Publicity image
May 23rd, 2011
Posted in I am including a publicity image here for any viewers who wish to publicise or maybe even blog about the project. Helps to visualise what the actual product is and the fact that it is being exhibited right now at the Duncan of Jordanstone Degree Show 2011!
The ‘Clash’ application and its design is copyrighted material (©) of Marty Dunlop.
Degree Show, Finally!
So that’s it, times up, were pushing our skills to the limit, and we need to get our talent out there.
The 2011 Degree Show at the University of Dundee is finally here and over 300 art college students are set to exhibit our hard laboured work that we hope is set to make us glow in each of our assigned industries.
With being one of the exhibits in the Digital Interaction Design show i have had little time myself to check all the amazing work out around the college, iv heard that theres some amazing things happening in Graphics and Animation and cant wait to grab some business cards for future reference.
If your ever in the neighborhood over the next week, come by and see the creative potential flourish from one of the finest art colleges in Scotland!
The Digital Interaction Design exhibition:
The Pitch
‘Clash’ is a social interaction utility.
It is intended to be used as a tool to help provoke social interactions between people in a certain environment/venue. It allows these places to have their own mini social network created within them by their customers or users.
Users of the this mobile application are able to ‘Check-in’ to any venue that is located around them once they are within the vicinity using GPS. After being presented with nearby locations, the user is also offered the ability to see how many of their ‘Facebook’ friends are currently in each with a very simple number notification above each venues link. Once checked-in to a venue, the user is able to see an updated list of who is currently present within that same venue, presuming they also carry the application and are using it.
With an integrated connection to ‘Facebook’, users have the ability to create a short and concise profile within the application using their exsisting information from the biggest social network in the world.
With the help of a users ‘Facebook’ profile picture and a selection of their chosen profile information, ‘Clash’ profiles on each user are available for all other users to view who are also currently present in the same venue. After selecting a user from their profile picture, their profile will appear with the information that they are happy with people to view.
This mobile application has the ability to help users provoke real social interactions with each other by giving them a reason to do so. Whether its because they have seen someone they want to talk to, and would like an ice breaker such as that persons name or where they went to school to start a conversation. Or a user has passed by someone within a venue and thought ‘I know them but can’t remember there name’, instead of that user denying all communication with that person just to avoid an awkward moment, with the help of ‘Clash’ they are able to get that little peice of information that gives them a reason to socially interact.
Personal review
From the beginning of the project way back in Phase 1, it has come a long way. Going through each of the 4 phases has nurtured my initial idea and allowed it to grow into something excelling what I ever thought it could become.
Planning what kind of technology I would use for this project in terms of mobile platform and development language, along with how the application should be designed for the target market I was aiming for, are key elements of the project that I managed to organise throughout Phase 1.
The most powerful aspect of this project to me that I wanted to show through, was the overall design and usability of the application for the user. Focusing on the user interface and user interactions felt important to me as the application is for use within a social environment, and usability of a product can be conquered in the design stages. Phase 2 of the project, i.e. zoom, allowed me to thoroughly investigate what kind of design I needed and what I should include to make the user experience something that is hard to forget and shows through as a strength to the whole application.
From the research I undertook in terms of design and how I wanted the interface to operate, I took a lot away from how ‘Facebook’, ‘Foursquare’ and ‘Twitter’ both on the web and in mobile application terms, operated. How their interfaces were designed to make users want to socialise on the move and network with as many people as possible. Little things like how comfortably prominent the ‘add’ or ‘check-in’ buttons are, the simple registration process and the ease of joining new social networks. In my ever progressive design that I have created, I have taken these things on board and tried to adapt them in my own way, as I know that there important features to have for any new social media application. Each time i updated the interface, i asked some colleagues and peers of mine who fit the target market, to have a look at the design which i had available on my mobile phone. As the design got better ofcourse, they gave back better feedback, however even the initial design that i had shown was met with appraisal, and each time i kept hearing the same thing “Wow, this would be great to have, are you actually going to make it?” which has influenced me to keep development going after university, i can see the potential. As well as trying to excel in my design, a lot of thought had to given towards how I could possibly develop the application, and by uncovering several possibilities, I felt that I had a good start to run with, yet my troubles with hard coding proved to be a problem to create even a prototype. It took a good bit of time to find these possibilities of development, so having to look for another one, one more suited to my current capabilities, ended up taking more time that I wanted out of other issues and development that I needed to work on. Eventually however, finding the possibility of building the application in flash and then packaging in AIR made everything come together that little bit easier. This relatively new method of application development could also serve me well in the future as an asset.
At the point when I realised that my initial goal of developing a finished and marketable application was way too much work for my series of deadlines and at this point, limited knowledge, I was worried. I really thought that I could do it and that that is what was expected of me by the end of this project. Taking my concerns to my lecturer however and being brought back to reality a little reminded me that this project is all about creating an idea, putting the work in to gather useful research, carry out user testing, observe how much work goes into an industry design project and at the end of it, come out with a project plan that you would be confident in sharing with a design team. Having all the foundations of your idea there so that when the design team get to work, everything goes together as planned with every aspect covered. Taking this in, I felt that I was on the right track and that I would, by the end of it, be confident and proud to present my project to a team that would help lead me to an end product.
One of the main points I enjoy getting to in a project here at university, is where we have to visualise our project in order to create context and show the thought behind whatever product we produce. Creating an image and a short video to allow potential users and all others who may be interested in a project, to understand what the project is about and what aspect of life it may create a solution for, is an exciting point as it even helps you as the designer/developer to visualise what the project could represent. As a photographer also, taking a photo that has to encompass so much information, yet at the same time, being as simple to interpret as possible, is a chance for me to exercise my passion for photography. Phase 4, the final part of the project, is where we communicate the reason for and context of, the project, using these methods to do so. It was a good way to finalise the project as it reveals how much work you’ve really put behind it all and it sets the scene of why and how your object/product will and can be used.
Having this size of project to work with essentially on my own as a designer has really opened my eyes to the work that has to be carried out in the industry, the problems you have to overcome and the constant learning of new methods and technologies is much more than I thought. There was certain points where I came to a problem and thought, this is going no further, yet with constant research and development which are key attributes of a good designer, problems of all types can be overcome, you just have to understand your own design process and use your initiative as much as possible. It isn’t just about being creative at that initial point where you create the idea, there’s a whole process to nurture afterward.
Communicating the idea
As the last phase of the project already draws to an end, i have the task of creating a one minute video, one great image and writing one hundred words in order to communicate the idea and context behind my project. Creating this media helps allow new observers of the project to understand what it is and what it can be used for. Also, as great resources for publicising online, the ‘Clash’ project can be seen and talked about all over the world.
The first part i would like to introduce you to is, the one great image. A photograph or image that can identify the intended context of the application.
As all parts of this phase help each other in building a context, you can now watch the video to get a better understanding. Reeling through the design and screenshots of the application onto a short context within an actual venue, the video helps you to understand how this application can be used for your benefit.
For the final part, the one hundred words sum up the whole idea and give you a look into my thinking when i came to create this project.
At present, the majority of social web users allow their social confidence to diminish in the real world while it prevails in the cyber, Among a vast market of social interactions and frivolous functions.
As a culture who produce and consume data at an ever growing rate, we need more reasons to engage in a real social interaction with others, who are either very close to us, that we may have only been introduced to or anyone that we can share an interest with.
This ‘Social Utility’ allows the user to provoke a social interaction with another person that they may know or would just like to converse with.
Flash n’ Clash
Almost a month after my last post on choosing to develop with flash and its all going well. A couple posts back i pointed out that i had my startup working with code and design and the whole job of packaging the application to work on android. Flash is definitely a more strong point for me than any other method and iv been getting right into it. Challenges iv been facing include getting the swipe gesture to operate on certain screens so that the user can use menu/scroll like functions and to make it all flow together nicely. With action script like any other coding platform, there are several variables with any function you try to operate and its taken a bit to get it right for the gesture control yet its looking promising and im still working on it right now. The fluent action is what im after as it will make the whole interaction more engaging and not to mention its what users already expect in this day in age.
Another challenge iv been trying to overcome is programming the ‘back’ button on the actual mobile handset to operate within the application as opposed to leaving it all together. Im having trouble using the call commands and variables several times in the same scene on my flash stage, they seem to conflict with each other and i haven’t yet found out a way to fix it. These challenges make the whole thing more engaging an experience for me, as flash prototyping is an industry standard that i could possible add to my skills set after this project is done with.
Several other problems and challenges have come up and more no doubt to come, yet at this point it is going well and i can see the prototype breaking the light of day very soon.
Finalised Design!
The progress i have made recently through the design of the user interface, is amazing. From the first concept of how the application could look, it has come a very long way, continually tweaked to represent a user friendly, ‘fluid’ and engaging interface. Exceeding all my prior expectations, i feel this does the project justice, as i also set out to make the design a key focus throughout the project.
The 2 examples here show the ‘Venue Selection’ screen once a user has signed into the application, and the ‘Clashers’ screen which shows thumbnail profile links on everyone other user who has checked into a certain venue with the application. As ‘Clash’ connects with ‘Facebook’, the ‘Venue Selection’ screen shows how many friends you have in each nearby venue if any. Once checked-in, your friends are highlighted with a purple frame if they are in that venue too, making it easy to know if your alone or not in a packed out venue.
Overall i am very excited to have my prototype working with this design as i continue to develop it over the next month or so. Watch this space….
Props!
The Desire HD has arrived and it didn’t take long atall before it was open and in good use.
Straight out the box, with care, i began looking at the screen dimensions and everything else that was different with my Droid that i had previously been using to test parts of the prototype. It didn’t take long to resize my designs by a fraction and have them ready to cover some code and be launched onto the Desire.
Just a quick clip of the first ever application beta to come out of this project. Along with a shot of the very encouraging ‘app’ logo ready to be loaded up in the ‘app drawer’. Im finding working with flash in terms of android application development considerably challenging yet comfortable, alot more than i would be trying to hard code it all from scratch with no visuals.
It only gets better from here, as you could see i have the startup working the way i intended, fluid and engaging, or atleast iv been reassured of by potential users, which is really good.
‘Im a designer, give me free stuff!’
As the degree show crawls closer and the development of my application increases, one vital component is needed to tie it all up, with the approaching exhibitions in the University and at New Designers in London, i need my 2 smartphones that will play key to my display and give visitors the chance to interact with the final concept.
Not so long ago, i was ‘Rockstar Energy’ rep at Dundee university, which all started because i sent ‘Rockstar’ an email asking for free supplies for a party. The common phrase ‘you don’t ask, you don’t get’ is something i believe in quite firmly. Another example of this being, in a lecture we had from Jonathon Baldwin at the university on Design Theory, we were shown how an art student managed to get a Mini Cooper donated to him by Mini, for his final project video mainly because it offers free promotion for the company and they can say they’ve helped someone out. What the student actually done in the video was park the car in a street and cut a big hole with an angle grinder, out of the door. Amazing what you can get sponsorship for even if it is destruction, yet to a company like that, its a minor inconvenience to replace.
Ok so to the point, believing in the charity that big companies possess yet choose not to publicise, I researched contacts at both Motorola and HTC and emailed them details of what i was doing and how they could help if they wanted to. Motorola never got back to me, sadly, as they were the prime candidate i wanted sponsored by. However i did receive nice replies back from a Public Relationships company that affiliate with HTC who were willing to offer me two handsets even though they were in short supply, yet for the length of time id need them for, they sadly couldn’t accommodate.
As far as free goes, not so much this time. However since i do need this for my project and exhibits, i found monthly contracts, most extortionate, yet one was very reasonable. A “HTC Desire HD” free in an 18 month contract at £31 aslong as you don’t use data, aswell as £80 cash back. Now for my requirements, this was perfect, and at a monthly price which i could cover once i had sold it on after the exhibitions, sweet. So, that’s ordered and on the way, can’t wait to have some more tangible items in my project to develop with.
Evolved Design
Since the Make phase, the design of the application and its 7 main screens has evolved and finally blossomed into a well cut, overall layout. With a few tweaks to the original concept, the functions and data shown in the application now have a more useful and user friendly display.
I have ported each screen concept over to my smartphone (Droid) and viewed them in the image gallery which displays them as if the application is open in use. The phone has been passed around a couple of my studio colleagues and the overall verdict is good and the design is well received. The concept works great on the phones display and really shows through as a user friendly application.
Here are the images which you can even download, port to your mobile and test on your screen if you wish. Feedback would be welcomed!
