Project 3

For the last project, students will strategize, conceptualize, and design an interactive mobile application that solves a real world issue they have identified.

This project is not meant to be a continuation of Project 2.

Project 3A | Project 3B | Project 3C | Project 3D

Requirements

Evaluation Criteria

The selected theme must be approved by your instructor.
Students may design an interface for any mobile device (including, but not limited to: tablet within a mobile context, phone, watch).
Consider the characteristics a mobile application offers:
- Notifications
- Geo location services
- Tracking data systems
- Use of the camera
- Communication aspects (text and voice components)
- Payment systems
These is no minimum number of interface screens for this project.
Students should be aware of the complexity of the design process of a mobile application and be careful not to prioritize quantity over quality. Building more interface pages than the requirement doesn’t necessarily mean a better project/grade. Students are expected to produce quality layouts, be original, creative and consistent with their visual language.

InVision Account Setup

Go to the InVision Education Edition Sign Up page.
Make sure to select Student.
Use 56-73-13-19 for the Verification Code.
User your @yorku.ca email address.
Use York University for the Institution.

Note: This process is for new accounts only. If you already have an InVision account, email Nadav Reis at nadav@invisionapp.com with your account username (email address) and expected graduation date and he will make sure your account is upgraded.

Project 3A

Proposal & Personas (5%)

Due week 10: November 8

Develop at least one persona that includes the 4 quadrants:
- Name and Portrait
- Demographic Information
- Pain Points and Needs
- Potential Solutions
For the proposal, students should answer these questions:
- What are the users frustration and pain points? Determine these through your persona development exercise.
- Based on your users pain points, what is the issue/problem you want to solve/improve upon?
- What user needs will the mobile application fulfill, and how will it do so?
- Which device will you target? (e.g. phone, watch, tablet)
- What are the vital functions of the application?
- What kind of content is required to support these functions? (Attention, smaller screen sizes require that extra attention is placed on text. Edit/cut down unnecessary content and only display what is most important)
- What technologies could assist users with their mobile experience? (e.g. location services)
- What context is your application being used in? (e.g. distractions, multitasking, motion, lighting conditions, and poor connectivity to name a few)
- What mindset are your users in when using the application? (e.g. are they micro tasking: using their mobile device for a short burst of activity, or are they bored: using their mobile device for entertainment/passing time)
- How will the navigation work? Reduce the number of categories and levels of navigation. Rearrange based on priority, always presenting the most important information first.
There needs to be a strong rationale behind the development of your mobile application. As such, applications that could potentially be solved/fulfilled by the creation of a typical website using a framework such as Bootstrap will not be accepted.
The choice of mobile device used should be based on the specific requirements of each student’s project. From a design perspective, students should look at all devices offered in InVision and choose the best one based on its characteristics.

Combine everything for Project 3A into a single PDF document and submit according to the class work submission process. Make sure to optimize your PDF file size. The final PDF must be less than 5MB in size.

Bring a copy of your proposal and personas (B&W print or laptop) to class and be ready for group discussions.

Project 3B

Wireframes and User Flows (10%)

Due week 11: November 15

Create at least 1 user flow detailing every step and state of the flow a user will take when completing the key task of your application
Low-fidelity wireframes should be done with paper and pencils/pens
- Create at least 2 variations for each interface of your user flow
Mid-fidelity wireframes should be done digitally using a vectorial creation tool such as Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, or Adobe XD and should be in black and white
- Use a grid of your choosing at the screen size for the device you have selected
- User real representations of content sizes and lengths (i.e. what labels will you use? How large will icons be?)
- Remember to design at 100% scale. Consider type sizes and line-lengths, especially on mobile devices.

Combine everything for Project 3B into a single PDF document and submit according to the class work submission process. Make sure to optimize your PDF file size. The final PDF must be less than 5MB in size.

Bring a copy of your proposal and personas (B&W print or laptop) to class and be ready for group discussions.

Project 3C

High-Fidelity Mockups (10%)

Due week 12: November 22

Create at least two mood board concepts with significant contrast between the two
Using your mid-fidelity wireframes and underlying grid, create high-fidelity mockups for all of your interface screens.
All content must be real content and final. No lorem ipsum.
Remember to design at 100% scale. Consider type sizes and line-lengths, especially on mobile devices.

Combine everything for Project 2C into a single PDF document and submit according to the class work submission process. Make sure to optimize your PDF file size. The final PDF must be less than 5MB in size.

Project 3D

InVision Prototype (5%)

Due week 13: November 29

Combine all final interface screens together into a single InVision (or Adobe XD) prototype.
All screens of the prototype should be linked together with hotspots and appropriate animations.

Send the final public InVision link to your instructor via Slack.