Studio Practice: November 2017

Sunday, 19 November 2017

OUGD504 - Module Evaluation

OUGD504

Module Evaluation

Studio brief one and two had very different outcomes. Both relied heavily on understanding the content and consumer. Research was crucial in both. In studio brief 1 I conducted a lot of research in production methods in order to make the product as cost effective as possible. However, I had little interest in the content of the book and relied on my client to provide the information. On the other hand, I conducted research on content, production and client in studio brief one as I already have an interest in the topic. I think the outcome of studio brief two is more developed and successful in comparison to studio brief one, which could benefit from more development. In the future, I will conduct more research on content. In industry, I may work in similar situations where I don’t have an interest in the subject matter but still want to produce an engaging piece of design.

Both studio briefs had a quick turnaround. This kept me motivated and I didn’t get complacent. Although both outcomes require more development. For studio brief one I would re-evaluate the stock I printed on and the material used for the cover. For studio brief two I would test the app on the consumer and make improvements from there.

Overall, I found studio brief two much more engaging. I enjoyed using new software’s and creating a working walkthrough. I found studio brief one rewarding as the outcome produced a physical object, however, I found choosing and justifying layouts and stock very dry.

OUGD504 - SB02 - Evaluation

OUGD504

SB02

Evaluation

For this brief I created an app for competitive swimmers aged 11 to 16. This would seem like a very specific target audience, however a difference of 5 years at this age is huge. An 11-year-old girl and a 16-year boy will have a very different outlook on life, never mind what type of app they will have on their phone. This problem gave me parameters to work with, this works well for me as I find it easier to design with possible problems in mind rather than designing for the sake of it.

I already have an existing interest in swimming which made finding a gap in the market for this app much easier. From my experience in the sport I already knew what the app needed to do and the information it had to display. This left me with much more time to research existing apps for this specific use and other successful sport apps. I also read books and articles on user experience including Ellen Lupton’s Type on Screen and Apples Human Interface Guidelines. I also researched how to use user experience programme Adobe XD. This research really gave me a strong understanding of what make a successful user experience and I used it to inform my design. This large amount of research is something I should be doing throughout all modules and I now realise the importance of it as a justified design will be much more successful than a shallow aesthetic design.

Personas were crucial for designing this app. They created specific needs that the app had to fulfil and helped me to consider the difference audience members that would use the app. This was especially helpful when deciding on colour scheme and tone of voice of the app.

This brief presented challenge that I have never faced before. The main one being that the designer would not actually be responsible for the production of the app, a developer would. This means that as a designer I would need to make something that a developer would be able to understand and create a working app out of. Adobe XD was perfect for this, allowing the designer to create detailed wireframe the can be simply animated to show how the moving elements would interact.

I think the overall finish of the app is good. The design and colours are consistent. The competition and preparation sections are clearly separate and fulfil the needs of the target audience and the look and feel of the app is hopefully suitable for the age range. There are lacking consideration, for example how would this app work with social media. Another thing I didn’t consider is how the app functions on a physical scale, for example how easy is it to navigate just using your thumb. In order to develop this app further the prototype would have to tested on the target audience to see if it does in fact fulfil the needs of British Age Group competitive swimmers.