Application Design I - Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal

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22/04/2024 - 13/05/2024 / Week 1 - Week 4
Joey Lok Wai San / 0350857
Application Design I / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media 
Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal


TABLE OF CONTENTS


LECTURES

Introduction to Mobile Application Design | Week 1


Fig. 1.1 Lecture Slides - Introduction to Mobile Application Design, Week 1


The Art of User-Centered Design | Week 2

Fig. 1.2 Lecture Slides - UCD, UI, UX, Week 2


Designing Products for User Satisfaction | Week 3

Fig. 1.3 Lecture Slides - Designing Products for User Satisfaction, Week 3


INSTRUCTIONS


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XHcp1NBrzZ_XnN209zWIjjFqdAv3evJj/preview 


PROJECT 1: Mobile Application Proposal
For the first project, we are required to create a proposal document for our mobile application project. We must redesign an existing mobile application that we find unsatisfactory in terms of the user experience or interface design, and this project is subject to preliminary approval by the module coordinator. The document will determine whether the mobile application idea is worthy of advancing to the next development phase.

Things to include in the proposal: 
1. Introduction
- Purpose: Revamp existing mobile app to elevate user experience and interface quality.
- Stress the pivotal role of mobile app design in shaping user contentment.

2. Background and Context
- Evaluate the current app's design and functionalities.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses.
- Competitive analysis.
- Gain insights into user demographics and requirements.

3. Goals and Objectives
- Establish clear objectives for the redesign initiative.
- Prioritize addressing current deficiencies and enhancing user satisfaction.
- Define primary and secondary goals to align with user expectations.
- Developing your design strategy

4. User Research
- Detail methodologies for conducting user research.
- Describe the methods you will utilize to collect user feedback and gain insights.
- Devise a robust plan for user testing and validation

5. References
- Curate pertinent articles, books, and design samples for inspiration.


Finding 3 Apps to Redesign 
In Week 1, we were tasked to identify 3 apps with poor design that we believe need improvement. We should look for aspects that can be enhanced, focusing on apps with poorly designed user interfaces or user experiences. I downloaded a variety of apps with low ratings on Google Play, before narrowing down my selection. 

Fig. 1.1 Apps Downloaded, Week 1 (22/04/2024)

I shortlisted a few of the apps that I think have problems with their user interfaces and overall experiences. These include Smart Selangor Parking, Watson, Eatigo, Padini, The Body Shop and Starbucks. I did some analysis on the apps I listed down, comparing them with others in the same market as well as keeping in mind how I would improve upon these problems.

Here are the 3 chosen apps:  
1. Smart Selangor Parking
2. Eatigo
3. The Body Shop

Fig. 1.2 Smart Selangor Parking App, Week 1 (22/04/2024)


Fig. 1.3 Eatigo App, Week 1 (22/04/2024)


Fig. 1.4 The Body Shop App, Week 1 (22/04/2024)

In Week 2, I received feedback from Mr. Zeon. He recommended I choose either Smart Selangor Parking or Eatigo because The Body Shop may be done by others. It was also suggested I choose Eatigo, as someone had already proposed Smart Selangor Parking before me and the designs could be too similar. 


Final Progress Proposal Slides
Click here for the progress proposal slides in Canva!


Fig. 1.5 Final Proposal of 3 Mobile Applications, Week 2 (29/04/2024)


Final Proposed Idea
After receiving the feedback, I conducted more in-depth research on my chosen application. I followed the criteria provided to determine the content of the proposal.
  • Prepare the final proposal slides
    • Introduction (purpose, importance of mobile app design)
    • Background and Context (current app design evaluation, strengths & weakness, competitive analysis, user demographics and requirements)
    • Goals and Objectives (redesign objectives, primary and secondary goals, design strategy)
    • User Research (research methods, data collection methods, user testing and validation plan)
    • References
  • Presentation on week 4

Background and Context
Application: Eatigo
Category: Food & Beverages (Restaurant Reservation)

Eatigo is a dining reservation app that offers time-based discounts at restaurants. It's designed to help restaurants manage their off-peak hours by offering discounts to attract customers during those times. The current version of the Eatigo app offers basic functionalities such as browsing restaurants, making reservations, and accessing discounts.  While these features meet the fundamental user needs, there is room for improvement in the app’s interface and user experience in terms of navigation, user-friendliness, and aesthetic appeal.

Fig. 2.1 Eatigo, Week 3 (06/05/2024)

For the ratings and reviews, I went onto the Google Play store and looked at the overall rating which was 3.3 stars. When I browsed through the reviews of Eatigo, I noticed there were quite a number of mentions of poor UX design, some even from professionals in the field. I also categorised other popularly mentioned issues about different features, mostly stating it was difficult to use the app and search for restaurants. Most, if not all, of these reviews are recent, especially targeted at the latest versions of the application. Using the application and reading the reviews helps me to identify areas for improvement in app design.

Fig. 2.2 Ratings and Reviews, Week 3 (06/05/2024)

In terms of competitive analysis, I identified 3 apps that provided a similar service to Eatigo, where users can reserve restaurants and find the best prices. The competitors I chose are Chope, OpenTable and OpenRice. While there were a few problems with the applications as well, there wasn't anything major. Overall they were much better designed in terms of UI/UX as compared to Eatigo, which is beneficial when looking for redesign inspirations.

Fig. 2.3 Competitive Analysis, Week 3 (06/05/2024)

Goals and Objectives
For the goals and objective, Mr. Zeon told us it was a summary of the weaknesses we identified as well as the solutions. We could summarise some of the issues raised by the ratings and reviews, to further identify our goals.

Fig. 2.4 Design Strategy, Week 3 (09/05/2024)

User Research
User research was planning how I would actually improve the application. Keeping this in mind, I decided to use a survey and user testing to collect primary data. This insight will help me identify further pain points of the current application design and prototype designs I would create.


Fig. 2.5 Plan for User Testing and Validation, Week 3 (09/05/2024)


Final Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal
Click here for the final presentation slides in Canva!


Fig. 2.6 Final Mobile Application Proposal - Eatigo, Week 4 (13/05/2024)

FEEDBACK

WEEK 2
- The proposal looks good. You can focus either on 'Smart Selangor Parking' or 'Eatigo', since 'The Body Shop' may be quite popular. 

WEEK 3
General Feedback
- For the objective, summarize your weaknesses and solutions
- The primary goal is functions that affect the entire app and make it unusable
- The secondary goal is features in the app that can be enhanced
- Summarise some of the issues raised by the ratings and reviews

WEEK 4
General Feedback
- Make sure to include your design strategy. The design strategy categorizes and summarizes your solutions. 
- Highlight user reviews
- Include in-cite citations 

Specific Feedback
- The slides are good. It highlighted user reviews, included in-text citations, and included individual slides for solutions to each weakness.
- Change the demographics to a pie chart
- Include the design strategy
- Great job and excellent effort. There's nothing more to improve. 


REFLECTION

Experience
My experience with this project was generally quite alright. The examples provided to us were a big help in determining the content of the proposal slides. Without some guidelines or examples, it would have been much harder to understand what was required. The only aspect I struggled with was finding the motivation to do the proposal, which is odd because I love research. All in all, the project is pretty straightforward. I just need to work on my time management and getting work done. 

Observations
My observation of this project comes from the fact everyone has different design preferences. From observing the presentations in class, I noticed that we all have different ways on how we would improve upon a weakness or issue. Similar issues across various applications would have completely different solutions presented, which is nice to see a variety of ideas.

Findings
I found that every application has its own weaknesses, whether they may have a higher rating compared to its competitors or not. I think it's beneficial to do some comparison analysis in order to find a design that best works. I also found that it is crucial to have a plan for developing the application, as this is only a proposal. By having a redesign strategy and conducting research on users to test the usability of the website, it will surely be a big help in coming up with improved designs for the user interface and experience. 

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