Development of a Pet Owners Information Resource App
This Assessments begins with choosing a client brief, I selected the RSPCA Brief in which the desired app would act as a platform to inform and educate new pet owners about how to better care for their new pets.
3 separate designs were to be created;
A contextual design related to the brief, A Design specifically for the visually impaired and a purely aesthetic version.
Each design follows a three step process:
Sketches — Wireframes — Final Design
These steps are were used to create the following:
Contextual:
The contextual design is based around the only users being new owners wishing to adopt a rescue pet.
The rough Sketch began as a simple what needs to be present to make the app work as desired, the simple combination of text and buttons would be the primary design going forward
From the sketch to the wire frame a few minor design changes were made, most notably the third screen now is designed to give the user a popup screen when selecting any of the specific information on that screen. Simple UI design so as to not distract from the intended use of the app.
The final version is a more refined version of the wireframe, simple clean and visually consistent with the existing colours of the Client. Overall the layout is designed to be barebones and simple with the access to information being the main focus.
Visual:
Much like the Contextual design the visual design uses the same UI layout but with clearer and larger widgets, to accommodate those with impaired vison.
More iconography is used in conjunction with text to make seeing the content of the app easier
Bright colours, blue and yellow were used due to the fact that brighter colours can allow those with impaired vision to better see what is on screen by producing stronger wavelengths of light.
The final version brings the above ideas together and fleshes them out into something more complete, simple and easy to see.
Aesthetic:
Aesthetically this design is a slightly more complex version of the above, using a less static UI layout but with the same general idea.
For this design I thought of creating a busier UI with more emphasis on breaking the overly symmetrical mould of the last 2 designs. The inclusion of more imagery and a more impactful UI layout were desired.
Overall a simple design but one that is clean and without clutter. I decided that instead of leaning to far toward a busy layout to remain with the simple basic UI but including a small amount of visual flavour.
The final version includes simple imagery, a single primary colour, a clean, no nonsense layout and eye catching typography.
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Ideally the information desired by the users should be simple to understand and easy to get to without sacrificing the quality of that information, for this I decided on a simple user flow, from the menu you select your route; Adopting a pet, information or an FAQ, from selecting one you are then presented options regarding what you are looking for more specifically, the main choices being a cat or dog with a third “other” option to limit screen space. From here you are given a broad range of important information to consider about the selected animal . The user then also has the ability to move onto more detailed information about the adoption process if so desired.
In conclusion I believe this flow puts the focus on the information, this information being the primary thing the client is wanting users of the app to gain and understand. The same base design was used mainly as a way of keeping things consistent while also conforming to the different ways the app could be used, from the menu one could go straight to the information section, the FAQ or go into detail about adoption.
I Believe that the designs would benefit from refinement based on more feedback, I endeavour to improve the designs and usability in the future.
Thank you for reading,
Scott Bell
