IAT 334: Interface Design
Make&Meet Product Design and Prototype
Background
During my Summer semester in 2022 at Simon Fraser University, I collaborated with three other students to complete a prototype for a tablet-based application intended for journalling and keeping track of hobbies. In addition, users could find like-minded, nearby companions also interested in selected hobbies and crafts.
Roles
Graphic Designer
UX Researcher
UI/UX Designer
Group members
Kiara Bendana
Sopia Lee
Renee Lefebvre
Completed August 2022
Duration - 5 Weeks
Problem
Make&Meet's intended audience is older adults interested or already participating in creative hobbies or crafts. The tablet-based application, currently prototyped for the iPad Pro interface, is ideal for both new and experienced hobbyists and creatives. Make&Meet assists with the management of hobbies, projects, and the social relationships that develop surrounding these pastimes among older adults.
The Solution
Building off of the foundation of helping older adults seek and foster hobbies and associated social relationships, three initial concepts were defined during the first week or two of the project: a Hobby Matchmaker, an Event Finder, and a Hobby Tracker. The concepts were merged together to create the central premise of Make&Meet, which consists of three main features: a Journal, a Calendar, and a 'Connect' section where one can seek and maintain contacts relevant to their select hobbies.
Initial Ideations and Interaction Design
The second stage of this project involved the further development of not only our three initial ideas proposed in Stage 1, but also our research scope in relation to our subsequent development of personas and experience maps. This stage started out with narrowing down the name and premise of our final application. We collectively conducted research within our domain through interpersonal interviews and external academic research. Based on our defined guiding principles and interview results, we established the primary and secondary features of our application, and finally our personas - Leonard, Nancy, and Mary.
Three personas and their associated experience maps are shown below.
Nancy's Persona and User Journey
High-Fidelity Wireframes
Home
The Home screen is for the journaling aspect of the application, in which users are able to share journal entries relevant to their specific projects.
Connect
The Connect screen assists users with finding like-minded potential companions within the domain of their defined hobby and/or craft.
Navigation Bar
The Navigation Bar allows users to access essentials such as the Calendar feature, scheduling feature, the FAQ and Help sections, in addition to managing their notifications.
Messages
The Messaging feature provides users the opportunity to directly contact their friends or 'companions' on the application, or contribute to group chats of groups relevant to their hobby that they joined.
Make&Meet Prototype
The final iteration of the project and the prototype was developed in response to our previous user testing interviews, in addition to in-class critique on our progress from classmates and instructors alike.
The final product of the collaborative project, the Make&Meet prototype intended for tablet devices.
Reflection
Make&Meet's intended audience is older adults interested or already participating in creative hobbies or crafts. The tablet-based application, currently prototyped for the iPad Pro interface, is ideal for both new and experienced hobbyists and creatives. Make&Meet can help with keeping oneself accountable when it comes to the management of hobbies, projects, and the social relationships that develop surrounding these pastimes among older adults.
Future considerations for Make&Meet would be to contemplate how the application can be narrowed down in terms of the audience it is designed for. As the intended audience consists of older adults, how the application can be further developed to accommodate this audience above other potential user groups is somethign that must be researched and pursued.