Extended Practice Evaluation

Extended Practice

Evaluation 

The Extended Practice module has been incredibly useful in advancing my skills and developing my portfolio. Following every brief I would reflect on the impact it had on my portfolio, and what needed to be done from there in order to create a set of work which was representative and directional but also open enough that more than one industry could be explored following graduation. I think I have successfully covered the consumer tech and automotive industries, though more work is needed in order to appeal to the film and game industries. The biggest order of business from this point is to develop and improve my skills in motion graphics and animation. Being able to animate my work, and allowing people to see how it would work in motion, would greatly enhance its presentation and increase my appeal from a recruitment standpoint. Time management was never an issue with this set of briefs - to avoid confusion I would complete almost all briefs in chronological order, and wouldn’t move on to the next until design boards, blogging and the final designs were created. This resulted in a much more concise order of progress in my mind, and resulted in my projects being easier to manage, so no time was wasted on needless retrospective organisation.

Brief 8 - Nota App - Design Boards

Brief 8 - Nota App - Feedback

Positive Feedback 

Large touch targets make it easier both to reach and use the interactive elements of the design

The large amount of colour instills a happier and more determined emotional state, rather than traditional dry and dull productivity apps which exacerbate the overwhelming feeling of 'I have things to do'.

Using colour to identify priority creates a sense of hierarchy and eases understanding 


Constructive Feedback 

Animating the project would give a whole new sense of life and aid in presentation 

More screens could be shown e.g. the Profile page


Survey Responses

Question: Do you regularly use a Notes/Task app? 
Response: 30 yes, 17 no 

Question: Would this design encourage you to use one?  
Response: 36 yes, 6 no


Conclusion: 85% of those surveyed said the visual design of Nota would encourage them to more regularly use it over other task/notes apps 

Brief 8 - Nota App - Concept Development

A large quantity of colour gradients and themes were explored for the Task cards, as well as the shape and corner strategy. Though hard-edged corners are definitive and strong, rounded edged cards work better within a largely colourful theme because of their more soft and friendly appearance. 

Multiple type options were also explored, but Gelion was selected because of its contemporary but friendly and highly readable appearance. Unique character structure and practical but attractive frets afford Gelion its high levels of readability and legibility, particularly in a digital environment. 

Darker background options were explored but deemed unnecessary in feedback sessions

Over time, the hierarchy was defined: 1. Upcoming tasks 2. Recent notes 3. Progress tracker

A dedicated Dark Mode could be easier on the eyes at night, and attend to a variety of personal preferences, but doesn't play well with vibrant gradients

The colour theme was adjusted over time to be both relaxing and vibrant (and in the case of high priority tasks - motivational)

Brief 8 - Nota App - Visual Research

Clear top titles remind the user where they are at all times, and the behaviour and direction of the motion helps the user understand how they're moving through the system. The choice between List and Grid views is also helpful for varying screens sizes, personal preferences and information type. 

Colour gradients, drop shadows and cards/tiles are the three most influential visual trends in recent user interface design. They all work together to create a sense of material and realness, and the injection of colour helps to add vibrancy and excitement to otherwise stark or bland elements.  

It's important to seek visual inspiration from beyond the cocoon of UI design - product, industrial and transport design can all help garner innovation and inspiration into the fields of graphic and UI design. 

Brief 8 - Nota App - Competitor Research

Before starting to sketch or wireframe, I downloaded all the free iOS apps for the major productivity players, and assessed what they succeeded at and what could be better. 

Evernote

Regarding the Flexibility vs Usability Tradeoff (the basic concept that the more features a product or service has the more difficult it is to use), Evernote definitely favours a larger feature base at the expense of simplicity, and at times intuitiveness. Mitigations are present, such as an algorithm that recognises your location, the date and time and any events nearby or in your calendar and auto-writes a subject header to save time or help force better archiving. The app I will design will spare advanced features in favour of aesthetics (a USP of the product) and high levels of usability. 

Notes

Apple's stock Notes app on iOS slightly favours simplicity, but the visual design is overwhelmingly subtle and nonchalant (it is of course representative of a static piece of paper) - Nota should have much more visual 'movement' to incite task completion and activity. 

Google Keep

Google Keep has a simple and intuitive interface, but the visuals accompanying it are garish and subjectively unattractive. Though Nota must use colour in order to achieve the secondary goal of injecting colour and vibrancy to my portfolio, it must look more polished and intentional. 

Brief 8 - Nota App - Brief

Respond to the growing trend of gradients in user interface design, and add a new element of colour to your portfolio, by creating a productivity app to help people complete their tasks, remember notes and track their productivity. 

Don't overburden it with features, but don't bow completely to hyper-minimalism. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Design Boards

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Marketing Images

Vertical design boards were created both to imagine a potential visual marketing strategy, and allow for my concept to be explained within my online portfolio. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Feedback and Type Change

In feedback sessions, testers appreciated the starkly minimal but considered aesthetic, but it was noted overall that the type choice gave an inherently serious, technical and even aggressive appearance. This led to a change from San Francisco to Gelion, which has a decidedly more friendly and approachable appearance. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Designs

The design of the Peak chocolate bar packaging is designed intentionally to stand out amongst the other bars on the market. It uses minimalism and well-considered typography to create an exclusive appearance, rather than the all-too-done-before gold foiling or abundance of serifs.  

The 'Hello from Northumberland' copy creates a Silicon Valley-like tone of voice alongside the mention that it's a form of local produce. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Initial Ideas and Sketching

The final packaging design will make use of a colour gradient to inject vibrancy, allow for sub-product identification, and create a unique appearance that would stand out on the shelf. Other than that, a mostly white appearance helps to enhance the Nordic, minimalist theme. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Research and Target Audience

Super minimalist design elements would help identify the packaging amongst a sea of colour and complex graphics

Super minimalist design elements would help identify the packaging amongst a sea of colour and complex graphics

A large amount of white space balanced out with the injection of colour afforded by a vibrant gradient is a trend in user interface design; it could be effective to mirror this in the world of packaging design

A large amount of white space tends to be seen more often in the luxury goods market

The packaging I will develop will be aimed at the tech/fashion-inclined chocolate lover, who enjoys trying something new and strives to be different. They enjoy a minimal but enjoyable lifestyle. 

Brief 7 - Peak Chocolate Day Brief - Brief

In order to maintain and practice skills in more traditional graphic design (i.e. not related to user interface design), create some concept designs for a minimalist piece of chocolate packaging. Take major inspiration from modernist, Scandinavian graphic design and architecture. 

Many user interface designers have a background in computer science or psychology, so having and maintaining a background and skillset in graphic design helps give me an advantage in industry; particularly given my personal mission and mindset is that every user interface can be made exciting without compromising on usability. 

Brief 6 - Sci-Fi FUI - Design Boards

Brief 6 - Sci-Fi FUI - Conclusion

Conclusion 

This project allowed for a new design trajectory to take place - a brief departure from a constant obsession with usability and brand alignment, and the creation of a product which only had one priority: looking appropriate and exciting enough to be a digital part of the set of a sci-film. It allowed my portfolio to diversify in order to appeal to the film and game industries, and signal my interest in that category of design. 

Though the final designs are appropriate and considered to be successful by the feedback groups they were shown to, animation would've greatly enhanced the designs by adding the excitement and realness of motion. For similar projects in the future, it would certainly be worth collaborating with an animator or motion graphics expert.

Brief 6 - Sci-FI FUI - In-Situ Mockups

Showing the product in the context or environment it would actually be displayed in allows for an assessment of its suitability and, for the sake of my portfolio, allows the viewer to more easily understand its purpose. 

Brief 6 - Sci-Fi FUI - Other Screens and Animation

I collaborated with another designer on the course for a brief moment just to bring a subtle level of motion to the FUI. With the development of more motion skills, or a longer-term collaboration, much more ambitious and exciting motion would be possible. 

Various aspect ratios were experimented with in order to assess the manoeuvrability and flexibility of the designs

Brief 6 - Sci-Fi FUI - Feedback

Negative/Improvement Feedback 

Needs context to appreciate what exactly it is (Fix: provide in-situ mockups) 

Animation would add a lot of life and realism to the design (Fix: develop motion skills in future + include limited animation for now) 

Positive Feedback 

Interesting and unique appearance (and project) because people don't often stop to appreciate FUIs 

Looks appropriate for the medium (sci-fi film) and excites those who are interested in sci-fi and games (key target audience)

Understanding the purpose of the interfaces is easy even if minor details are not meant to be understood (minimal screen time doesn't allow it) 

Looks fun! 

Brief 6 - Sci-Fi FUI - Design Development

Grids are often found in FUI design - they help create a more technical, detailed and intense appearance 

Colour can help create hierarchies and redundancy, and increase usability and urgency. But single-colour themes tend to be more common in the FUI industry. 
 

Type experiments - alternating between the crisp and modernist appearance of Helvetica and the more retro-futuristic, technical Sevastopol. Both are appropriate, just for different scenarios.

Green is often used on retro-futuristic, old-style computer graphics.