I learned more about Figma. Variants made the design much easier. Also, overflow made the app move a lot smoother. I used stack overflow to get the scrolling effect which is very important for a few sections of the app. I also learned more about the usefulness of animations within an app. It helps with smooth transitions and it is useful in giving the app more life. 

What was easy?

I found the login section to be one of the easiest. It was similar to the last app so it felt very straightforward. I knew exactly what I needed to make a component of and I had a pretty good understanding of how it should look. 

What was challenging?

I found the animation prototyping a bit more difficult. It was a bit confusing to know how the actions would look like in the prototype. I did not always know which option would look best and help with usability. 

How could your submission be improved?

I could always improve the design. However, since the idea is pretty simple, I would start making a coded prototype. If I started to code the app so that it randomly generated a task from a list of different tasks, that would really help improve my submission. 

How could I improve the assignment for the next class?

I would add more sections to the menu section. There are only the notifications and “how it works” section. I would add frames for all the rest of the tabs that come off of the menu. 

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

I would utilize auto-layout in my future assignments. After learning about it in class, I realized how much easier it would be when prototyping an app. It would also help with consistency through the app which can give it a more professional look. 

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

When trying to think of an app concept I kept in mind that I wanted to make something I could use for myself. I was most motivated by my own experiences during the past spring quarantine. I felt so unmotivated. I tried many different apps but most of them asked for a list that I type in and that always led me to not even try the app in the first place.

Coolors.com has a few “buttons” which when hovered over change color and extra information about where that button will take you animates in. It makes the web page more interesting and helps your eyes focus on that part of the webpage.

Check it out!

One small but well-placed animation in on Twitch. When hovering over a video it moves a little and has a purple border to the left. It highlights the video you want to watch.

Twitch

To make their website feel alive, Lavva utilized different animations. For instance, to connect with them, the support button on the bottom slides up. Not only that, they animated the back of their website so that the leaves move around the areas that they wanted the user to look at. Animation is littered throughout the website. From the change of color of a button while hovering or when there is an appearance of a product. The website is really well put together and the animations help it look more professional.

Lavva

It’s Just One

Description:

An app that gives you one daily goal to do. Quarantine can leave people unmotivated. This app gives the user a random goal to do a day. This app also listens to what the user likes. The user can rate that daily they did. If the user enjoys it, the app has the ability to make new daily goals similar to the ones they enjoy, to make it more likely for the user to accomplish the daily goal. 

6 User stories:

1. As a young adult, I want to have one daily goal,  so that I can have motivation during quarantine.
2. As a lover of learning new things, I want to have a system that gives me random goals, so that I can consistently strive to learn new things. 
3. As a daily phone user, I want an app that will give me productive goals, so that I do not procrastinate on my phone as much.
4. As a college student, I want to keep myself busy during a global pandemic, so that I do not feel as lonely. 
5. As a young adult, I want to instill better habits, so that I do have a routine that makes me better for me. 
6. As an older adult, I want to learn new things daily, so that I can keep sharp and continue being the person I want to be.

1. Identify a popular CRM and conduct a QA analysis. 
   1. Is it easy to complete basic tasks? How many steps/swipes/clicks does it take to complete the task on a desktop computer? What about on a phone?
      1. I used Hub Spot as the CRM that I conducted a QA analysis on. It took me a few steps to find the reset password. Generally, with most apps I have found it difficult to navigate to find the place to reset the password. 
   2. Are there any issues that make the app difficult to use? Can you imagine a person who might find aspects of the app inaccessible?
      1. I feel that the main group of people who would find it difficult to navigate would be the older generations, but that seems to be a side effect of not growing up with this kind of technology. It can be difficult to understand the icons. 
2. Identify a target demographic and list requirements. This can be a club, your family, friends, classmates, any group that can be described with specific characteristics, such as age, interests, location, ailments, social/economic challenges, etc.
   1. The target demographic for my app would be people who are in long-distance relationships. This can include anyone but I would expect an age range from 18-25 years old. 
3. Identify at least one useability, accessibility, and/or a technical issue you will address in your design. This should come from your QA analysis.
   1. My main usability issue as to how to find the place to reset the password. During my QA analysis of the Hub Spot, I felt frustrated because I could not find it for a long time. It was under security and then I even needed to scroll down. Since portions of the webpage stayed in place during the scrolling process, it did not click with me that I even needed to scroll. 
4. Identify at least one new feature you will integrate in your design.
   1. My new feature includes the location of your contacts, the forums, and pinned messages. Pinned messages include specific forum messages or personal messages that the user would want to highlight. I also believe my concept for a CRM is also fairly unique.

Post Project Questions:

1. What did you learn? I learned a lot from this project. I learned how difficult it is to make something, especially when uninspired. I learned to allow myself to take time and think about possible solutions. Most of my ideas came to me while I was walking. I also learned how to utilize different effects and shadows to polish the final look of my app. Before I added a shadow it looked tacky but afterward, I felt more confident in how it looked.
2. What was easy? The easiest section to design was messaging. I have seen a plethora of different messaging apps and many of them are already well designed. I implemented many ideas that felt natural for me, making it the easiest.
3. What was challenging? The sorting system was one of the more challenging concepts for me. My CRM is in its nature different since it is all about long-distance relationships. Because of this, it uses different groups as the main way of sorting individuals. I found it difficult to conceptualize the most straightforward sorting system for the groups I felt were most important for my CRM.
4. How could your submission be improved? I really liked using components but I do not think I used them to the best of my ability. As I was working on the final touches I needed to move something that was on each frame but I did not make a component and I needed to change each frame. I also feel that with more time I would add more features to the app, especially in the menu section of it. Right now there is only a reset password feature, but with more time I would add more to the different sections of security.
5. How could I improve the assignment for the next class? Like the previous question, I would add more features. I would also probably use Maze again to do some more testing to see what else I could change. 
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios? One idea that I will definitely apply is to start early. I slowly worked through ideas over the course of three weeks. Some nights were definitely longer than others but I did not feel overwhelmed closer to the deadline. I would also definitely use the component aspect of Figma. It was so nice to only need to fix one thing, and then everything else would change as well. It saved so much time and a lot of hair-pulling. 
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you? The video that most inspired me was the Netflix movie The Social Dilemma. I wanted my CRM to be more specific for the user, with no companies for which the information is being used for. It is for the users and only the users.  
8. Comments:
   1. I have a few personal comments on my work. First of all, I would utilize version saving. I did not do it because I just counted on the autosave. The problem that occurred for me is that I changed the messaging logo but I can not show how I changed it because I did not save the earlier versions of it. 
   2. Also, I did use AB testing at the beginning of the project. However, this was before I knew of Maze. So I just asked my friends in person. I do not have a report on it. For the most part, I used it for the color scheme. The original colors were purple and pink or green and pink. All but one of my friends chose pink and green so I continued with that.

Maze Report

Project 1 Figma

Figma: https://www.figma.com/@dmitrovj