Development two weeks, finals in three weeks.
If you are working on a thesis this should relate, if not then you will build your concept from the ground up.
Basic application design more then anything is about finding the right idea. With the launch of the app store; developing applications has turned from a weekend warriors hobby into a multimillion-dollar industry. Small one off applications are being purchased by larger developers, and the little guy is winning.
Just like in Graphic Design ideas are paramount. An application with a weak concept or idea is bound to fail.
Now I know that we are not “application programmers” but that does not mean that your portfolios should only contain print ideas. In fact I guarantee that more then anything professionals at the portfolio luncheon are there to see solid digital ideas.
Again, try to not get caught up in the programming or execution end of things we can discuss that later.
What I need from you for next week is:
- Identifying and understand your target audience, in the form of three written scenarios each with its own unique mood board. In each scenario, identify who the user is, their age, education, income, interests, hobbies, marital status, geographic location, personal style, online presence and what a typical day for them might be.
- Analyze the Users Tasks, after you have identified the user, and your idea begin to think about how you would like the user to interact with your application. Keep in mind that the last thing that I want to see is a game; I am not saying that you can not design a game but it must have a idea, concept or reason for being a game.
- Analyze the competition, with your basic idea in mind explore the app store and look for potential competitors. If you have the means to download those applications I would recommend doing so, spend some time with them and look at where they succeed and where they fail. Minimum of five comparisons are required.
- Finally grab screen captures of applications that you feel are successful, document them and assemble a swipe guide to later reference while you are designing.
Remember that by this point in the year everything you bring to class should be considered, well thought out, and developed. No more sloppy print outs and random sketches. If you being is sketches they should be in your sketch book, titled dated and full of notations.
