2/27/14
Thursday Apps
At this year's Mobile World Congress, the CamMe SelfieApp won 'Most Innovative App.' It is a new way to take selfies by waving your hand in front of the camera and a timer will then take the photo from up to 16 feet away.
Assignments for March 6
Design time!
Based on the results of your prototyping, fix up your wireframes and start designing the views. Write out what you learned from prototyping and how it affected your designs. Please post your designs on the blog and label the post "design" and "project 1."
I know not everyone is a designer by trade, but do your best with the tools you have.
You'll present your designs next week in class. Each person will get 7 minutes to present. I'll either give you feedback on the fly or send it to you in writing.
Based on the results of your prototyping, fix up your wireframes and start designing the views. Write out what you learned from prototyping and how it affected your designs. Please post your designs on the blog and label the post "design" and "project 1."
I know not everyone is a designer by trade, but do your best with the tools you have.
You'll present your designs next week in class. Each person will get 7 minutes to present. I'll either give you feedback on the fly or send it to you in writing.
#ThursdayApps
#thursdayapps
PAPER
http://www.fiftythree.com/
a great app for drawing, ilustrating - maybe even taking notes!
they also just released pencil - a stylus that works with this app!
it allows you to purchase advanced brushes, it has a color mixer, pen, pencil, paintbrush tip!
It's great to have on your ipad while traveling etc. and sorts into different notebooks!
love it!
PAPER
http://www.fiftythree.com/
a great app for drawing, ilustrating - maybe even taking notes!
they also just released pencil - a stylus that works with this app!
it allows you to purchase advanced brushes, it has a color mixer, pen, pencil, paintbrush tip!
It's great to have on your ipad while traveling etc. and sorts into different notebooks!
love it!
Food on Wheels Prototype on Pop
The user test-
Tasks:
1. Find a taco truck from home
2. Write a review on Carlo's Steaks
3. Go see your photos
User 1: YH, 22
1. Unsuccessful
Problems:
-Home screen: For those who didn't allow GPS, there should be a dialogue box prompting the user to enter the location
-Search bar: should it be a button or a dialogue box?
2. Successful
3. Successful, but can the user access the photos from the sidebar, too? ex. facebook
User 2: JY, 21
1. Successful, but search nearby should be search or search button only
2. Successful, but can you shorten the process by one step? Consider.
3. Successful, but can you make it not look like an album and use wide rectangle forms for photos?
*The first screen should be the map+search instead of the profiel side bar open. It happened because the order of the screens is not editable.
*Also, the upper part is hidden due to the phone graphic layer on top of the screen. It is also not editable.
Tasks:
1. Find a taco truck from home
2. Write a review on Carlo's Steaks
3. Go see your photos
User 1: YH, 22
1. Unsuccessful
Problems:
-Home screen: For those who didn't allow GPS, there should be a dialogue box prompting the user to enter the location
-Search bar: should it be a button or a dialogue box?
2. Successful
3. Successful, but can the user access the photos from the sidebar, too? ex. facebook
User 2: JY, 21
1. Successful, but search nearby should be search or search button only
2. Successful, but can you shorten the process by one step? Consider.
3. Successful, but can you make it not look like an album and use wide rectangle forms for photos?
*The first screen should be the map+search instead of the profiel side bar open. It happened because the order of the screens is not editable.
*Also, the upper part is hidden due to the phone graphic layer on top of the screen. It is also not editable.
POP for Collab
Isn't the most seamless wireframe since some pages are still missing
https://popapp.in/projects/
https://popapp.in/projects/
Prototype
Prototype:
As the player opens the game, an online app called "Game Center" will automatically open to the log in page allowing player post up their scores to compete with friends to get a hire score. However, using game center is optional, you can always play off line so that the player can practice to get a hire score as possible. At the menu of the game, there will be: "New Game" (Providing two different levels such as "Normal" and "Hard") , "Setting" (Having "Sound FX" and "Music"), "Score" (optional to submit scores online or to play offline), and "Credits" (Explaining about the game). The game is a run and jump action plat form. The goal of this game is to have the character to reach the other side in order for the player to move to the next level. Each of the level will have different settings that the players will recognize such as Central Park, Times Square, etc. There will be check points every level. If you louse all your life, you have to stat all over from level one.
Ambroise's 2nd wireframes + design
I started designing the app, and prototyping it with and online platform called Flinto (it's pretty much the same thing as POP but with pngs and jpegs). Got my two roommates to try it out, they really like it!, Some of the flow isn't too solid enough yet. Although Flinto doesn't give much flexibility in terms of swipes and zooms etc... the app did make sense.
The whole payment method and even activity had a cool NYC helvetica white on black with bold lines feel to it which is exactly what I'm going for, but the type is too small in some areas and I will need to start "airing" it out by maybe adding more screens or simply going back to the drawing board to re-design the flow of payment. Right now I am particularly happy with the flow of payment, it's just that it is not clear enough what the balance is, or how many options you actually have. Maybe adding more intermediary views, like credit cards on a single view, reciept on another.... let's find out.
Project #1: &sounds. 2 Prototypes. Wireframe iteration 3.
 |
| Credit: solidifyapp.com |
The improved prototypes, below.
Changes made based on the result of user testing #1 and feedback.
USER TESTING #1
AppMapV3a-1 (wireframes 3) – Prototype
Participants:
- 1 grad student, an iPhone user
- 1 grad student, an Android user
- 1 developer, an Android user
Results:
Discover
- What happens if there's someone who's recorded an illegal or vulgar soundbite?
- What are these grey pins?
- How do I go back?
Record
- Are these grey pins my recordings or others? It's pretty similar with the other one.
- I like the editing feature
- It's like instagram for sounds!
 |
| Credit: solidifyapp.com |
USER TESTING #2
AppMapV3a-1 (wireframes 3) – Prototype
Participants:
- 4 app savvy mates
Results:
Side Nav
- Clicking the Logo to go to Home is causing a bit of confusion. Users tapped on the Hamburger menu button first, before trying others.
- Include Home/Discover buttons?
Discover
- List icon isn't clear
- I didn't get that it's a list view
- I like how the list view is instagram-ish
- The Map gives me a sense of satisfaction.
- The Map can be overwhelming.
- How do I follow other people?
- Why do I need to declare where I am? It isn't clear that I have to declare my whereabouts.
User Profile
- List icon very similar to Hamburger
Record
- Are these grey pins my recordings or others? It's pretty similar with the other one.
My Sounds (music player)
- How do i go back to Map view to play a different sound?
Overall
- Being consistent from screen to screen (transition, behavior, etc)
- I like how the place matters here.
- I like how the Log in is not upfront, users only log in/sign up when they share sounds.
AppMapV4 – Prototype 2
Participants:
- the same 4 app savvy mates
Results:
Discover
- How about including a category such as mystery/surprise me sounds? For users who don't check-in and etc.
My Feed
- How do I go back to previous screen?
- It can get confusing & difficult to listen to many sounds at once
Music Player
- Play Next track button isn't clear.
- Can't I play the sound while in list mode?
- "•••" button throws me off
- How do I hide the comment, like, etc buttons?
Overall- the same 4 app savvy mates
Results:
Discover
- How about including a category such as mystery/surprise me sounds? For users who don't check-in and etc.
My Feed
- How do I go back to previous screen?
- It can get confusing & difficult to listen to many sounds at once
Music Player
- Play Next track button isn't clear.
- Can't I play the sound while in list mode?
- "•••" button throws me off
- How do I hide the comment, like, etc buttons?
- Simpler than Prototype 1
- Very audio based, location isn't very important here
- I'm just recording, less about the place/location
- I like how it's fast & easy for me to access the audio and record
- Decide which iteration/approach
- Animate the background animation
- Insert sound
Some notes on testing with your prototypes:
1) Pay attention to what users do, not what they say.
2) Don't lead your users. Give them a task, and then watch what they do.
3) It's an observation, not a conversation. Don't totally shut down, but don't banter away either. Be a scientist!
Here are a couple of excellent articles from Nielsen about usability testing:
A Real Tree (thursdayapps)
One enormous environmental issue is deforestation. We're losing thousands of miles of forests each year. The Apple iPhone application called A Real Tree helps users fight back. The developers of A Real Tree have partnered with organizations like Sustainable Harvest International and Trees For the Future. These organizations plant trees in several nations, including Nicaragua, Haiti, India and Honduras. Every time someone purchases A Real Tree, one of these organizations will literally plant a tree.
The application consists of a simple image of a cartoon tree as it springs to life before your eyes. By experimenting with different gestures and motions, you can make a bird fly or cause flowers to drift in the breeze. According to the developers, more functionality will come to the app in the future.
The application is only 99 cents and can be found in the iPhone apps store. So, for less than a dollar, you can plant a tree and help fight global warming.
source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/
VivaQuest POP prototype
Here is a link to my POP prototype for VivaQuest.
https://popapp.in/w#!/projects/530e4309c39c29670a4ccb46/preview
NOTE: Some of the links which work in the app on my phone do not seem to work on the website version.
https://popapp.in/w#!/projects/530e4309c39c29670a4ccb46/preview
NOTE: Some of the links which work in the app on my phone do not seem to work on the website version.
2/26/14
#thursdayapps: Reporter
At random times of the day, Reporter asks you to fill in a mini survey, questions such as “What are you doing?, Who are you with?, How many cups of coffee did you drink today?, How did you sleep?”. You can also customize the questions. This allows for monitoring broad trends in your lifestyle. Reporter is an activity-tracking app that aggregates your responses into visualizations and charts of the user’s life.
The app is really easy to use, intuitive and only 2 effortless gestures are needed: tap and swipe. Some of the questions are can be answered with a yes or a no, while others allow you to type in. Each time you report, the app also pulls in various pieces of information like the current weather, current location (FourSquare API), how many steps you’ve taken today (iPhone 5s’ M7 motion coprocessor), and how noisy it is around you (iPhone’s mic).
I am a big fan of Felton's, and I got the app at $3.99. Reporter requires plenty of manual tracking – the creator argues that it’s the best way to answer the most interesting questions. Part of me wishes for Fuely, the little Nike Fuel cheerleader who gives you a little dance when you completed your goal, and the other wishes for automatic data inputs. The no non-sense questions left much to be desired after a while, unless like Felton, you are a data nut. And yet, there’s something appealing about the simple, purist graphics with 5 customizable color schemes.
Of course, you can export the data visualizations and print the 'posters' out for you to admire.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)