glance. a story.
Technology has changed to a point where we have the whole world in the palm of our hands. The entire history of mankind can be accessed with a few swipes and clicks of the finger. So why is it still so difficult to manage your lifestyle with as few motions as possible?
Think to yourself, how many times do I look at my phone to find out what’s going on in my world?
I’d like to introduce a prototype of an app: glance.
The beginning
The project called for an app that can display “at a glance”, everything that maybe important to you. Going off of Christopher Griffin’s Ideation point of view, “Shared living would be much more convivial, if communication and collaboration were seamless. Every click is an obstacle, this communication should be available at a glance.” It all began from a few paper prototypes.
The initial idea began with the keyword “collaboration” and how a user would be able to communicate with one another quickly and efficiently. Starting out as a messaging app, it then quickly involved to becoming more of a dashboard, which of course included the capabilities of messaging. This new iteration became the benchmark, which would finally become the final prototype.
The design
What makes this app unique is the simple “at a glance” design. I wanted the user to see everything they need to know in a grid-like structure so that customization is an option. The most salient information can be shown at the forefront and going in deeper, the user can explore all the options.
The process and research
Being able to readily conduct usability research drove a lot of the above design decisions. Users wanted to see more color and for good reason. Colors allow the user to readily differentiate among different screens and tasks and that was extremely valuable in creating an app meant to be looked at for only a few seconds.
Re-iterating the design again and again in this process was the cornerstone for this app. It helped that this idea came from Coursera’s own pet project of introducing Remix designs. The collaborative effort of many students helped create this design and ultimately the final prototype.
Future outlook
I hope in the future that this design can be expanded upon. From the user testing, I have already seen it’s potential. Some users remarked on being able to view the calendar and weather without leaving the app and opening a new one. Shaving those few seconds and really bringing a person’s life into view on one screen is valuable and I hope I will be able to continue to develop it into a full application to be used by many.
Special thanks
To the students who contributed to the Remix project — Jennifer Carden, Arvind Kumar Agarwal, Prasitha Thomas and Christopher Griffin; Scott Klemmer, UC San Diego, and the rest of the Coursera team for sharing this opportunity.