VOTR
THE VOTR PROJECT
A six week project assignment in the course ”Design of graphical interfaces” during the Interaction Designer programme at Linnéuniversitetet. The focus in this project was on the graphic design of the user interface and on learning to use the prototype tool Axure.
The task was to create a service or plugin that adds something to existing websites and that makes it possible to use the web in a different or more effective way. The service had two different user roles - a user that contributes to the service (Adder) and a user that uses the service that has been created (User). The assignment also consisted in creating a hi-fi prototype in Axure and a poster promoting the service.
We were all assigned different predefined concepts. In our case we got the concept Votr, which is a service where you should be able to create and participate in different kinds of votings, anywhere and anytime on the web.
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MY ROLE
We worked in pairs but were divided in different roles. I was assigned the user role. That meant my task was to design the user interface of different kinds of votings created by adders. I chose to create the prototype for the user role for the mobile, since we thought that would be the platform the user would use most of the time.
I designed the Votr logo that we used in the project as well as the poster and of course the user interface for the user part.
THE FIRST STEPS
We started out by discussing the different functions for the adder as well as the user and setting up a plan for which wireframes to design to illustrate the different functions in the best way. Then it was pretty much individual work although we made sure to synchronise our work along the way.
VOTING WITH VOTR
The Votr service could be used either within the Votr app or from the browser. The user should be able to participate in any votings posted by adders on any website. Below examples of the service is shown as for example the user flow showing a user participate in a voting.
The icon indicates there is a finished voting on this website
The icon indicates there is an ongoing voting regarding this picture
An example of what it looks like browsing the internet within the Votr app.
The link encourages the user to participate in or look at similar votings
The link encourages the user to become
an adder
An example of what it looks like when you have participated in a voting.
An example of what it looks like when you use Votr from the browser and look at the list of votings on a specific website.
The icon indicates
the voting is ongoing
Indicates when the voting will stop
An example of what it looks like when you have clicked on the green icon on the picture (described in the previous example) to participate in a voting.
An example of what it looks like when you look at the result of a finished voting.
An example of what it looks like when you become an adder and creates a new voting.
THE VOTR APP
Below is an example of the user flow of the search function within the Votr app where the user has typed the search word "brand". It shows the steps from the main menu to the search result list.
LESSONS LEARNED
The first challenge was to figure out how the service should appear on a website. I didn't want it to take too much focus of the content.
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I think the hardest part of this project was to limit myself when it came to how many functions I could design within the given time frame. Ideas for new functions came up along the way in the design process. I ended up making a lot of designs that were never used in the final presentation of the prototype.
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From this project I learned that it is important to set out a well defined plan from the beginning in order to be able to focus on the most important functions.