#ixdbeflast

I have just finished designing and developing my promotional strategy for my product to give it the full send for advertising it to customers. I tried my best to match the Landen site design to my sketches, however that proved difficult as I had little to no experience on Landen. However, I got the layout pretty much the same and got in all of the content that was required

Find attached my Landen and Gumroad pages for my product which i have created to advertise and sell my product. 

Landen Link: https://xgwyohpptkq2.umso.co/

Gumroad Link: https://gumroad.com/darachmcsherry#PTnuCC

I like to have everything in the one place and so I decided to include my product on my website. here I could develop it just as I designed it. I laid out all of the content in the right order and linked the buttons to my Gumroad page.  Hopefully here I can get some more sales as I can link my website to my social media pages.

Find below a PDF with my ideas and progress of my digital product for IXD302.

User Flows and Why they Matter

Having spent two years in university and just over a year in the industry, I know what a user flow looks like and what it does. However, a quick read over the different flows has reinforced the information.

“A user flow is a series of steps a user takes to achieve a meaningful goal.”

User Flows are really diagrams that show the path a user would take when using the product. It maps out each step the user takes from the minute they open the app until they leave it. They can be drawn or written out or designed digitally and are made up of all the paths the user would take making their journey through the app. This can be depicted as a flow chart, see below.

The shapes used in this denote a particular process and each touchpoint is represented by a node. A diamond offers a yes or no response and the rectangle is a line of action, such as welcome, or select task.

 Why is user flows important in UX? 

“The main benefit of designing a product where users can get “in the zone” quickly is the ability to increase the probability of a user purchasing or signing up for the client’s product. Another benefit is enhancing the ease of movement through your platform, making sure the user’s time isn’t being wasted looking for what to do next. Of course, there is often more than one route a user could follow to complete the task. User flows portray these possible patterns in a way that makes it easy for designers to assess the efficiency of the interface they are creating.”

“For products that are already in use, user flow charts help determine what’s working, what’s not, and what areas need improvement. It helps to identify why users might be stalling at a certain point and what you can do to fix it. Does one screen flow into the next? Does the pattern of the screens make sense? Mapping out the movement within an interface in a blueprint type fashion helps you see what options the user has on each page and if the routes available help the user accomplish a task innately and without wasting time.”

“User flows also easily communicate the flow of the product to your stakeholders and provide a general view of how the interface you’ve created is intended to work in its most efficient form. They provide a step-by-step breakdown of what the customer will see and do in order to purchase, log in, sign up, etc. Helping your design team visualize how users will move through the product ensures everyone is on the same page—which allows for a more productive and rewarding work environment.”

Different types of User Flow

1. Task Flows

Task flows generally only show only one path and don't show branches. When using these, it is assumed that all users are starting from the same point and there is no variation in the tasks that are being carried out.

2. Wire Flows

Wire flows are a combination of wireframes and flowcharts. When using wireframes on their own, you can see the layout and design on each page but you don't have the ability to communicate the page to page flow of heavily dynamic interfaces. Wireflows add context to UX flows and this all helps the user’s experience as they move through the app.

3. User Flows

User flows concentrate on the way the target audience will interact with the product. It must be remembered that not all users will perform tasks in the same way and are typically attached to a specific persona and entry point. Therefore, when using this type of flowchart, you may have many different scenarios that start at different places. However, the main task is usually the same.

Planning for Edible

When I come to design “Edible” the success will come down to the intuitiveness of its design. When users can easily flow through it without hesitation or confusion, there is a greater likelihood that they return to use it again. User flows are a great tool and they will assist in evaluating the efficiency and simplicity of my design. Hopefully, when it’s finished the user experience will be gratifying and free from frustration. 

After much thought on my three ideas, I finally decided that I would be progressing further with my astronomy app, codenamed 'Betelgeuse'.

Astronomy and physics have been a massive passion for me. For the past few years, I have invested time studying astronomy and the basics of astrophysics in my own time.

I am so excited to get started with this project.

After considerable debate, I have narrowed ideas down to three for my major project. Weighing up the pros and cons of each of my thoughts, I dedicated time to building these ideas up and fleshing them out a little bit more. This helped me to see which of my three ideas was strongest and carried the most potential.

Ultimately, my final three ideas were narrowed down to:

PawPrint - a lifestyle, mental health, and well-being companion app for dogs.

Betelgeuse - Educational science app focused on astronomy and cosmic guide.

Digital Trainer - Health and fitness app, managing gym workout and training sessions easy.

Modular Typeface : Final Design 

Following on from my sketches of my modular typeface , I created it digitally using my old reliable , affinity photo. Originally I did try to use Fontstruct to create my font , but it didn’t give me the same amount of freedom which affinity photo or sketch would give me. 

When creating my design on affinity photo I experimented with even more shades of blue and the opacity of my shapes. I toyed around with the shades and different opacities until I was happy with my design. Finally I added in my orang background. I went for a slightly darker orange than in my sketches as I felt that it worked slightly better with the different shades of blue than the previous lighter orange background did.

Plane: Modular Typefaces

Zuzana Licko

I have decided to look at the work of Zuzana Licko for inspiration for creating my modular typeface. Zuzana Licko is Czechoslovakian , she emigrated to the U.S.A as a child. Zuzana has a degree in graphic communications from the university of California.

Along with her husband , in 1984 , Zuzana started the design company Emigre. Emigre is well known for its self published magazine and type foundry which were inspired by the new technological possibilities offered by the macintosh computer.