Feedback on Prototype

Today in class we had our class feedback session to go over our apps. It was strange seeing how different it is for people to navigate the app if they have never used it before. Pretty much the main piece of feedback was to simply the app, so there aren't so many things on the screen at any one time. That way it will be more obvious to the user as to what they should press. I could probably get rid of the saved, and planned features altogether, although if I keep them, I'll definitely combine them into just one, as they practically serve the same purpose and was a bit confusing.

On the home screen, possibly have the question straight away of "What do you want to do?", so that the user is immediately taken to where they need to be, making their interaction a lot easier. The loading page could have the logo come up, and then once it has loaded have the "What do you want to do?" appear. From there, I will make sure each page only has a certain amount of options for the users to choose from.

Stu suggested that the aim is so make the app have the least number of interactions as possible, so that there is no struggle in the user getting to the final interaction, as you don't want them getting confused or lost along the way. He also told us how the interface should almost be like a cone, so at the very beginning of the app, in the first few interactions, there should only be a couple of options that the user must choose from to avoid confusion, and then as the interactions continue you can have the freedom to expand slightly more.

A few people commented saying that my layout of my prototype was quite good, yet I realised that the fact that we hadn't confirmed all of the categories, made it a lot harder for them to navigate, as they didn't know what was going to be in place of each of the icons.

However, now that Alfred and I had designed them separately, it allows us to take the best aspects from each, and combine them, as well as continue to develop these further in time for hand-in. I will keep my blog updated with how the development is going, and will continue to show what stages of the design process we are up to. I am looking forward to getting into designing the actual aesthetics of the interface as well, as we will be able to use the digital advantages to improve user interaction. For example, we can then make the buttons look like they are actually buttons with bevels or shadows etc.