Rob Green - Final Major Project: crit

Final Crit

Here is the final feedback I received:

Action Plan:

Here is the feedback I received:

Action Plan:

More visual development needed for some briefs.
Movie forward with context publication, blog more content.
Code the surveyor website.
Start working on presentation boards, try not to make them repetitive.
First presentation board for each brief should be able to communicate the overall concept of the brief.
Video demos would work well for some of the apps, especially for context publication.
Expand range of deliverable for the Pet Trails app.
Perhaps include an explanation of RSS feeds for the Quick Reader app.

Here are the boards I had for the second feedback crit:

A4 Brief Summaries:

A3 Progress Boards:

Here is the feedback I received for course-mates:

Ideas have been thought through well but I need to show more development & visual experimentation.
I can explore the Handyman website more throughly and look at different colours and logo ideas.
More development is needed for the Pet Trails app design and also need to look at how the app would be advertised & marketed.
I should look at how the NHS therapy app could be explained and advertised/delivered to patients.
With the reading app I need to look at the types of content that people will want to access.

Some additional comments from my tutorial with Si Scott:

He thinks I should experiment with more illustration and stimulating graphics to see if I can make the apps more engaging for the audience.
An example of this is that the Pet Trails app could change its theme depending on species of pet the own has.

Action Plan:

Research the marketing and advertising of apps and other software.
Look at how I could expand my briefs to cover how the apps would be promoted and explained to their audiences.
Experiment with and expand the visual development of my app designs to try and make them more engaging for their intended audiences.

Here are the main points from my tutorial with Lorenzo that concern my design practice briefs:

I need to look at the deliverables for my briefs and how I will present them for submission.
One possibility is to produce a narrative to show my proposals in context, showing the viewer what the interface does in a visual manner.
A direction I could take is looking into producing animated demos of my proposals to communicate the concepts and visuals.
This secondary element to my design process is similar to how websites for apps communicate their products in a clear and concise manner, aiming to persuade people into downloading them.
I need to start producing digital mockups of my proposals as soon as possible to show during the crits later this week.
This direction means a look at not just how the app will work and look, but also how it will communicated and marketed to potential audiences.
These changes should help give my designs the human element that they are currently lacking in.

We also discussed these issues with my design context publication:

My design context need to be restructured to follow the processes behind interface design, to tell the story behind creating these designs.
I need to relate interface design to people and how it works within people's lives.
One idea is to initially focus on what functions interface design can perform for people, how people relate to these designs, how this relationship influences the delivery of the interface and then break them down into usability, emotive design and other elements.

Action Plan:

Start producing the digital mockups of my app proposals, looking at different visual elements to help them relate to the audience.
Start looking at the different methods used to promote and communicate applications to their potential users.
Begin sketching out possible narratives for explaining and promoting my apps, looking how to describe their essence to people.
Work out a new structure for my design context publication, discuss it with Lorenzo and then start producing it.

Here are the boards I used to present my ideas and initial designs:

Some of the feedback I received:

Experiment with colour more on the surveyor website.
Start posting about my ideas for the other briefs mentioned in my statement of intent.
Start considering how my infographics could work on the front cover (once we have the information to start producing them properly!)
Information overload idea for BLYK is strong - needs more research though.
Need to start working on wireframes for my interface ideas.
When producing designs I need to focus on how the user experiences the product/service. How does it fit into their everyday lives? I need to be empathetic towards the user and consider their wants and needs.