Project Development - An Idea Evolved

Following some investigation into the coding and programming process for mobile applications, it seems like a more viable approach to develop the app from a conceptual perspective. This will involve completely designing the app from a visual perspective, rather than making an actual application, and then generating appropriate imagery to support the promotion of the application. Given this change in project style, the concept will need to push the boundaries of app design much more than before.

http://www.nextr.info/ is a website promoting an app for travel around Germany. The website itself has a smart layout, with interactive elements to enhance the experience the user has whilst visiting the site. Mousing over certain areas of the website brings up additional information or alternate screenshots. Using this method of presenting screenshots allows the user to customise their experience with the product in an online space, rather than presenting a predetermined video, with timed transitions. Having a smart and intuitive website suggests to the user that the product being advertised may also have similarly strong design and dynamic user interface, and subsequently works as part of the advertising itself.

Below you can see a portion of the website, including the additional information icons (+). The website also has an ingenious way of representing the transition from page to page within the app, placing two screens side-by-side and simply placing a directional arrow from one screen to the other. The arrow also shows the part of the app that has been selected to propel the user to the next page. This method of representation smartly sidesteps the limitation of displaying an app in still images.

This minimalist and efficient design is something I will try to utilise in my own presentation of my work, but that's something that will come further down the line. For now, I'm focusing on the conceptual possibilities oft the app which I intend to conceive.

With the app aiming to fill the gap for a students union mobile application, the product will need to meet the needs of both the union and also the students. Keeping this in mind, I will now develop a first draft for the infrastructure of the app.