Archive for ‘Announcements’
Reflections
After each project I feel like I’m getting to know photoshop to a greater extent, which has made projects entirely easier to complete and to create new possibilities of portraying an idea. I also employed Illustrator by importing smart objects into Photoshop–learned that, that creates a cleaner look to the objects when saved. Before I would make the mistake of creating everything in photoshop and end up with pixilated images. I felt very rushed on this project and had a concept at the beginning of keeping things simple and flat, with outlines and as much directness as possible. But I think not venturing out into other styles may have hurt me. I like the end look and feel, but I can’t help but wonder if it could have been better. I feel that my work this semester has been sub par for what I know I can do. They are not stumbling blocks, but experiences to learn from along the way.
I hope to improve upon the user experience by showing friends and asking if it is intuitive or confusing to them. I do want to rearrange some elements to better utilize the space. I would like to have just worked on the whole thing to improve aspects of the project. Simplifying and cleaning details. Dealing with negative space better and working even more on the user experience side of the app, which is pretty key to the project. I hope to discuss this with you (Mike) to see about other solutions to increase the visceral affect in a positive way.
Well now that I have a new computer with a hardshell case and protective keyboard cover I feel confident that I will be able to deliver process work in a timely manner and not feel so overwhelmed. I have learned that I work at slower pace than others. My attention to detail attributes to that, but other designers are also meticulous if not more so, but produce their work, and in a greater quantity, at a much quicker rate. It’s been very frustrating. I need to continually improve my timetable of what I can complete in order to utilize my skills to their fullest and to improve. I’m looking forward to the next project and hoping that I can create something that could be incredibly useful and well designed. We shall see.
Project 4: Reflection
Personally, I really enjoyed this project. It was difficult figuring out the layouts of the app and screen connections at first but I got the hang of it. I think the more I have used Photoshop the more I know how to use it in a faster amount of time. I don’t feel like there were as much technical mistakes for this project than the other projects. The only thing I can think of is possibly a little bit of spacing issues but not too bad.
I think conceptually trying to figure out what screens connect to what and how everything was going to work and interact with the audience was difficult figuring out. I think my planning of connecting screens could of been easier, but I think the more I dealt with trying to figure it out the more complicated it got so I left it how it was. I think the scheduling the games alert was one of the more tricky screens. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to click all the games at once and schedule them all at once or pick one game at a time and plug in the time. I didn’t want to do all the games at once because what if someone wanted to change the time on one of them. Therefore, I made it where you schedule one game at a time but it always had the option to be set to alert one hour before the game so they could just select ok or change the time and repeat alerts if needed.
Like I said above, the specific details that I could improve of was the interaction of the scheduling of alerts screen. Just figuring out the easiest way to schedule a game or set of games for the user. It was just difficult thinking about if someone wanted to see all the home acu atheltics teams and wanted to schedule all of them..how long would that take them to do? However, if a user just wants to see one football game..how can I make it easy for them to just schedule on their phone. So I went with the solution I have by just scheduling one game at a time with the alert of one hour before or the option to change the time.
I see improvements of dealing with details, layout, and spacing in this project. I know with some of my website designs I can trouble with sizing and spacing but I think since I was dealing with a small screen it was easier to spot out. I think my app looks more professional than my websites which I like the most.
Overall, I think I can improve on making this app look a little cleaner and the way it interacts with the user. But I really enjoyed this project and think ACU Athletics could use this app for fellow students and faculty. I talked to my boss who works in the Athletics Dept. and he got a hold of the person I should talk to about this so hopefully this could turn into a real app.
User Scenarios
Name: Matt and Jenny Hiperson
Occupation: Social Media Consultant Advertisement Analysts
Age: 28 & 26
Location: Abilene, TX
Having moved to Abilene from San Francisco, Matt and Jenny are struggling to adjust to life in a smaller city. Matt previously worked for an advertising agency on social media and viral expansion, and was transferred to West Texas to establish a new, cutting edge firm in an experimental program by his company. The couple work from their home in the nicer neighborhoods near Lytle, but they often feel disconnected from the city. They are constantly online and never spend a moment away from a screen, leading to frustration when trying to find any information regarding Abilene businesses or events. Recently Matt and Jenny were tipped off by an acquaintance to check out a new site called {site/app name}, which could show them any information about local places around Abilene. To their surprise, they were able to easily find local restaurants and cultural centers that filled their sophisticated needs and read helpful reviews from other users around town. They were also happy to discover the mobile app version of the site, which they now use primarily when bored or checking to see the latest local events in Abilene.
Name: Stacy Daniels
Occupation: Student
Age: 18
Location: Abilene, TX
Stacy is an excited freshman who has just moved to Abilene to start her degree in Music, and is a seasoned Abilene veteran. She has several family ties to the city, and while growing up in Fort Worth she has visited frequently for various holidays and events. Stacy knows the ins and outs of Abilene, but she is very inexperienced with newer technology. Having just received her new iPhone, Stacy has spent the past few weeks playing around and downloading every app that looks interesting to her. Upon searching for “Abilene” in the App Store, Stacy discovers {site/app name} and discovers all sorts of “hole-in-the-wall” businesses she never knew existed. When not busy with classwork, Stacy uses the app to look up the location of a local music shop and purchase new strings for her guitar. Later on in the semester, Stacy finds out about local Broadway shows via the app and follows a link to the site for purchasing tickets. Stacy is never aware of the desktop site’s existence.