IxD Sprint

Process:

I wanted my application to help users be more informed about the type of pests that harm their plants, and how to get rid of them.

My main reason behind this decision was because I know many people who enjoy having plants in their backyard, however these plants many times become unhealthy or eventually die because of pests. If users were able to understand the different types of pests that were harming their plants, and different methods to get rid of them, they would be able to enjoy their garden or backyard much more.

The data collected would be focused on helping scientists understand the types and concentration of pests in an area. Once I made these decisions, I was able to being designing my application, focusing on the ideas we came up with in studio. I wanted my application to be intuitive and easy to navigate, so I tried to make sure the design of each page was similar to each other, for example the back button is in the same location on each page, and the “next” and “submit” buttons are both located near the bottom of the page to indicate that the user must start from the top of the page and finish at the bottom.

After finishing my application, I showed it to a friend to get some feedback. She liked how the navigation was intuitive, but suggested I add transitions to go back to a previous page, and also that I should add the description of the pest so that users can better pinpoint the type of pest that is infecting their plant, which I incorporated into my application.

Reflection:

The biggest problem I encountered with this sprint was trying to think of an app that was related to plant health that collected some type of useful data, while also being useful for specific users. Since I am someone who has never been particularly interested in plants, or their health, I was drawing a blank, as I myself had no connection to the topic. I was finally able to have a breakthrough when I talked to my parents, as they are both avid gardeners. Talking to them helped me understand that there are individuals who find this topic useful, and I was able to think from their perspective to come up with an application idea.

Impression:

I really enjoyed working to come up with an app, and designing the features my app would have, and the way in which it functions. Although, like mentioned earlier, I found the topic for the app a little difficult, I think it really helped me think outside of the box and think from a completely different user’s perspective. I also enjoyed explaining my application through a video, although it took me a while to learn how to make one.