Archive for ‘Project 4’

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.

This project was very interesting, I really liked designing a app but at the same time I really didn’t like designing an app. I really struggled with the functionality of my app, but at the asme time I was fully aware of how it functioned and I thought everyone else would see it the same way. But they didn’t.

Some things I struggled with technically was something that I realized was going to be a problem from the get go. I wanted to stay with apples already in place aesthetic that they use in apps. But this proved very challenging to do and when i didn’t have the photoshop knowledge and skill to do it exactly the same I got pretty frustrated and i think it shows in my app. While I think that my technical skills were good enough to make a pretty good looking app they just weren’t quite good enough to make the app that was in my head. Over all though I am pleased with how my app turned out.

Conceptually, I struggled with making the features of my app understood by my fellow classmates. I went into this project knowing exactly what i wanted to do but as the project came along I realized that some parts of my app either weren’t possible o not realistic. So when i showed everyone how it functioned they didn’t get why it couldn’t or didn’t do some stuff and I wish I could have conveyed those reason better.

Over all I saw great progress in my attention to detail and the organization of the space that i am allowed to design with. It was a great challenge to try to put forward so much information on a 3 inch screen while also trying to keep that information very clean and clear looking. I think that my improvement in attention to detail is very noticeable form the first project, and you can even tell some difference from the last project. I also think that I could still improve on some things, one of them being color. Color is something I continue to struggle with today and am actively trying to better understand so I can do great work.

Technically I dont feel like I created this app in the most efficient way possible. After nearly completing the app one of my peers showed me many more efficient ways of doing things such as adding gradients to buttons and making them pixel perfect. There is a photoshop document that has all the iphone buttons and elements allowing the designer to quickly create buttons that are similar to the existing interphases of the iphone. In the future I will do more research in order to find more efficient ways of creating the visual elements.

Conceptually I needed to think deeper into the user experience in the running section of my app. I focused too much on making it visually appealing but not enough on how it would work exactly. I think a big disadvantage on the project for me is time. I feel like if i were given more time to invest in my concepts that would be an advantage, especially for someone who is still new to working in photoshop.

I have improved in my photoshop skills although they are still a little rough. I do believe my wireframes are much more detailed, as are my sketches allowing me to get a better idea of what the app might look like before i create it. I think the biggest improvement I can make in the future is doing some more intense research on existing apps and how they function. I also need to get better at photoshop and organizing my files into groups and subgroups.

Overall I really enjoyed this assignment and I could see myself designing apps in the future, it is interesting to reflect on what seems to be the most important thing about an app, the personal and individual experience the user has with the application. Its a different way of thinking, this app has direct exposure to the user and for often prolonged periods of time, thats a great thing. Knowing that you as a designer can have this direct influence on so many people really makes these apps and the fine details that much more important.