GAM710 – Page 2 – Nathaniel's Creative App Journal

Business plans and pitching

During my undergraduate degree and through internships I have had to pitch my ideas many times and have practiced the technique behind my delivery and ability to answer questions. Nevertheless, pithing and presenting ideas and concepts is something that I would like to improve through further practice. I have also had limited experience in trying to fund product development and during this weeks journal post I will explore what it takes to build a business plan and pitch my ideas for funding.

Product is key

At the start of the project it is important to understand that the user experience is key to a products success. If the concept is groundbreaking but it is unusable and difficult to understand for the user then it will not bring users back to it and will not be successful. In order to do this, from a business perspective, you need to understand that every audience is different and this should be reflected in the business canvas template (or similar). These templates can be good starting points but can be changed in order to suit the target audience or type of app you are creating.

Types of funding

As important as understanding your audience is understanding how you will fund your app. Grants; either governmental, charitable, from angel or venture investors are a great way of gaining funding for your project. These types of funding can be philanthropic, research based or in return for a step in your project. Another type of funding that is more risky are through loans but can be necessary in certain circumstances.

Pitching your product

In order to achieve many of these types of funding or pitch the concept within a team it is important to be confident presenting your idea, concept or product. Having the ability to outline your product within 3 sentences is key to being concise and holding their attention. Below are types of pitches necessary to practice and know the difference between.

Elevator pitch – A short 2 minute pitch where it is key to get them interested quickly. It is also important to talk about the monetary potential and finances as these pitches are generally towards investors. These pitches are also usually without slides so building a picture of your concept, the user and how it will make money linguistically is key.

Timed/ competition pitch – These pitches are usually around 3 minutes in length and are limited with minimal slides. Similar to the elevator pitch in that building interest and a picture of the app has to be done concisely and without many slides.

Creative pitch – These pitches are usually within teams or companies where the ideas are judged not the monetary value. These may show a demo, concept images or research for the project. See tough questions will be asked but unlike the other are based around making progress not analysing the product worth.

Business pitch – This pitch is focussed on the business viability, monetary value and finances. Similar to the elevator pitch but generally will be longer, more intense and detailed analysis of the product or idea.

Conclusion

Having an understanding of business plans, pithing and funding projects is a truly important skill for app developers. In the past two projects I haven’t put too much thought into this and have focussed on the creative side of the project. Whilst this has worked for these two short projects in the future I will have to explore business plans in order to validate my concept in a real world context. The business plan also helps you think about ways of funding the project and how it will make money once released. If the app will have adverts how will users see these and how intrusive will they be. This is important for personal development as many creatives lack the business attributes and knowledge needed.

Whilst I have limited experience creating business plans and pitching for funding I feel that through the course I will explore these further and build skills that will give me confidence to do this when needed.

Week 5: Types of App

Market research

This week we were exploring market research, why it is so important for developers and the types of apps we may look to create. During this journal posts I will look into my past experience with market research for app development and the types of apps I am interested in creating.

In my past two projects I have created two apps that are quite unique. During the process I briefly explored the app market for similar products through searching app stores. However, I feel that there are better methods to cover a wider scope of products and work out the angle from which to approach the project.

Types of app

During this week we explored a few different types of apps in order to broaden our knowledge of what apps owe could create during this course, as well as some of the problems associated with them and a few examples.

Serious games + simulators

Serious games are not designed purely for fun but to solve a problem, educate or simulate environments or circumstances. These games cover a wide spectrum and are notoriously difficult to get accepted onto the Apple app store due to the strict review policy. These games cover education, science, healthcare and exploration. Aspect of these games that are fascinating are the citizen science element and ability to highlight complex cultural issues or topics.

An example of this is the game Fold it. This game crowdsources players to interact with proteins in order to help find optimal folds. This is done in the hope that it will help with biological innovations and help fight diseases.

For me this area and type of game is extremely interesting for the ability to solve real world problems through gamification and simulation. However, I believe that undertaking a project along this line would be extremely difficult technically and working out how to solve the problem. Whilst I wont be undertaking an app like this soon, I may explore this route in the future.

Gamification

Gamification is an area of app development that I highlighted before starting this course as an area that I would like to explore. These apps are much more rewarding to use that traditional apps and are therefore more capable of retaining a user. These apps combine traditional game mechanics with real world situations. They extrinsic in nature and provide rewards for the users time and engagement.

An example of the is Habitica which is a habit and productivity app that adds gamification in order to help you achieve your goals. By implementing gamification the app promotes you to treat these goals like a game in order to level up your avatar and unlock rewards. Another example of a gamification app is ZombieRun that pushes you to exercise through evading virtual zombies in the app.

Habitica

Gamification has a lot of potential to form habits, improve peoples lives and tackle problems in a fun and exciting manner. In the future I would like to explore gamification in order to create these habits, explore issues such as climate change and resource usage in an exciting and visual way. In order to explore this I will have to be more advanced in Swift and be more comfortable exploring app prototyping in greater detail.

eHealth apps

Another area of app development that I am interested in exploring due to the topical nature and ability to help people change their lives. From making your health easier to track personally, or for doctors, to improving your health through exercise tracking. This data can be supplied from wearable such as FitBits, Apple Watches or from technology built into your clothes or the environment. Combining eHealth app development with product design is an area that I am very interested in exploring.

Examples of these apps include an app developed my Nathan Eagle which solves blood supply shortages in rural Kenya that allowed nurses to text their hospitals’ daily blood-supply levels, which were tracked in real time at the centralised blood bank. This solves a huge problem in a simple manner which I find truly inspirational.

Through a huge number of eHealth wearables available the possibilities for app development is huge. The Arduino eHealth shield is an interesting piece of hardware and one that I will be able to use with my existing Arduino kits in order to explore creating some app that combine hardware and software.

Casual creator apps

Casual creator apps look to inspire creativity with an easy point of entry. These are not complex tools but instead look to reach a wider target market. Applying computational programs and algorithms to the app allows for a fast and interactive system to occur. Users inputs can alter and change an object or environment resulting in exciting or surprising artefacts .

Whilst casual creator apps are interesting I do not feel that it is something I am looking to explore anytime soon. However, I will keep my eye out for any interesting games in this area for inspiration.

Quantified self apps

These apps have surged in popularity i recent years due to the increase in tracking, sensors and wearables. The increased amount of data logging has revolutionised this sector due to the acquisition, use and visualisation of the data. The ability for these apps to help use know ourselves better, whether this is sleep patterns or steps per day, it is a highly powerful tool. These apps work by acquiring as much personal data about a specific topic as possible and allays it in order to create a visual output.

Exploring this data visualisation I looked into Nicholas Felton who turns data into graphics that merge infographics with art. This is a powerful way to communicate data analysis as it is easy to understand and is truly unique. The user would be much more likely to interact with an app where it felt like an experience rather than just numbers.

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Nicholas Felton – Data visualisation

I would like to explore quantified self apps in future projects and in order to do this I will look to explore what possibilities there are and how I might find a niche.

Market research techniques

Key questions to ask yourself at the start of an app development project are; Who is the market? How is it segmented? Which market segments are most relevant to your app? What are the demographics and techno graphic characteristics of users in these segments? How are the needs of these segments currently being met? This is just a starting point for market research but I feel that it starts you thinking about the user and also the market you are tackling.

Trends

Exploring trends is important for developers due to the rapid changes in the app world. From technological advancements to changes in user behaviour all play a part in which apps are popular. Whilst this doesn’t mean you should jump on every fad possible it does mean look out for big changes. One example fo this is when Apple changed its iOS style from Skeuomorphism to a flat graphical style that is not dated by visual media as much. This change was dramatic for the app industry and one that was quickly adopted in order to stay up to date with current times.

Apple iOS 6 – 7 comparison. The end of Skeuomorphism.

In order to explore app trends checking the popular apps in each segment of the apps stores will give an overall idea of the market. Checking unpopular apps is also very important. Reading reviews tells you why they are not popular and what key features are letting them down. This is useful user research as well tat is quick and simple to undertake. Google trends web service allows you to see how often particular search terms are used to judge the popularity and trend status. App trace provides data and statistics about apps on the market and brings all the information into a centralised location. Finally, Pew Global is a resource for researching attitudes and trends that is useful for technographic reports and provide information on your target audience.

Competitor testing

Competitor testing is a useful research method that assess your competitors products through the eyes of the end user. Being able to identify the issues that the app has, from usability to user experience or even lack of features, is an important aspect of this method. Competitor testing can be done early on in the design process as research but can also be used for validation or comparison. In the Design Sprint framework I have been exploring they sometimes use competitor testing alongside their product in order to compare the options. Keeping each ‘option’ anonymous allows the users testing the products to give unbiased opinions on each product, the key features and usability. This is a very useful method of ensuring that the results are not biased and come directly from the target audience.

Market segmentation

Understanding if you are aiming at a broad niche or a narrow niche is important to consider early on in your project. This is especially important for financing the project and making money. Whilst designing it for a narrow niche means there is less competition it also means there are less users and ability to create revenue. Nevertheless, the ‘stack it high, sell it cheap’ approach may backfire if the app doesn’t solve a purpose or hit a specific target audience. It is difficult to find the right balance but market and user research is key to solving this dilemma.

In order to understand research methods I will explore the Field Guide to Human-Centred Design buy IDEO. They are the company that pioneered user-centred design and design methods and one that I use often in my design projects.

Conclusion

Concluding this weeks work on market research it is important to undertake market research through your project in order to validate the concept and reflect on the goal you set at the start. Understanding what apps are in your target segment, what makes them popular and why users come back to use them is an important approach to app development. One key part of app development is critical reflection and not holding onto ideas or concepts that you have personal feelings towards. User feedback and market evaluation will allow for reviewing and reflecting on progress made and whether it is the right concept to take forward. All these methods and tools are only useful if used correctly and without your opinions and views overriding research.

Week 4: Reflection

Agile practice

During week 4 we were tasked with exploring agile development practice in order to promote greater creativity, flexibility and an iterative process. Using the university resources I have picked two sources that I found very interesting and will be looking to supplement my future practice with.

User-centered agile method by Dominique Deuff and Mathilde Cosquer

Published by Hoboken, N.J. : ISTE Ltd/John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2013.

Found: Library.fxplus.ac.uk

Published in 2013 this book analyses 10 years of work focussed on this ‘people first’ agile method.

Looking at combing two different methodologies; user-centred methods from industrial design and agile methods from software development. Mutually integrating these two processes into one methodology combines the project management and adaptability from software development with the user knowledge and testing from industrial design. The framework created brings in practical examples of how to implement the methodology and case studies of projects in which it has been used.

Creating a development culture that embraces change by Connor Crowley

GDC 18; Moscone Center San Francisco

This talk looks into the fluid and changeable manner of the market in which game developers operate in. New technologies, methods of consumption and trends make for a very unstable and constantly evolving market. This is equally true with other areas of app development where iterations and evolution is key. Crowley talks about how Jagex has adapted its team structure, processes and tools to keep Runescape surviving and thriving over 16 years.

Flexibility and adaptability helps them to change with, and ahead of, the market. Describing his method to promote a culture of change Crowley focussed on the ‘scrum’ pillars; transparency, inspection and adaptation as ways he promoted this mindset. Key take aways from his talk were that improvement is not immediate, use the pillars above to support change, smaller teams help to keep the iterations short and distributed decision making allow space for experimentation and growth. Finally he states that change isn’t a process but a behaviour which sums up his talk really well and the changes that he suggests implementing to be adaptable to change.

My practice

During my app jam I applied a design method I have used in the past; the double diamond method. I thought the 4 sections and checkpoints would keep me on track throughout this short project. Sticking to the design method too rigidly, as I did at the start meant that I could not be as spontaneous and flexible as I would have wanted. I found out that keeping to the timings too closely does not work for app jams where rapid development of concepts is needed. A more agile and instinctive approach is needed rather than the more methodical approach that I applied. One method I highlighted design sprints pioneered by Google ventures. These 5 day projects have been used to solve problems and create prototypes rapidly. I have started reading Sprint by Jake Knapp in order to greater understand how this process works and what key parts I can use during this module and future projects.

Researching agile practices has been valuable to expanding my knowledge of methodologies, processes and ways to design and develop apps. Having a large resource of methods, mindsets and activities to promote agile thinking will allow me to pick and choose for each project. The Design Sprints, Scrum method and the User-centred agile process highlighted are just a few ways to promote and iterative and experimental development process in future projects.

Week 5: Types of App

Smart Goal No.3

During this week I have explored the different types of apps that I could create on this course; from Serious games to E-Health apps. This has broadened my perspective on what is possible. One thing that I have learnt from this series of videos exploring the industry is that there is much to explore and each type of app is very interesting to me. In order to explore these types of apps further I would like to improve my knowledge of Swift in order create some of these apps.

My choice for choosing Swift was based of my interest in AR and Apple’s ARKit 2. This is a highly capable dev kit that I would like to explore in future projects in order to implement gamification and augmentation.

Swift:

Whilst I am not looking to become a programmer, I see understanding 1 language as a key skill for me throughout the course. Being able to converse with programmers and other app developers and even dabble in promoting myself are skills that I would like to learn. Using Swift as a way to expand the prototyping possibilities further than UI-based programs is another reason why I would like to learn Swift.

Specific: Learn the basics of Swift in order to start prototyping next semester.

Measurable: 1 beginner course each week from raywenderlich.com, pluralsight or Lynda.

Attainable: I have some knowledge of coding through Arduino but the beginner course should be my level. Fitting this into my schedule alongside work should be fine but reviewing this each week is key.

Relevant: I am looking to expand my knowledge in order to collaborate with programmers and explore app prototyping further.

Time Based: This will be achieved in 6 weeks.

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Week 4: Reflection

Reflection

Starting this course I was looking to diversify my skills base, whilst learning new ways to solve problems through the medium of app development. I see that apps will become a larger part of our lives from how we buy and consume products, how we will work to how we travel and much much more. I feel that right now it is important for me to start exploring the app development industry in order to solve problems in a holistic manner.

In the future I am looking to explore jobs from product design, user experience, design strategy and all that come between. Whilst I have a product design background I am driven by solving problems in the best way possible. Becoming a multidisciplinary designer will set me up with the relevant skills to work from small startups all the way to multinational design agencies. Working on developing solutions rapidly and in a creative manner are also skills I am looking to learn in order to supplement my skillset.

During the two projects I have completed so far I have learnt a great deal. I have discovered that in software development an agile and adaptable process is required to constantly iterate and improve your product. I will explore these methodologies and techniques over the next few weeks and build a framework for future projects. Pulling all of these ways of working together will increase my knowledge of design thinking and set me up nicely for future projects. I also discovered that I whilst I am capable prototyping on Figma I do need to improve my workflow and speed in creating prototypes.

The two project have been really enjoyable as I have found exploring problems and creating solutions for them exciting and challenging. I have also enjoyed creating prototypes that can be shown off as proof of concepts to validate my ideas. However, there are some areas i do need to improve. Highlighted above my design process and Figma skills all need to be improved by the end of the module. Below is a plan to implement these changes and learn the skills required.

S.M.A.R.T Goals:

User Experience

Whilst I have knowledge and experience of user centred design techniques I have not applied these to app development before. The two projects explored so far made me realise that this is an area that I want to master by the end of the course and use strongly in all of my projects. Researching and testing user catered design methods, user experience techniques and activities will all start to build my skillset as a User experience designer.

Specific: My goal is to improve my UX skillset of human-centred design, ideation and problem solving to find a new design method or skill each week.

Measurable: I will explore 2 UX methods each week, watch one hour of UX tutorials and read 2 chapter of Sprint by Jake Knapp.

Attainable: Focussing on spending an hour on each method each week will allow me to fit it in but explore it in a thorough way. The tutorials will be fitted in during the evenings after work and I have started reading Sprint over the past two weekends. I have made a plan to fit this in to my schedule.

Relevant: This is highly relevant and important for my future career as a designer, and throughout the course.

Time based: This will be achieved in 6 weeks.

Figma

Whilst I have explored other UI-based prototyping software such Sketch and Adobe XD I found Figma was the best option for me to learn due to the ability to share projects easily and collaborate. The skills I will learn are highly cross-compatible as Figma and Adobe XD, my two preferred options, are very similar.

I have highlighted this skill as one that I would like to improve as I feel this is how I would prototyped and test out my ideas most during this course and in future jobs. I will not come out of this course as a programmer so exploring other prototyping methods is key.

Specific: Master Figma and improve workflow to a level where I can turn ideas into working concepts rapidly.

Measurable: 2 hour design and prototyping challenge each weekend

Attainable: With my current skillset this should not be a problem as I am looking to expand my knowledge and speed. I have made a plan to fit this in to my schedule.

Relevant: This skill will be really important to future project on the course and pursuing jobs in the future.

Time Based: This will be achieved in 6 weeks.

Conclusion:

To conclude I feel like the App Jam has come at a perfect time to test and reveal my skills, and limitations. This has allowed me to put in place a plan in order to complete the SMART goals by the end of the module.

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Keeping to this plan will broaden my knowledge and learn these skills which I feel are key to my personal growth as an app developer. Each week I will post a journal entry detailing the progress I have made on each goal and evaluate the goal itself. Reflection on my progress and ability has allowed me to set these goals and the plan up and will allow me to alter and change them in the future.

Week 3: App Jam

App Jam – Outcome

The app starts as the user signs in.

The homepage allows the user to navigate to the different features.

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From here moving the the diet screen the user fills out a quick questionnaire to customise their diet.

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This diet page allows them to see their total ‘eco-points’ for the week.

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The daily page lists the dish for each meal and the eco-points that correspond to each one.

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Moving to the daily plan recipes can be reviewed, added to the shopping basket and reviewed. Sustainable shops are easily viewed below the recipe itself.

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Exploring more recipes and even sustainable restaurants are available in the app.

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Finally the impact page shows users how their diet effects the environment and allows them to learn how to reduce this.

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Evaluating this app jam I am happy with the outcome of the project but I am not happy with the process that I used. The double diamond design method works as a basic framework but sticking to it too much means wasted time and less time spent prototyping and detailing the concept. Over the coming weeks I am looking to explore and formulate a better way to approach app jams, rapid prototyping and new ways to critically analyse ideas as I go along. I have started to read Sprint by Jake Knapp from Google Ventures about the design sprint method that they apply. I am looking to explore some ways that I can tackle app jams and projects using this method.

Throughout the project I found time management very difficult and it took me a lot longer to fit in this app jam than I wanted. I was not able to commit two full days to the jam due to heavy work schedule and family commitments. This has put me a week behind on the course and I will need to speed up my process in future jams. I also did not manage to detail the app as much as I wanted and there are some elements that are not as easy to use as I want; such as the explore and impact pages.

Key areas to improve:

Design process: Explore new ways to tackle app jams and other projects. Look into ways that I can pick and choose certain design techniques for the task at hand. In order to do this researching different techniques will be very important over the course of this module. Design thinking, design sprints, agile design techniques and many more will be explored and learnt to improve the depth of my knowledge in this area.
Creative prototyping: This area doesn’t need a total change as I have managed to design, iterate and prototype the app to a satisfying level of creativity and refinement. Nevertheless, similarly to the design process this area is one that I am looking to explore further, develop and master. I need to explore new ways to design and prototype quickly whilst critiquing my progress. Exploring how to make decisions quickly, how best to design in an agile manner will help to improve my end concept greatly. In order to explore this further I will look into IDEO’s design methods, Lightning Decision Jams and Design Sprints to see the ways in which Incan solve problems and prototype concepts.
Time management: Time management was difficult in this process as I was unable to start the app jam as early as I would like. I then spread the app jam out too much and it took me many nights to complete the jam. In order to improve I have started to plan each project and week’s work on Trello in order to keep onto of the work. The other areas above should help speed up my process too and enable me to have a better work-masters-life balance (in theory). This will have to be evaluated weekly in order to see where I can improve and what areas are taking up the most time.
Programming: I did not get the chance to explore programming in this app jam as I do not feel confident in my ability. Over the coming weeks I will continue learning Swift and applying it to my projects. I will mainly prototype through Figma for the rest of this module but I will test my ability in Swift to evaluate my progress.

Despite these problems the app that I have created does respond to the theme in an interesting and topical way, however, greater familiarity with app jams, agile design methods and a more solid knowledge of Figma and UI will lead to better results in the future.

Week 3: App Jam

App Jam – Designing

Moving from an idea to the beginnings of a concept started by exploring what the app does, who the app is for and what the features are. At this stage it is important to narrow down features, cutting out any that are unnecessary or bloat the app. During this stage I came up with many more ideas and I could have cut the features down even more in order for it to be easier to use, more streamlined and specified. Looking back I now feel that I have tried to combine too many features into the app, but by the time of realising it was too late to change. Whilst the Eco-points are an interesting feature I think I could have gamified the app in order to promote sustainable behaviour and simplify the app. Also exploring where to buy sustainable food is good how often do you shop at multiple shops to get your produce. This is not something many people do and therefore may be a redundant feature.

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The next step was to turn these features into paper prototypes. This was a quick way to come up with ideas for how the app works, how users interact with it and thinking about how features work together. At this stage I was purely thinking about user experience and how that relates to the features. I did also start mapping out a user scenarios but I soon found that this was just confirming my assumptions as to how the app should work. This was a good task that helped me hone the app, but for an app jam I do not think it is relevant. This is not to say user research and mapping doesn’t have a place but I now feel that through gut feeling, prototyping and iterations the user experience becomes clearer and more refined. Exploring how design sprints test their concepts during their 5 day prototyping session leads me to think that in 48 hours using gut feelings and empathy are better methods than heavy user research.

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User scenarios

Initial app storyboards

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The paper prototypes were refined and then moved into a basic wireframe allowing me to see how the app works and how you interact with the features. All digital prototyping was done in Figma and during this app Jam I was not focussing on programming due to my grater familiarity with UI design over my knowledge of coding. As seen below the wireframe was a good basis for setting out the pages needed and allowed me to start refining features and the interface itself.

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Initial app wireframe in Figma

From the wireframes I started to iterate further quickly improving the app pages and features. Adding content, colour scheme and prototyping further pushed this project.

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Detailed app prototype

Whilst during the early parts of the process I came across problems in lack of understanding and knowledge of agile design methodologies, here I came across problems in time management. It took me a lot longer to design and prototype the app than I wanted. In the future I will first design the wireframes and then create a style guide for the app in order to speed up the process of inserting content, buttons etc. This is down to a lack of effective workflow at the moment and I will quickly get on top of this problem.

Week 3: App Jam

App Jam – Starting the jam

At the start of the project I explored the theme give to us: Guide, Opponent and Restricted. My initial task was to quickly explore what these meant using a thesaurus generator to explore other meanings and similar words. Exploring the different meanings that I could find for the words allowed me to reframe the theme and think further afield. This is a quick way to think about the way these words make you feel, allow you to stray away from initial and obvious thoughts in order to help spark ideas.

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I soon found that, to me, I believed that Guide represents the app, Opponent is a problem the user faces, and restricted is what is stopping you. Therefore my app would have to help the user solve a problem or reach a target goal in order to respond to the theme. Moving on I did not want to stick with these religiously but use the theme as a means to explore concepts in a different way and use it as a reviewing tool.

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During the next stage of the app jam I started to formulate some ideas for what the app could solve, what it could do for the user and how it relates to the theme. Using a mind mapping software allowed me to quickly write down ideas and cut down on the amount of time I spent organising them.

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Nevertheless, evaluating my progress at this point I found that I was spending too much time coming up with a variety of ideas when one of the first ideas I came up with was my final concept. Generally this would not be a massive problem but during an app jam when time is scarce this was a problem. In hindsight sticking to the double diamond method wasted some time at this stage and created frustration that I wasn’t moving on quick enough. I was too caught up in broadening my range of ideas rather than spotting the good idea straight away. In the future I need to develop a way to evaluate my ideas, quickly test them and see which ones have the ability to form solid concepts. Further research into how I may apply this to my design projects will be key to a more efficient and positive workflow.

I started to evaluate my ideas with the idea for a sustainable food app coming out as a topic I am interested in and one that I feel would be worth progressing further. The initial idea of the app is to allow the user to create environmentally friendly weekly meal plans that tracks the amount of ‘eco points’ you use for each meal. This allows the user to visualise what impact their diet has and where they can improve. Features include a map to explore sustainable shops and produce nearby, recipe cards for sustainable meals, a diet creation tool and pages showing your impact and where you can improve.

Overall by this stage of the app jam I had explored the theme and come up with a solid concept for my app, but the process behind it can definitely be improved. This area is key to a good project as picking an idea that does not work as a concept can ruin a project or make it more difficult to complete well. Below is a list of resources that I will explore in order to create a better design process.

Sprint by Jake Knapp
Hooked by Nir Eyal
Become a UX Designer Lynda course: https://www.lynda.com/learning-paths/Design/become-a-user-experience-designer
Design Thinking: Prototyping Lynda course: https://www.lynda.com/Design-Techniques-tutorials/Design-Thinking-Prototyping/486758-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a1%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3adesign+thinking%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2

Week 3: App Jam

App Jam – The beginning

The brief:

An App Jam is designed to stimulate a developer in the rapid development or creation of an app. Through short and condensed development loops you quickly explore and improve concepts and prototypes. App jams usually take place over 48 hours. This time restraint makes sure there is no wasted time as the developer needs to quickly explore paths and turn them into prototypes to test and improve, before the final production standard app.

My plan:

For this app jam I do not have this amount of time to dedicate and the last few weeks have been hectic and have unexpectedly pushed me off schedule. I am a few days behind on creating content which is pushing week 3 work into week 4. My plan to get on top of this is to focus on completing week 3’s work during the week and then doing week 4’s work over the weekend. This will be achievable due to a more normal schedule but I will also have to keep an eye on myself and not to burn out early on. I am looking to spend 2-3 hours a night from Tuesday to Thursday on this app jam. I will finish off any work needed on Saturday morning unless I have completed it, but that is my final deadline.

Regarding methods of rapid ideation and development I am going to use a condensed double diamond method (as seen below). This design process follows two different stages that work well within a longer time frame and this rapid process.

Discover – This section pushed designers to look at the brief from a multitude of angles, thinking of fresh and innovative ideas. Spreading your thinking further afield than your first ideas as well as researching around the brief.

Define – Here designers and developers will makes sense of all the research and what the problem means. What matters most? What could be possible to achieve? Here you should develop a clear vision and plan to move forward in the process. This should frame the design challenge.

Develop – This stage is where you should start to form concepts, where they are prototyped, tested and iterated. This trial and error style helps designers to constantly improve and progress the ideas through short feedback loops.

Delivery – During the delivery phase the final product is finalised and created from all the previous sections.

Deliverables:

These 4 sections frame the process very nicely for this app jam as there is a nice balance to the project as a whole. In the past I have dedicated too much time to coming up with ideas and concepts without spending the time to reflect and evaluate them. The define section give me opportunity to do this without limiting the other areas.

I will start by exploring the theme and will initially research around this area. Once I have understood the brief I will begin exploring through the creation of mind-maps to push my thoughts and ideas further. The main deliverables in this project however are the prototypes and the final product. Paper prototypes will allow me to rapidly create and visualise different concepts and ideas. This is a method I really enjoy as I get a lot out of putting my thoughts onto paper. This will be a large part of my output along with more developed wireframes. Digital wireframes are also a great way to quickly create prototypes to test. I have used Adobe Xd and Sketch in the past and I will use one of these tools to create basic wireframes and more developed prototypes to test. For the final production I will create either a vertical or horizontal slice of the app (depending on what the app does). This will most likely be on Adobe Xd or Sketch as I have not been able to learn Swift to a standard where I feel confident to code an app and would be a waste of my time in this app jam.

Week 2: Platforms and tools

Platforms and tools

This week we were tasked with researching and exploring the platforms and tools that we will use to develop and create apps. Exploring a variety of software development kits, programming languages and development environments will allow me to choose what tools I need in order to develop the apps that interest me and are relevant for my future career.

As some insight into the applications I would like to start designing, I will be looking to create apps that improve peoples lives, help implement sustainable strategies and make them more accessible. I will mainly be focussing on mobile applications (smart watches and phones). However, I will not be limiting myself to this if a solution to a problem is an app on a different platform. I am also interested in linking interesting technologies, iBeacons, RFID, AR etc. to apps.

My criteria for tools is a visual and completed prototyping tool for UX/UI and a programming language (and relevant tools) to realise the types of applications I would like to design. Due to my inexperience with coding I am looking for a language that has a relatively easy entry but with scope for more complex and exciting application further down the line.

Here is an overview of the tools that I have research and explored.

BuildFire.js:

Rapid mobile app creation through the BuildFire SDK and JavaScript. The programmer uses the supplied platform and customises the program to suit their specifications, rather than building from scratch.

This allows for easy and quick development of new concepts. The pre-programmed framework cuts down the time needed to develop apps and also makes it very scalable. This is also a good option for people new to mobile app development.

The downsides of this platform is less features and hardware integration. NFC and iBeacons, AR and other more advanced features are limited if not unavailable. The limitations of this platform mean it might be unsuitable for many applications that I would look to exploring. The cost of getting the app live on the App or Google Play store requires you to have your own developer account with the features increasing with cost.

For inexperienced developers or small enterprises BuildFire would be a good option however, for the cost and the creativity needed for the course I think that other options would be better suited.

Python:

As the most popular programming language it is used by top companies as it applies to a variety of applications. You can create almost any type of app with Python and for many different operating systems like Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac. A cross-platform framework makes its a great tool for creating complex multi-threaded applications.

As an easy language to learn, and read, it makes it a good language to start learning with. The maturity of the software has meant that Python has built up a huge amount of libraries that can be used for a variety of uses. The community that Python has built is huge and cannot be undervalued.

The downsides of Python is that whilst it is a hugely strong app development language the limitations come across when developing mobile apps. Whilst I thought Python might be a good language to learn due to its relative ease, the limitations in mobile development means I will look for another language.

Swift:

Swift is the latest programming language for the Apple ecosystem and has started to take over from Objective-C. The main advantage of Swift is its readability and its clean syntax due to it closely resembling English. Fewer lines of code is another great benefit.

swift

Swift is also the fastest growing language and has a growing community. Despite being a relatively young language it is becoming a very desirable way to create apps for iOS and MacOS platforms. I also believe that due to the relatively small pool of developers, and the growing popularity, learning the software now will help make me stand out from other developers in the future and stay relevant.

ARKit 2 has recently been released and has some great features including orientation tracking, world tracking, 3D object recognition and face tracking. I think that AR will impact our lives more and more through the apps that we use. Apple’s ARKit is the leading platform for mobile augmented reality and for me is the most advanced and accessible. The Pixar developed USDZ format for AR objects is also supported by Autodesk, Adobe and other third-parties making it relevant and accessible. AR is one of the major reasons why I believe that Swift could be the programming language I will start learning, using the large variety of resources out there.

Adobe XD, Figma and Sketch:

These three tools are great prototyping from a UI and UX standpoint. Whilst I have used Adobe XD in the past to create wireframes, mockups and preview apps I am interested in trying Sketch and Figma to see if these options provide any benefits. Each piece of software has its own benefits from prototyping to collaboration. These tools will allow me to rapidly create wireframes, prototypes and test apps before turning to code to realise my creation.

Conclusion

Looking at my skillset, current tools and software experience Swift looks like a good option for me to start learning as a solid start to programming and app development. Whilst from a UX/UI standpoint I will start in Adobe XD, whilst trying out the free versions of Figma and Sketch to compare the three prototyping tools.

The next step for me is to watch some tutorials and examples of how to start learning Swift. Exploring tutorial courses on Lynda and Pluralsight will help me to understand and get started coding apps.