Over the past seven weeks, I decided to create a mobile app that would allow me to build my User Experience/User Interface skills and a mobile app that does not exist.
Each week, I documented each step of the development process. Below is a summarized version of each step taken from thought to Final Prototype. Also provided in each section is a link to the corresponding blog that would go into detail about the specific process.
Proposal
After having an idea for a mobile app, and conducting the proper research, the next step was to create a proposal. The Grieving Toto project proposal was written to help layout all the important information that needed to be completed for the iOS mobile app, Grieving Toto to breath life. Some of this information is related to goals, target audience, artifacts, and a timeline of when each artifact should be completed. Below is a preview of what Grieve Toto’s Project Proposal looks like. If you want a deeper understanding of the project proposal, the full piece is located in “Mobile App Research” or you can read it below.
User Research
One of the most important parts of creating anything is understanding the prospective users. To better understand who the potential users are for Grieving Toto, I conducted interviews, which allowed me to create persona’s, and empathy maps. I needed to interview individuals who only had one thing in common, they lost or are losing a dog. Every individual’s story and needs are different and that’s why I made sure to collect their wants and needs for an animal grieving app.
Below you will find the interview, personas, and empathy maps for two of Grieving Toto’s target audience. Click to expand to learn more.
Another part of the user research was to conduct a competitor analysis, in which it was found that an app that helps dog owners grieve the loss of their four-legged family member, does not exist. Grieving Toto is the first of its kind.
Below can be found a competitor analysis of three of the closest competitors to Grieving Toto.
Information Architecture and WireFrames
When developing the information architecture and wireframes for Grieving Toto, it was hard not to put everything I could think of into the app. I took the most important aspects of concepts and developed what is now the Grieving Toto Information Architecture. After a final draft was made, the next step was to develop a wireframe. Each wireframe layed out a different screen that would be used for the low-fidelity clickable wireframe prototype.
To further explore the step by step process for Grieving Toto information architecture and wireframes, check out “From Thought to Paper”.
Clickable Wireframe Prototype
For a low-fidelity prototype, I tested out a new technique called clickable wireframes. It eliminated the time-consuming process of creating paper screens and allowed me to focus more on how my user testers would react to a specific layout. Conducting a low-fidelity prototype digitally gave me the time and the ability to make any necessary changes directly to the prototype that was already in the process of being built.
If you would like to know more about the process check out “Clickable Test” where I decrease the process and the outcome to the low-fidelity prototype test. Or if you prefer to test it out, click on the image below.
Design
Design is one of the most important parts of any product development. If the design is not right, it will not draw in users. It is why I dedicated a week to developing the best visually appealing and user-friendly design. To accomplish this goal, research was conducted as well as three different designs were created.
To further explore the process of designing the layout of Grieving Toto, check out “It’s Time To Design”.
High-fidelity Prototype
The final piece when developing Grieving Toto, was to have a high-fidelity prototype. Taking collecting the data from the clickable wireframes, and the final design layout of each screen was made, it was time to connect everything and test Grieving Toto once more.
You can read more about the results of the high-fidelity prototype test in “High-fidelity Prototype”. Learn more about the final changes made to Grieving Toto by visiting “Welcome to Grieving Toto”. There you can find a more in-depth explanation of the final steps of the development and what is in store next for Grieving Toto as a mobile app.
Test out Grieving Toto for yourself by clicking on the icon below.
thinking out loud 