Initial Proposal & Response
RESPONSE / REFLECTION:
Throughout this project, I have successfully achieved several learning outcomes throughout the production process of this project. Firstly, I have developed a deeper understanding on project requirements and processes, this involved analysing the brief to ensure that the project aligned with the client’s objectives, secondly, I have been able to further improve my overall skills on planning, design, accessibility and time management with this project noticing a big difference on how I look at projects now along with also improving my research skills, looking at a wide range of apps before I even began to plan the E.ON Next app, this allowed me to improve my outcomes and reduce time wasted.
In selecting the E.ON Next app project. I aim to leverage my strengths and interests to produce an app using my best abilities within the deadline along with making it as user friendly and futuristic in the sense of it will be relevant for years due to it’s advanced approach on what would otherwise be a simple app on giving you ways to view your energy bills; the decision to chose this brief was influenced by my passion for technology and innovation as well as the desire to demonstrate my abilities to their fullest extent.
Planning for challenges was an important precaution I had to take and allowed me to allow room for change such as time management issues where the deadline and work needed to do might not have been viable, so my me constantly checking my progress and the time I have to complete the project was very helpful in that it has allowed me to reach the deadline with all the required work.
In completing the research for this project, I have explored four key areas, these are: Audience, Client, Contextual and Competitor research. While each area is equally important, I found client research to be particularly important as it required me to study E.On Next’s user base along with their history and ethos as it was quite important to make the design of the app around E.On Next’s vision.
PROPOSAL:
The objective of this project is to reimagine the app and its features, trying to make it a more enjoyable and interesting experience whilst also making it as user friendly as possible aligning it more closely to the evolving needs and expectations of E.On Next’s users; the user research carried out throughout this whole project has been quite interesting as E.On don’t target a specific group, rather anyone that owns a home.
SCOPE:
- I’ll have to carry out research on the audience, client, contextual and competitor analysis, this will help me to perfect the design to specific needs and make informed decisions along the process.
- I will then move on to creating a wireframe and prototypes gathering feedback along the way to perfect the overall layout before visual styling begins.
- Carrying out user centred research comes next approaching the design from a user’s perspective, this simply means that I’ll look at the app with a mindset of what I want to do and how I want to go about a certain action like viewing my spending.
- Looking at the feature side and seeing what should be included and how features can be implemented in a logical and useful way, so for example, seeing how much energy your solar panels are creating.
- Finalise the design and setup the prototype for use, this stage will also include the generation of mockups, high fidelity screenshots, documentation, and the completion of this project page.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
I currently have experience with app design so this will give me an advantage.
I also feel like the project is well suited to my skill set allowing me to show off my potential.
Weaknesses
My time management will most certainly be one of my weaknesses, especially since I believe myself to be a perfectionist. I also struggle to known when i’ve done enough often doing too much in an area that doesn’t need that amount of work.
The way I can improve on this and minimise the impact will be that I set times and limits on the amount of time I can spend on certain areas.
Opportunities
This brief is the one that best matches my skillset allowing me to really show off my abilities in all areas including accessibility, best practices and responsiveness.
Threats
I think one of my biggest threats is falling behind due to my struggle of knowing when to stop.
I can minimise this threat by asking for feedback on my current work along with setting goals and time limits on how long I can work on a certain section, the goals will also help to keep me on track.
SMART Targets
Specific
I will create a working prototype app with a minimum of 5 pages.
Measurable
Each task I start will be timed to reframe me from over engineering something and allow time for other tasks.
Achievable
Use existing branding styles and resources to create the prototype app such as using the same colour palette and logo allowing me to use time save on those resources in further improving the app.
Relevant
I will ensure that E.ON Next’s vision of a cleaner earth is met by implementing eco features within the app along with energy saving tips.
Time-bound
Complete the app within the set timeframe of 8 weeks, the breakdown can be seen in the above UAL documents.
Interim Reflection & Feedback Presentation
Interim Feedback Presentation
In this presentation with my tutor, I went over my current progress on this site and my overall progress on the project where I was given valuable feedback on what i’ve done well and what needs to be improved.
From carrying out this presentation, it made me aware of areas where I was missing and helped me to rectify issues mentioned, I felt like I was slightly behind and needed to start focusing on the visuals of the project as my theory work was pretty good.
Peer Feedback
Overall feedback
- People seemed to like the design interms of the layout, font and content along with the colour scheme used apart from a few colours which were narrowed down to the purple and pink used within the design which were chosen based off the current E.On Next’s branding. I also received feedback on how professional
Final Evaluation & Reflections
The primary objective was to create an app that allowed users to view their bills and save energy with the addition of being as eco friendly as possible.
The redesign of the app I think was successful in bringing all the features asked and creating a modern easy to use app with a clean layout and a solid navigation with an intuitive flow, throughout this project, i’ve learned the process of creating an app in a professional manner and ensuring accessibility throughout, I do think that there are areas where accessibility could be improved, for example the colour orange and white have a bad accessibility score possibly causing issues with visually impaired people, thats why i’ve chosen to not put too much information in those colours. In terms of time management, I don’t feel like i’ve been the best in that side of things, but I have still created a working prototype with most of the pages I wanted to present, excluding the forum section due to a lack of time down to my time management; I have gained further knowledge in content layout and how to display things appropriately, trying not to clutter the app and make it an enjoyable experience to use without much effort whilst still providing in depth stats to the user.
Overall learning outcomes – I’ve enhanced my ability on analysing and meeting the requirements for a large corporate company like E.ON Next, creating a technical app that simplifies the user experience in a visually pleasing and intuitive way; I have also improved my research skills by now using a wide variety of sources such as variations in apps in different sectors, not just energy which I found allowed me to create a bigger picture on the wide variety of app styles and methods of presenting dynamic information to users, I’ve also gained knowledge in communication and how to write & explain professionally and effectively.
Personal Growth – I have improved on my overall time management skills, learning how to prioritise certain tasks, though there is still certainly room for improvement, missing out a page was something I didn’t want to do but had to due to time restrictions and poor time management on my end, though I was still able to complete everything else to a high standard; I have also improved on my articulation on design processes and reasoning, providing insights on my thoughts when designing and why certain choices were made, this is quite useful and allows me to have an answer to everything when it comes to the actual finished product, so for example, the E.ORA assistant was placed in the bottom right corner of the screen for easy navigation as most of the population are right handed, though this would be an option that could be changed in settings if the app was to be properly developed.
Future recommendations – I did improve based on the feedback given, though I would like to in the future gain more feedback over the full course of the project which might have made me be more efficient with my time, always improving bit by bit.
CONCLUSION – I really enjoyed working on the E.ON Next app project as it allowed me to really test my limits in many different ways including accessibility, time management, app design and more, I also found that I achieved all of my SMART Targets and gave me valuable learning experiences and opportunities for personal growth. Moving forward, i’ll use all insights I have gained throughout this project and youse them to push me further in future projects.