SenseScape

RESEARCH

This project was assigned by D&AD. We were able to choose the brief we wanted, and I decided to go with 21 Grams as it allowed me to work with UX and it was a topic associated with Myopia that was a topic close to my heart. To start everything off, I started with creating a mind map with the company name “21 Grams” and then researched everything about the company to gain a better understanding into what they are about. Then I looked at the brief and took out everything they were wanting from me as a designer and how they wanted their brief to be interpretated. From there, I completed some competitor analysis to gauge a better understanding on what was popular and what was not. Feedback was given to allow me to go onto the next stage of my research.

CORE VALUES

Defining core values can be hard but they guide the brand in the direction you want. These came through what 21Grams already has as this is an extension from the brand themselves. Some include, problem solvers, professional and pleasant just to name a few. I wanted to incorporate these into the app to allow the user to understand that although its separate from 21Grams, it still holds the same values.

IDEA GENERATION

After the research I began another mindmap with everything that was popular from the survey conducted, colour scheme, UI elements, name suggestions and overwhelmingly, free products and levels where what came back as most popular among those who participated.  This app is to be a calming environment for the user to continue coming back to and learning from, its somewhere for the user to feel safe and understood, a place that can help them. My goal was clear: design a gamification app that allowed the user to complete various activities to gain points and move up levels. How they were to do this was the real question. The brief stated that it had to be a clever use of technology to prevent the growing of Myopia therefore stimulating the 5 human senses would be the best course of action. Due to young people being on their phones for a large part of their day and night, this dulls those senses.

Users would gain access to free items such as coffees and teas, baked goods and move up to clothing stores. This gives them an incentive to continue what they are doing. I envisioned working with brands such as Greggs, Costa and ASOS as these are brands young people and students would use on a regular basis.

PROCESS

I started taking elements from various gamification apps I enjoyed visually and incorporated them into my own to achieve the best success rate for the target audience. I began to sketch out ideas and could see it all coming to life before my eyes in the wireframes. I wanted to take inspiration from the company themselves through their simple minimalistic style therefore it wasn’t crowded or loud like other apps. I made a list of pages that I felt was necessary and continued sketching.

Once I had it all sketched out, it was time to take it to figma and digitalise it

The levels page I wanted to view it like veins in an eye as there are many different pathways that come off each road, however upon designing, it wasn’t the way to go as it became too intricate to design and be able to scroll so I condensed it down.

Designing all the widgets took time as I had to figure out what each of the settings was going to be and how would be best to represent them. I sketched a few put and drew them.

BRANDING

Due to the app focusing on the 5 human senses I landed on the name SightScape. I looked up to see if any other company ad the name and it didn’t, it was too good to be true. Weeks went by and suddenly, there it was, a company started up with the same Sightscape. As per the rules in D&AD, you couldn’t have a name that another company already had, therefore SenceScape was born. The name encompasses what the app is all about, your 5 senses and reconnecting with them. The black and white was a nod towards 21Grams whilst the muted red, green and purple allowed for those who were colourblind and gave a slight feminine touch.

REFLECTION

Overall, I found this project very enjoyable to create. If I were to approach a similar project in the future, I would take more time in developing the levels page and creating a more smooth path. However, the concept of SenseScape was great to design and bring to life.