During this second phase of the mentorship, my work mostly consisted of using the research to actually build the product. I started off by analyzing the interviews and listing requirements and features that would be needed for the function of the app. I created a user persona for my product to help me streamline the function/usability of the product but I made the mistake of diving right into designing lo-fi wireframes. When I met with my mentor, I realized that I lacked a direction for the app, an issue that would arise later in my development. As my mentor reminded me consistently, I had did not have that big of a time frame to create my project. By utilizing a user flow, I would be able to focus my time and energy into designing a high-quality prototype instead of random sets of screens that weren’t able to be touched on that much.
With her guidance in mind, I created a user flow and digitized my lo-fi sketches from there, prototyping and connecting the screens as per the user flow. I asked someone who was new to my project to help me user test and was also able to gain important insight, such as if I needed a particular screen or not.
With my (very rough) lo-fi wireframes as a guiding template, I designed the mid-fi wireframes next, this time taking into consideration the typography, UI element styles and spacing. Unfortunately, I was only able to design 80% of my screens when I met my mentor but this was enough to gain much feedback and I am confident in my current direction.
In addition to this week, I was able to choose a name for my app: Refresh, that highlights the core of the product. “Refresh” connects back to many aspects of the target market and solution such as a refresh to the mind, day, and feeling people are looking for.
Overall, I would rate myself 8/10. I stumbled over a lot of obstacles but on the plus side, I also learned a lot. I learned that it was important to build a solid foundation at the beginning of any project (in this case, a user flow) and decide on a direction so that later processes of the product do not get muddled. I did face the challenge of being unable to complete a few of my milestones on time and I also had to reiterate many aspects of the app which might push back my schedule further than planned. However, it was very rewarding to get feedback from my mentor who had noticed many issues of my product that I missed. These new perspectives will definitely help me smooth out issues in the future weeks as I implement them.