Successful group meeting

Met with my group today and they were happy with how I had linked everything up, and they helped out with the things I was having trouble with. After we had made the app work exactly how we wanted, we started to look at other apps for inspiration on the look, and how to make it easier to navigate with the addition of aesthetics.



We also thought about the possibility of a progress bar, but we couldn't quite figure out how to make it work because our app goes back and forward a bit. I think it is a good idea to have one and we should add one in later on.


We also thought of the idea of having a loading screen when the app first opens, We thought the Snapchat opening screen was a great example. I'm not sure how we would make this work using InDesign, we might have to wait until class and ask some people there.

Problems with links.

This week in class we started creating our app. Arie couldn't make it so it was just me and Jessica. We decided that I would do the links and she would do the aesthetics.

At home when I started to link everything up, it was working well. There were a couple of things that wouldn't work properly, like check boxes. Hopefully my group can help out with that when we meet up on Thursday.
One thing that I think might be impossible on InDesign is taking what the user inputs into a text field ad displaying it later on, we will just have to simulate this.
Using InDesign meant we obviously had to drop all of our ideas to do with swiping, dragging and pinching, but I am sure we will make it work with just taps.

This is some of the stuff that we got done in class:


This is the stage that I got it to after class, and before our group meeting :
Obviously I was just getting the linking under way, not thinking about aesthetics yet

     

Concept to mock ups

16/03/14

Today our group decided on which interface to develop out of our individual ideas. We all had some good ideas but I think the one that we chose has the best potential for development.
-The idea was for a planning 'to-do list' app that allows the user to be notified when near a location that would help them achieve a activity on their list.
-The idea was pretty broad at the beginning but our group started to really work well together to create a concept that will work smoothly.
-We were coming up with some pretty far fetched ideas which would be great, but as we were looking at other list apps, the ones that worked well were the ones that were simple to use.
-We ended up with something that looks simple and works simply, but also is effective as a functioning interface.

-We drew up a site map of the app, this really helped clarify the steps and make sure that we were all on the same page.

-We then did a paper prototype, we didn't get a chance to test it out in class, but I have the papers with me so I will ask someone else to give it a go and see if they can work through it easy enough.
      

Case Study - Easy to use website

www.urbanoutfitters.com

Categories-

  -Easy drop down menu when you hover over a category with your mouse.

  -Simple, fewer catgories and more search refining

  -Many options for refining your search to exactly when you want, saves time.

   -QuickView option to view the item in more deatail, and then you can view it in more even more depth by clicking the item. 

  - Lots of information for every item

Checking out-

  -Quick, easy checkout. Clean and minimal layout

Case Study - Bad usability example

www.jbhifi.co.nz

Main page:
  -Cluttered
  -Hard to find things

Categories-

  -Inconsistent with layout.

  -Some things you can purchase, others you can't. So it's just like a catalogue.

  -Very minimal information, and no opportunity to find out more

Buy page-

  -When you click to buy something, the whole layout of the site changes.

Checking out-
  -No option to check out as guest and must create a JB Hi-Fi account.
  -If you create an account, there's no way to access the account settings through the website.