The interface of an application is what will visually seduce the user when using a website or an application. It is therefore important to respect a certain set of specifications to seduce him.
One of the projects I had to realize during the Iron Hack bootcamp was to choose an application and redesign its interface. I selected the Co-star astrology application.
In this case study, I will explain you what are the important points to respect when redesigning an application or a website and how I applied these principles to this project.
First, let me briefly introduce Co-Star. The concept is characterized by a very accurate horoscope and astrological analysis of the users, information about compatibility between users and updated information based on Nasa data.
ANALYSIS
The interface is essentially in black and white. Illustrations are scattered and most of the content is text. the visual atmosphere is futuristic but minimalist.
Before starting to analyze more deeply the composition of the application and to modify it, I was interested in the users’ experience. I interviewed 5 people from my entourage with different levels of interest in astrology. 3 of them had already downloaded the app but had found it too difficult to use and had therefore deleted it from their phone.
Concerning the UI, here are the important points that they did not like and that I had to modify in priority:
- The colors (the total lack of color does not evoke anything to them, they found it depressing and not attractive at all. Moreover, the white or black background was much too present compared to the content and aggressive for the eyes).
- The layout ( the scroll down is too long and the elements are badly disperced)
- The background ( black or white, the background is too present and aggressive for the eyes)
- The illustrations ( the style is interesting but the representations don’t make sense)
- The general theme ( the general theme inspired by “Matrix” or more inspired by asronomy than by astrology, are confusing)
the typography (unreadable and too compact).
Based on these data, I knew then that the main points to rework in the UI are : Colors, layout, background, illustrations, typography and general theme.
I made clones of the screens I was going to redesign in order to have a base to rework. This helped me even more in the analysis of the visual composition of the interface.
Starting on this new base, it was important to keep in mind that the experienced users had to find the basics of the application.
IDEATION
I made a moodboard and a style guide representing the theme I was going to use.
And here is the result!
Thank you for reading!
Eva