Developing critical comments

After reviewing the feedback there are some things I am going to change. I will experiment more with the black images and there placements. I will make more of a difference between the title and author text and have a look at some typewriter fonts. I also agree that my penguin logo does not stand out well enough.

I moved around the images placing the person on the front.

I tried a typewriter font however felt it made the cover look less traditional therefore decided to stick with the serif Minion Pro font.

I changed the Penguin to look more bold by taking away the outer circle and filling in more of the cutout parts. This makes it stand out better.

Development

When looking at other iPhone apps all of them had the phones top bar which had the battery, time, signal, etc. I had forgotten this was a feature and added into the design of the app so it was more practical and looked more realistic. When creating my other pages I made sure that the text size was readable on mobile devices and easy to understand. I have used a mix of illustrations and photography. I have made an effort to bring aspects of the already existing Goodreads app but have more and make it look better. Overall the app design had been given good feedback and I am going with this as my more finalised design.

Group crit with Only Studio

Moving on with the project I have had a group critique with one of the people being Joe from only studio. I talked through my app and some of my concerns and showed them what I had designed so far. This was the feedback.

• A good idea, as reading has a lack of a social aspect
• Could you somehow separate the adults reading experience from the children?
• Navigate by the pages flicking like a book
• Maybe the book navigation could be in top left as you eyes first go to there
• Show the spines of books. you may not need photography
• Be able to personalise the app the best suit you
• Icons are good and fit theme 
• Layout works well and is consistent

Looking at the feedback some of the comments I don't think I will follow such as having the book icon in the left corner instead of the right as I have the back arrow in the left corner and it would be confusing to move that someplace else. I will carry on with the idea to use photographs of the spines of the books as people liked that idea and found it fun and effective. A lot of people said it would be beneficial to be able to personalise the app and also separate the children from the adults.  I will take this on board by creating a settings place in the app where you can change colours and other settings to better suit you. Overall it was a good feedback session and I will make some changes.

Navigation

My aim for my app is to be able to navigate around it easily and be able to get back to the main menu from any page. A good interface is was to use and doesn't leave you feeling frustrated.

After creating the main pages of my app I got people to test out the app by giving them main tasks to do and seeing wether they could do it easy.

• Can you write a Non spoiler review for to kill a mocking bird?
• Can you find your friend Claudia's profile page?
• Can you go and chat on the young adult fiction forum?
• Can you find the closest store to you?
• Can you personalise your account?

I asked many people of different ages to do this and most of the questions people were able to find on there 1st and second tries. However people were finding it difficult to customise there account. I had it within the settings Icon on the main menu. Every person went onto their profile to try find the settings, therefore I am going to move the settings into the profile.

Designing an app logo and icons

I began looking at already existing app icons that are related with books. I think that the more simple the better as it is easy to understand and remember. I want my app to stand out from the crowd. I have decided to call my app bookshelf as it shows that the app includes books and is a platform you can use for bookish related things. There is already an app called bookshelf however the app was given very bad reviews and has not got many downloads therefore it is not a competitor.

I did some initial sketches of icons then asked people which they found most effective and those were the ones I began to further develop on illustrator. 

After creating some icons I decided the most effective was the most simple which is the open book. This will work well as I will use this within the app and it can be seen as a logo to the app.

Wireframe, starting designing in XD

I have created some wireframes to show what my app can be layout like. This I am using when I am beginning to design. I am going to design on Adobe Xd as I can see what It will look like on a iPhone and I can create buttons that work. It is also a easy way to film the app.
Starting to create the app I created pastel coloured icons and chose the font Century Schoolbook in a soft brown colour. I have started to create the main pages then I will get some feedback.

Interface Crit

This week I had a group crit showing my ideas for my interface and some initial layouts and designs. This was my questions and feedback.

I highlighted some of the best comments that I could explore more.

• What features would you want to see from a book app?
• Where the book is cheapest to buy and where to buy it
• Books similar to the one you're looking for
• Reviews, maybe star ratings
• Book suggestions
• A small passage from the book to give an idea
• where it is sold
• Find books similar to the ones you've enjoyed reading before.
• Takes into account your interests like like zombies or romance and compiles a list of books you might like to read. Like netflix for books
• Where I can borrow or buy a book
• Maybe the most read books like top 10 books of the year
• What the book looks like, size, amount of pages, size of font
• locations of stores, reviews, filtered searches, blurbs
• Where to find the book

• I want the experience of the app to be relaxing/calming like when you read a book. What could I do to achieve this?
• Research kindle layouts and colours that work well on the eyes, nothing that will be to straining
• Simple and clean
• Use more strict grids for a more visually appealing design
• The process needs to be quick and accessible when the user wants to write a review
• Extremely clear and uncluttered layout with calming neutral colours. Maybe % rating for what your looking for. Like this has a 90% match rate
• Use lines and grids to separate categories
• Allow people to change background colour
• Must be easy and fluid to use
• Tinted different coloured backgrounds instead of bright white
• Swipe to navigate
• Don't make it to gentle because of books like horror novels have a different feeling. Make small icons for different books.

• What do you think of the design of my app so far ? Is it effective?
• Its very clean and easy to navigate, it looks friendly
• Clean and simple and user friendly. Not sure about pastel colour scheme. I think you could get away with something more colourful for the target audience. The only other thing is the placement of the text to image on popular book recommendations. Its slightly confusing maybe putting the text in the centre of the book image would communicate better.
• Emphasis showing the cover of the books. A book cover is a factor when people decide to buy a book. Having bigger images of the cover will encourage people to interact more with the app. The use of serif thought makes the app look like its more for a mature audience. It would be  better to appeal to a younger audience as well. The colours on the app do create a soft atmosphere which is good, makes it more approachable to write a review.
• A bit confusing. If I was looking for a book the homepage doesn't even have a search option for what I am looking for.
• If you want to attract young people to your app you have to make it more youthful I get that the colour is a reference to books but it makes it seem old. Screen based design are also better with sans serif fonts, especially for long texts 
• Maybe use sans serif or a combination to find the balance. It looks slightly dated with all the type being serif
• Its good but needs to be clearer with how to get back to the homepage

After reading the comments there are some that I agree with and some I do not. I also had a chat with Emma about some of the comments that were left. She agreed that I could look more into typefaces but she thought my colours worked well. We also discussed my home button and how to make it more noticeable. 

I will carry in designing and looking more at my comments as I progress.

Initial design ideas

Starting to think about designing the app I came up with some initial ideas. I want to create a calming and relaxing feel by the use of colours such as pastels, creams and soft browns. I want the fonts to be traditional and styled like a book. I want the overall style to be basic and easy to understand with a welcoming feel. The layout should be similar on all pages with similar titles and layout so it flows well. I want to include a main menu button which looks like a book.
I want to create icons that are easy to understand and fit the theme and colour schemes.

Looking at social media apps

My app will have some features of a social media app to encourage people to be more social with other book readers. I decided to analyse some popular social media apps and there designs.
All the apps contain a profile pic and information about the person. They all include navigation bars which is effective however I would like to stay away from this to make my app different and so it doesn't look so cluttered. The Posts are often in rectangle or square form which makes them easy to see. You can like and comment plus other things as a form of interaction. On all of the platforms you can share photographs. I will use some of this information to inform my design for my profile pages.

Penguin Group Critique

This week I had a group crit where I showed my cover designs I had done so far. I never wrote about my theme as I wanted to know what people thought about it without having background knowledge.
This is the questions and feedback I got:

A and B

C and D

• What does this theme look like to you? Does it work well?
• Crime/Mystery
• Early 20th century crime/mystery/intrigue with a historical context and legislative. Works well
• Portrays the idea of crime well
• The brown background feels like an envelope. Something on the judges desk
• You get the sense of crime and courts judges
• Mystery, you hide something, courts and crimes

• Which of my design layout do you think is the best?
• D or B Could look a bit cramped on back with text all at the bottom corner. I do like the typesetting
• D The black may be to overpowering, needs to be more subtle.
• B Because of the body and the text association. Maybe try moving the hands on the front cover
• B Feels more balanced
• D I think this works best
• B I like the way the text goes around the body
• A but I feel you should only use handcuffs on the cover
• B 3 elements feel better than 4
• The back cover of B and the front cover of A

• How do you think I can change my typography to fit more with my theme?
• It's fine how it is
• This isn't enough distinction between the title and the author
• Slightly bigger
• It's quite effective how and where it is
• I feel it is very effective already
• Try making the type on the front bigger like the back.
• Is it necessary to include 'a penguin book' more contrast between title and author. Try a less obvious typeface. It might surprise you to go risky
• Bigger Text
• Use American typewriter
• Experiment more with colour

• Anymore comments?
• Might be more effective just having the person on the front
• Only concern is will it stand out on a book shelf
• It working
• Look at old envolopes, stamps.
• Change the black spine. way to overpowering Keep it clear and simple. 

Looking at the comments there were some that stood out to me. I will develop my designs more taking into consideration the comments.

3 ideas for an interface

After identifing my problem I came up with 3 different ideas of a interface that could fix it.
My first Idea was to create a website that is well organised and easy to use.
My second Idea is to create an social media style app that is easy to use and has a good, calming user experience.
My third idea was to create a interface that can be found in library's and bookshops that can be used to encourage people to share and talk about books. All ideas include similar content such as reviews, recommendations, clubs, and general information.

 

After talking through my ideas to people and looking at what already exists I decided that the best idea was the app because it would be easier to get a larger target audience and have the features such as the scanner that I wanted to include.

Exploring my market

Notes on My Market
Looking more into my problem I need to identify my market more before I begin to design.
Problem
How can I create a app for book lovers that is both engaging and useful but that you can find simple and easy to navigate?

Strengths- Large target audience, Easy to use
Weaknesses- 
Opportunities- The current competitors are poorly designed
Threats- Competitiors such as Goodreads

Target Audience

• People who love to read
• People with smartphones
• Male and Female
• Multiple ages

Initial Brainstorms

Thinking about cards I began by doing a brief mind map of what occasions card are used for and what common themes can be. After looking at the possible outcomes I decided I wanted to create blank cards that could be used for any occasion from a birthday, to sending a quick message. I also looked at some things that are used to make cards stand out such as foiling, embossing and stick out areas. I can experiment with these techniques.

 

I want to create a range that many people will identify with so I brainstormed some areas that lots of people are interested in.

 The two ares that stood out to me the most were pets and music as it is the most relatable
Next I will follow through with some ideas, initial sketches and research.

Why I am choosing UK Greetings

On seeing this brief on the YCN website I was immediately drawn to it due to the amount of creativity it gives. I also worked in a card shop for a year and a half thinking to myself that in the future I could design a card which could be sold. I also immediately had many ideas in my head and knew this would be a substantial l brief I would really enjoy to do !

Some Tutor Feedback

I talked to a tutor about my theme and ask for some feedback on my design choices. This was his feedback.

• The theme comes across well and is thought through
• Maybe try taking photographs rather than scans for the paper cutting. This will make the effect look even more handmade than if you were to create it on indesign.
• The Title and the author font and size are the same, they need separating in some way to make it more apparent they are different parts of information.

Overall I am happy with the feedback and understood what he meant. I will work on developing my designs.

Layouts and design

 After Scanning my paper cuts I began to organise them onto the layout of the book cover. I liked the look of layering the images and the texture the paper gives. I created many layouts moving the images around I will need to get some feedback on my layouts for what is most effective. I also Need to work on making the text fit well with the theme of handmade. Maybe I could Write and scan it in. I will get feedback and carry on developing my idea.

Design Development

Starting my ideas digitally I began by drawing Toms hands in cuffs. I like the idea but not the style and decided to do mock ups for my paper cutting idea. I created some of the silhouettes of objects and had a go at putting them in different places on the page. I think it had a better outcome. I also like that the text is layout like classic penguin books. The competition only lets you put forward a front page, however I am going to design the whole cover incase I progress in the competition and so I can design as a whole.

Developing initial ideas and paper cutting

 Following my initial ideas I created some silhouette images that I paper cut out onto black card. Once I had cut out the images I wanted I scanned them along with brown paper I will use for the background. Now I will need to experiment with layout.

Interface Group Crit Discussion

Talking through my brief with a group of other students was helpful with gaining ideas. I talked about the reason I am creating the app due to the scanning element and they agreed that it is an important feature. I also talked about possible layouts I could do to make the app easy to navigate without looking to busy.
I stated the idea of the navigation bar used a lot by social sites such as Instagram and Facebook. However I also talked about ideas of hidden informations and menus.
They also gave me ideas on things that people would benefit from such as having rewards, points and challenges that could encourage people to read. When creating a social app there is lots of information needed such as settings, notifications etc, however I want to hide this info so it is not cluttered but still make it accessible. They loved my idea of having personalised bookshelf on your profile and also like the idea of them actually looking like a shelf which is a lot more visually appealing than the Goodreads app. All of this discussion will come in useful when designing my app and adding things new that is different to other platforms.

Initial Interface Ideas

I am beginning to create initial ideas for the layout and design of my app. My app will include 5 main sections; Profile page, Feed, Reviews/Recommendations, Friends and scanner. My aim is that winning the app it should take you 5 steps or less to get to what you want. I also have the idea to instead of having a traditional navigation bar to have a hidden menu. I want to have a symbol in the top corner and no matter where you are in the app when you click it you can find you way to not of the main areas. I also want to include symbols so that there is less text and looks more visually appealing, this will also be more interesting to an younger audience. Thinking about colours I want to keep them pale and calming. Reading is a calming experience and I want my app to reflect that.

Website and app Analysis

I decided to analyse the Goodreads Website and app to really pinpoint the positives and negatives.

Website Positives
Looking at the website there is some good aspects such as

• The ability to put in the page number you are in the book and it tells you your %
• Browse by tag
• They have book awards every year
• You can set yourself a reading challenge
• you can create and do quizzes

Website Negatives 

• The layout is cluttered and busy which takes away from the information you want to read.
• The groups aren't very visually appealing or well organised which makes them less successful
• The Profile page is basic and includes no personality
• It is hard to make friends and interact
• There is only a limited amount of bookshelves, you can't add new
• If you are looking at reviews they don't hide spoilers so you may accidentally read them

App Positives

• Navigation bar can help you find things slightly faster
• Less cluttered (due to no adverts and better organisation)
• Scan barcodes of books.

App Negatives

• Not enough sub genres
• boring profile page
• Hard to interact with others.

Creating a Survey

When creating my user experience I need to cater to what my target audience wants and make sure it has everything they are inspecting. I decided to collect data by creating a survey on
surveymonkey.com. I got feedback from book lovers with different age and genders.

Feedback

• People mostly use Goodreads to look at book reviews and recommendations.
• A lot of people said that the design of the website was to cluttered and there is far to much text which makes it look dull.
• 60% of people who took my survey find the website not easy to use.
• reasons of this was because genres of book are to general and there are lots of adverts making the text harder to see.
• People like social aspects of the website the most along with reviews and colours.
• People disliked the organisation and layout the most.
• When I asked if they were more likely to use an app or the website they were slightly more likely to use an app.

Finally I asked them what they would like to see from my app I will create they said,

Simplistic with interactive qualitiesReviewers comments. Individual Reviewers top 5 book list. Book critics ratings.Easy to access, simplicitic design so everything is easy to find, unique style for colour, most importantly a place for reviews. Also recommendations that suite what you have been reading previously rather than random books that have nothing related to what has previously been read!Log of what books I've read, am reading and want to read, book reviews, quizzes, profile
Genres tab but including more specific genres Recommendations Book Log

This feedback will help me when creating my designs and thinking about the user experience my app will have.