Case Study | SortSwipe app
THE CHALLENGE
I was tasked with developing and creating a landing page for a peer client based on an app idea he had during week 1 of the UXDI program. This app, called SortSwipe, would be an easy way for users to organize their screenshots.
Timeline: 2 weeks
Tools used: Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketch, pen and paper
INITIAL STAGES
Client collaboration
I took some time to speak with my client about his app idea and discuss his brand vision and style preferences. Our ideas for color scheme and design concept aligned well, and we implicitly understood each other’s aesthetic. Our shared flexibility and openness to ideas and feedback moved the process along quickly and smoothly. I obtained some insight into what he wanted, and from there was able to create a moodboard and eventual styletile which visually communicated his app’s brand and feel.
Prototyping
Using my client’s wireframe sketches as a base inspiration, I began laying out potential screens of the app, gradually adding in features that the client had decided on (based on his own user testing and ideation), and playing with the layout and brand color.
IDEATION TO CREATION
My client and I collaborated together to determine what the design objectives were for SortSwipe. I asked him what words he thought of when he envisioned his app, and from these descriptors we were able to form an idea of how his app should look.
SortSwipe Design Objectives
Brand personality traits:
• Clean
• Sleek
• Modern
• Quick
• Simple/easy
Design elements:
• Large, colorful photos that communicate clean/modern/sleek message to the user
• Modern text, sans serif/thin — communicates clean/sleek message, easy to read
• Short phrases or calls-to-action that allow the user to read description quickly and understand the message/goal of the app
• Gradients to communicate modern feel
• Color scheme — wanted to stay on-brand with the app and client’s vision but also not be too monochromatic or one-dimensional
• Work through the user’s emotional journey and flow when visiting page (user testing and feedback)
A question I asked during user testing: “Based on the appearance of this website, what do you think this company does?”
Through peer feedback, I learned that, though the composition, style, and general visual design of this iteration (above) were pleasing, the adjectives described to me were “nostalgic,” “vintage,” “rustic” — all words that weren’t in line with our brand vision and design objectives. This version had to go.
ADJUSTING & REFINING
After changing up the photos and layout, we went through a few more user tests, and evaluated our feedback to produce the final version of the prototype.
