Developing a Launcher App
(4 to 5 minute read)
The task for this project was to create a UX package for an original app using Adobe Illustrator. I designed an app that would make navigating through the menus of a smartphone easier for seniors primarily, however, anyone of any age can use the app if they wanted. I’d never designed an app prior to doing this, so I encountered many challenges, but was ultimately happy and surprised with the end result.
Context & Challenges
The initial challenge was trying to determine who the target market was, and creating user profiles based on that in order to better understand and create my design/prototype. Creating an app that seniors would find easy to use, while not deterring other users from being interested in the app also proved to be challenging. I needed to find a balance between the two groups. Designing and labelling the wireframes in a way that would make it easy for people understand also took quite a bit of time to plan out.
Person 18–25 years old
Person: 35-45 Years Old
Person 70–75+ years old
Person 18–25 years old
User Personas that were created based on first-hand and online research. It was important to take the needs of different demographics in order to create a layout that would be more inclusive.
Hover or click on each persona to see which demographic they were based on.
Process & Insight
The app was inspired by my mother finding smartphones to be overwhelming, but still wanting to use them to keep in touch with family and friends. I noticed that this was not only an issue for her, it stemmed to some colleagues and friends as well. Given the range of ages and comfort-levels with technology, I saw an opportunity to concept something to help make mobile navigation a bit less overwhelming.
The key question I had coming into this project was:
"How might we simplify mobile navigation, without compromising the aesthetic or "cool" look of the screens?"
From there, I did research by asking appropriate questions to family members and friends, and doing extra research online regarding the needs of seniors and what similar apps did for their designs. Some of my research questions included:
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How does your phone usage impact your everyday life? (How often are you using it, what do you use it for?)
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Do you need your phone for your job?
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How comfortable are you with navigating through your phone?
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What apps do you use the most?
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What makes navigating your phone challenging?
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How many icons should be on a phone home screen?
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Do you find that having some assistance (be it an app or another person) is helpful or annoying?
Based on the information I gathered from my research, I designed the UX package with the theme of simplicity and aesthetics in mind.
Wireframe Concept (Regular User and Admin Mode)
Solution
I stayed true to the overall theme of the design and created an app that my test audience found to be effective (you can see the final mockups below). This project gave me the opportunity to jump right into some of the fundamentals UX Research, Wireframing and Prototyping. It also allowed me to further practice my skills in Illustrator in order to create all the assets shown here.
This project inspired me to go further into the world of UX and UI, and you can see a couple of examples of this in my #DailyUI compilation, Adobe Creative Jam project, and/or the User Persona Research I did for a potential user of Uber in Toronto.
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Home Screen Colour Mockup
(Regular User)
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“Assistance Requested Notification” Mockup
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Home Screen Mockup
(Admin Mode)
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“All Apps Screen/Menu” Mockup