: We can notice how the user behaves physically when he tries using the app during the usability study. We can acknowledge the actions that the users take and the way they take them.

Conclusion

One of the major aspects of UX Designers is to create a feasible solution for the users to make them use the app without having to face difficulty in finding the features by reducing the complexity of the application. We need to have users in the center and gain a deeper understanding of their requirements. By designing the application based on the user's needs and putting users first, we can effectively solve the user's problems and create a successful product.

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Relating Consumer Behavior with UX Design

This essay will express my understanding of the relation of Consumer Behavior to User Experience(UX). Before we begin, let’s first understand the term UX. UX is how an end user interacts with and experiences a product or service.

Diving deep into UX, UX refers to a person’s emotion, motivation, frustration, behavior, and attitude while using a product or a service. On the other hand, consumer behavior is about the way how a consumer an individual, group, or business would make a choice to select, use, and dispose the product or service and their behavior drives their purchase decisions.

Pain points

From the perspective of consumer behavior, let’s take an example where the customers experience difficulties. People visiting a traditional retail store for years would have a personal touch with the shopkeeper in the retail store. However, still, the consumers will have supremacy, as they have to wait patiently till the shopkeeper addresses them. So they would switch to an alternative option- supermarkets. So there is a direct competition for retail stores that is supermarkets.

From the above scenario, it is clear to know the pain point from which it would be easy for the marketers to tailor and pitch the solution.

In the same way, we create personas with assumptions in a motto to identify pain points in UX. In order to get the pain points clarified, we should have user profiles to understand and empathize more with the user outlining their demographics, user behaviors, user needs, and user goals. By having a hypothesis persona, we can validate the proposition. We can validate them by segmenting the audience and having real-time user interviews in which we can clarify if our assumptions are correct and get a detailed understanding of the user needs just by observing the facial expressions, reactions, and behavior while the users answer our questions.

Triggering consumers

We can empathize with the user’s motivation and ability. We can use this tactic to motivate them to use our application which will make them visit our app more frequently. One such example is Zomato sending us notifications in the right situation.

Scarcity principle

When people are aware that items will be available at this cost only for a specific time period then they will tend to act fast to acquire the scarce deal. We can have time-sensitive deals in the design which will include sale deadlines, limited-time discounts, and time-bound purchases.

In addition to it, we can also include the quantity scarcity principle to make people informed about the stock shortage.

So when the scarcity of an item increases, the value of the item will also increase provoking the urge to own it.

A right choice made in choosing marketing as it helps me understand day-to-day life and allows me to pertain to design thinking.

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My relation of MBA to the design field

Background

I sketch both digitally and on canvases because it is something that would make me feel easy just like art therapy. It is just my passion. I had worked on paper wireframes in my bachelor’s without even knowing it is paper wireframes. I tried to add UI design using pages on Mac as I was not aware of the actual software tool and the name of the thing that I did for a mobile grocery app. It’s UI. I understand now.

On attending the Google developers workshop, my underlying interest in research and customization of the works was rekindled. Getting exposure, I went back home and tried to gather information and start working. I tried to get inspiration in every possible way I can. I connected with some people on social networks and installed the software and began the process with all excitement.

Strived to get the best

It was a hard time in my college. We were asked to prepare for seminars and presentations in groups, however, not every person works in a group. That true. Owing to the undeniable situation, I was finding it difficult as I had no time in getting done with my portfolio, and more than that I couldn’t find a proper mentor who could guide me in the process for which I paused my work and began crying. I stayed late at nights. I skipped parties and functions just to complete the work that I had begun. I resumed my work but I was left on the ground with no help but just the bag carrying my efforts, and interest. My only aim was to get an internship for which I need to complete my portfolio before time and attend UX interviews.

Seeking guidance

Sometime later, I reached out to people on Linkedin and asked my queries. I felt happy when they responded to them with clear ideas. Slowly, I also realized when we ask different people, their responses also vary from one another so we can choose the one from which we can take points that would match our mindset. I learned to be totally flexible and learned to adapt to working on things. On the other hand, one of my friends who has a design background worked hard to teach me the use of technical tools. At times, my brother would give me hints and motivate me to just do it which would encourage me.

Favorite part

The best part about design thinking was what I had studied in my MBA.

The ways to meet the needs of the consumers in order to satisfy them is how it is applied in management versus the ways to understand the goals, frustrations, and pain points of the users so that it would be possible to try to bring a creative solution is how it is applied in user experience.

Having a clear idea of these in mind, I was able to understand the concepts of use cases, pain points, workflows, and business processes- managerial concepts indirectly help me come up with an improved vision. Just seeing those UX processes seemed very easy, but I almost died before the completion of every phase in the case study.

Apart from the help I got from my degree, I learned a way lot more in the real world as the Google UX design course favored me in improving my overall understanding of the UX process.

Conclusion

I was able to rightly implement my plan in real-time. I got a UX internship as planned mainly because of my strong determination without having time to listen to the fading voices. Also, I consider UX to be the initial point from which I can advance my career to the design of products. Till that point in time, I will continue to realize my 5 years of business administration course as it is helping me facilitate a business mindset in every phase of work.

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Android vs iOS — Pros & Cons

Android vs iOS — Pros & Cons

The choice of going with a smarter choice in choosing between android or iOS remains a difficult decision to make. It stays as a complicated question owing to the mobile OS which consists of many features including technical specifications and support, however, they both are very different because android is an open system, whereas iOS is a closed one. It is true that the latest version of both operating systems — iOS 15 and Android 12 are performing incredibly well in the market. It is believed that the OS has both advantages and disadvantages, so the presented essay will discuss the pros and cons of Android and iOS.

i) Price:

People have a perception that Android phones are cheaper in price with a wide range of specifications. Literally, Android smartphones which are aiming to be budget-friendly are prone to problems and their features will be confined to making calls, texting, and performing web browsing to a certain limit. On the other hand, if an iPhone delivers a level of improved functionality over a lower-priced product then it is worth buying an iPhone.

ii) Security:

Apple’s source code is highly guarded, but Android has made the majority of its operating system open-source. Hackers will have a harder time finding security holes because Apple’s programming is closed source. iPhone is designed to protect the users’ data and security. It has a lot of restrictions that are security-based which would make the users feel more secure and those built-in security protocols help protect data on your iPhone and in iCloud from being accessed by anybody other than you. An iPhone is almost impossible to infect with a virus or malware. It might as well be impossible as long as you don’t jailbreak it. This may not be the case with other phones.

iii) Customization:

People who like customizing their phones would prefer android phones rather than iPhones since it allows the installation of more widgets, various typefaces, clocks and it has enhanced usability which became more popular among users. Those options are mind-blowing like getting the freedom to personalize as per one’s wish. Below are some of the customization options:

It is possible to replace the standard keyboard by downloading a third-party’s keyboard app and replacing it with the existing one.It is possible to download a new launcher and replace it with the current one.

Although you may still customize your wallpaper, widgets, and fonts to some level on iOS, it is more limited in scope, focusing primarily on stability and convenience of use.

iv) Updates:

Apple phones are equipped with Apple-developed software. As a result, Apple can deliver software upgrades to each consumer individually. Apple wants its consumers to have the most up-to-date software. It increases the security of the devices and increases the chances of customers using the services. On the other hand, mostly Google’s software is not the only thing present on Android phones. Each phone has its own version of the operating system, which has been customized by the hardware manufacturer.

v) Battery life:

The majority of Android smartphones have better battery life than the iPhone. The batteries on Android phones tend to last longer. While iPhone batteries are fairly power efficient, the key aspect is that iPhones are extremely lightweight in an enclosed design, significantly lighter than their competitors, resulting in a smaller battery capacity.

vi) Cloud integration:

Apple can’t store all of their data from services like iCloud, Music, TV, and Arcade in their own data centres, so they resort to Google Cloud to clear up some space. Every iCloud user gets 5GB of storage, which seems generous until you realise it’s per account, not per device. Between a Mac, an iPhone, and an iPad, that’s not a lot of space to share, and it’s even worse if you share your account with family members. If each picture is taken using a 5 megapixel camera at regular resolution, a gigabyte of storage may contain around 500 images. Photos of a higher resolution would take up more space. So, in 5 GB, you may store around 800–1000 photographs. You’ll have to delete files if your iCloud storage is full. Alternatively, you can buy more iCloud storage in most circumstances.

Android, on the other hand, is strongly linked to Google’s apps and services. I use Google apps on a daily basis for both business and play. There’s no denying that when it comes to cloud integration, Android is the undisputed champion.

vii) Intelligence assistance:

Although Siri was the first to market, it is still rather fairly basic. It’s adequate for answering queries, but it’s not a particularly advanced robotic assistant. Google Assistant is simply superior to Siri as it has significantly improved voice recognition, natural way of conversing, accuracy in answering the questions. Google home sets itself apart from the rest as it is capable of providing more accurate responses than Siri on iPhones. Despite the fact that Siri is more visually appealing, still, the conversation is not that good when compared to Google Assistant. Moreover, Google Assistant is often wiser than Siri. By providing specific information, Google home & assistant performs better as a smart home voice assistant.

Conclusion:

There is no straight answer as to which model is ideal for you, the pros and drawbacks listed above can aid in determining selection.

For some people, a few categories are more important than others. While other people will value and consider hardware options to be more significant, and the next category of people will be more concerned with battery life or mobile gaming. Both platforms provide excellent options for a variety of users. You’ll need to figure out what factors are most essential to you and then pick the phone that best fits your requirements.

The iPhone may be the ideal choice for you if you are already familiar with the Apple brand and are willing to pay a premium for a better and easier mobile experience. On the other hand, if you are a knowledgeable smartphone user seeking a device that allows you to customize your interface at a lower cost, then picking up an android phone after analyzing the specifications would be a better choice.

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Sometimes I feel inadequate

Sometimes I feel inadequate

Maybe it’s true that I’d lose hope and feel inferior to cope with life. It would become obvious if someone treats me with a little less priority. It would completely drain and make me feel insecure. I know I could identify what situations would make me feel uncomfortable and bring sadness to my face. It may be people misinterpreting something over my argument or a few things that happen without my knowledge.

People say not to judge anyone or compare with what others have but still, everyone around is being judged to something that has got its perfection. A sort of panic comes when we see everyone around us accomplishing something in life but we still learning the basics in life. Everything around us moves fast but I’m still wondering how I had attained 22 years of age. It gives an empty feeling and all the things happening in sequence would correlate with that and it worsens the situation which would leave people crying alone without having a choice to utter to a colleague or a friend.

The mindset to not accept such things in front of them stands still because it is from which people also easily take their weakness as a choice and might hurt narrating the incident again, someday. It hurts in the journey to reach that kind of perfection. People say it easy, the one who goes through- realizes. People say everyone is unique but no one really does know what hurdles it is to overcome to bring out the uniqueness. Giving a pat on your back and starting to work for yourself is how you can help yourself without drowning in the world of depression.

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Why does it hurt when money goes out?

We all would indeed have experienced the tough phase in our lives when we would leave tears after realizing that we had spent the money for unnecessary purposes. That point when we are calculating the money where we had lost will make us wonder about the value of money. More would be realized when one spends his hard-earned money rather than getting it from parents.

The loss of money could have a drastic effect if it impacts a child's education, purchase of a home, or retirement. These are some significant milestones that are essential to cope up if not it may be difficult for people to deal with the traumatic effect.

Let's imagine these situations:
I) Where you had been pickpocketed and you are left with no money in the bus, or
II) Where you had forgotten your wallet in the taxi that had a wad amount of cash, or
III) Where your sum amount is lost in the investments you made.

When we handle such situations, we will come across a feeling of sadness and fear to face the future. I remember the article that I recently came across where the author had written that losing money is linked with pain and fear in the brain. It is said that losing or gaining money is based on the previous instances which would guide us take decisions on our spendings in future.

Though humans try to avoid losses by being cautious still they lose funds since losses are inevitable in the market. When people tend to lose money, their vision gets clearer to earn more to a certain extent. I consider it as a motivating factor for people to earn as they spend. It is the accountability of humans to think practically to take up a decision that would be favorable for us. We cannot get rain without having a sunny day, the same way, we cannot save the whole sum without losing some money in unexpected ways as mentioned above. So, taking it as a driving force would let us lead a happy life and it is our responsibility to keep the previous instances in mind to limit our expenditure and be careful about our spending in the forthcoming days.

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Purpose of life

Deciding the purpose is a mere blueprint from which we plan the activities sequentially from scratch. Life is all about experiences we learn and the corrective measures we take to relearn lessons from the mistakes we commit. Most importantly accepting the things we don’t know and listening from other people is a basic quality in becoming the people whom we wish to become.

Firstly, we need to understand ourselves to find out our strengths and weaknesses. We can do a SWOT analysis to get a better understanding of our own self. Determine the situations where people had complimented us for the work and the projects that we did without having a feeling of being tired. That is how we identify our strengths. But once we carry forward to work there might come a hurdle where people would belittle us, it is we who should stay positive and strong in our passion and give time to make things happen as per our desired plan.

We must make use of the full potential in our lives and do not be scared to step backward as we might not get the same time once it is lost. Every minute passed cannot be bought back in real life rather it can either be flashed in closed eyes only as a memory or a captured moment can be viewed as a picture. Since time is precious, we should learn the art of experiencing adventure and the knowledge we gain through living. Active participation and experiences are significant in life which decides the success or failure of life. In addition, we tend to get exposed to limited opportunities in our current age, however, when we read books, we can witness the knowledge of the authors and the situations that they had undergone in their lives. Listening to the past life stories of other people would let us understand how they had tackled those circumstances. These are the sources in which we can increase our comprehension, independence, maturity, and self-confidence

Mostly the people who are self-concerned would decide the purpose of their lives. As for me, my purpose in life is connected with the work that I perform. I was molded into an individual and had set my purpose from which I started out planning which guided me to make decisions. I fail, indeed humans fail at times. I motivate myself whenever I fall down. I might require time to heal, I might feel like I have lost everything if I didn’t get what I want at a moment. I take time, more time to think and plan. In the process of planning, I would cry silently when people are not around me but I never quit things that I had first planned. I have to accept the fact, if I decide to do this particular activity, I should take complete control and I should only face the consequences which are caused because of my decision. I’m responsible for the words I utter. We are responsible for what we say and that is why words are important when in conversation with people. Choosing the right words to utter after going rehearsals in mind is how I talk with humans. I learned this lesson from the person whom I know. There are people who would remember the sentence you spoke about three years ago and ask you at the present moment, ‘You said you wanted to study MBA, didn’t you?’ That is how people are. Choosing a different alternative according to the present scenario would be better for us but that is not what others care about. Not everyone is the same. Although, I understand we do not need to bother about the opinions of other people.

I often get inspired by the work of the ones who are experts in the field I wish to get hands-on experience. That is the reason I maintain a separate account to follow my passion for painting and another for reviewing books. My homepage of these accounts would be filled up with two different categories which would allow me to follow both whenever time permits me. I try to get the best out of it in my own professional way rather than just reciprocating it. I must say that my purpose is a core element that keeps me on track to what I want out of life rather than wandering around and getting all out of a sudden plan.

It is important to realize the things that make us happy, sad, annoyed, feel loved in our life. We need to learn in managing those emotions. Once people realize what they are feeling, they will know how to calm themselves from which they can adjust their responses and behavior well in life, so there would their relationships would be healthy and they can find a way to manage difficulties. Maturity comes as children turn into adolescents, we should figure out how the situation makes us feel. If we feel anxious about a previous incident, we should not spoil our well-being when we are present in a group, instead, we must be aware of the feeling and move out of the group to take time and find out a better solution to resolve our mindset as those feelings often affect the people surrounded by us from which our connections ie friends, and family would refuse to be like how they used to be with us. Sometimes we may not know what makes us feel sad, we may just cry without recognizing the reason behind our sadness. All we need is the shoulder of our parents or friends to guide us with positive words. By sharing our feelings, we would get consoled with their supportive words from which we can regulate our emotions.

Overall, we must plan the activities and get done with a SWOT analysis as it helps us to get a report of the things that we are strong at, the things that threaten us, etc. We must accept reality and experience life as it comes. Incidents can be learned through our own lives, other people's lives (active listening), visuals and books, etc. The process of planning and adhering to the words uttered by us should be considered prior under any circumstance. Also, there is no room for shyness when there comes an opportunity to learn from experts or experienced people. Most importantly, both children and adolescents must recognise and be aware of their emotions and know to arrive at a solution without complicating their relationships.

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