Minor project

MINOR PROJECT 

27.8.20 - 4.12.20 ( Week 1 - Week 15 )
Yap Wei Xuan (0338916)
Minor Project

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LECTURES

Week 1 : Introduce to Minor Project

On the first class, Mr. Mike briefed us about the module, and who are we going to collaborate with. He presented the five projects that we will be working on and explained the problems that we have to come up with solutions. 

He let us to choose the teammates by ourselves. In the end, I teamed up with Qian Hui, Gordon, Abby, Karyan and Joe for this project. The project that we decide to chose is  LPG ordering system.

Week 2 : Tutorial on Miro Learning & Design Thinking

This week is an online class. Mr Mike gave us a tutorial about how to use Miro. Miro is very useful for team projects, as we can put all our works inside and can be edit by many people at the same time. 

Afterward, Mr Mike also taught us about what is Design thinking. 

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INTRODUCTION

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PROJECTS 

Week 1

For the first week of the Minor Project, Mr Mike went through each of the project briefings and talked about the potential workloads and outcomes that were required.

Here is the slides that had presented:

After a series of discussions, our team decided to choose the LPG project because the brief was direct and we were clear on what to expect. This project is mainly focusing on app UI/UX design.

Before we started working on the project, we set a time for our team to have a weekly meeting at 3pm every Wednesday to discuss our progression and to ensure that everyone is on the same page and not left behind.

This way prove that we work faster than other group as we had a clear direction and plan, we had finished our work before week 14.

Week 2

We first started out by understanding and analysing the current LPG delivery system in Malaysia. We look at the current ways of ordering gas and distribute one method to each member to find the necessary data. I was in charge on researching the most traditional way which is the "order on spot" order system.

After the research we find some points that might help us out. Here is the findings:

After showing our research to Mr Mike, he suggested that we should look at other direct competitors and our target audiences. Who are our main target users for the app and to begin surveying data about LPG from them.

Week 3

For this week, we consult with Mr Mike. Here is some important points that we gathered from the feedback.

After that, we started creating our questions for the interview and survey questionnaire. The job scopes were distributed as below:

Survey Questionnaire:

1. Kar Yan

2. Abigail

3. Wei Xuan

Interview Questions

1. Qian Hui

2. Joe

3. Gordon

Link to interview questions:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-5iPz9PWy03THJTrJXlItxTjD2NQTvlVvePr_X30bkc/edit?usp=sharing 

Link to survey questionnaires:

https://forms.gle/LujHAQyuQ5pKYe4U7 

Week 4

We split ourselves to gather data from our target audience. All of us distributed out the survey links to our friends. For the interview, I successfully called 3 gas deliverymen while Gordon and Qian Hui interviewed grocery shop owners which provided gas delivery.  Meanwhile Kar Yan also did research on overseas LPG apps and how they function.

We also created a separate whatsapp group, one with an IT team and one with a business team to further discuss the project. We had separate meetings with both of the teams to understand what their desired outcomes were and proposed ideas about the project. 

Here is the summary of what each group should done:

Then we begin by laying out the project proposal to ensure that each team works equally.

Week 5

For the survey we successfully gathered over 160 survey feedbacks (mainly from targeted LPG consumers) 

During the meeting, we analysed the survey data together.
However, we realized that it took longer to analyse the data than we expected so we decided to split ourselves into 2 groups:

1. Joe and Gordon will be analysing the grocery store owner interview data
2. Qian Hui, Kar Yan, Abigail and Xuan will analyse the gas delivery man interview data

Information derived from interview results:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cmNfUEHwq56F8A3bCm18LmV245AMi4vLCBiM7IUVj6g/edit?usp=sharing 

Information derived from survey results:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JSquqATmIOMythYxFUDSuuan6xVtXex5-sSJiBviq3A/edit?usp=sharing

We also had a meeting with Dr Edwin to talk about our research findings and his opinions about our project proposal 

Week 6

For this week, Dr Edwin introduced Batch Mode to us. The IT team also sent us their app and website proposal and after we went through the proposal, we realized that the purpose and function of the website was contradicting our research findings. We decided to have a meeting with the IT team to discuss this and they were confused as well with the function of the website and we thought the entire proposal may have to be changed.

As the deadline for the proposal was cutting close, we decided to have an emergency meeting with Dr Edwin to solve the issue. Dr Edwin explained that the website is more of a backend logic for the app itself and not as a website. We decided to lay out the supply chain of LPG to understand the positioning of our app and website so it would not be confusing as before.

This week we also discuss on the "How might we", here is the screenshot of what we done:

Week 7

We split ourselves into 2 groups, Joe and Abigail will work on the user journey flow for the courier and customer app while Qian Hui, Kar Yan, Gordon and Wei Xuan will work on the brand identity. 

User Journey Flow created by Joe and Abigail:

Brand Identity done by Qian Hui, Gordon, Kar Yan and Wei Xuan:

All of us were also assigned to come up with brand name ideas and design references that we think suits the brand. During our meeting, we went through each name, discussed and then shortlisted our top 3 names - Gas Up, MyGas, and Gas Man. 

The final chose is "GAS UP".

Each of us researched and discussed together on our preferred choice of typography, design shapes elements and layout references.

After present to each other in our own group meeting, we also rate the most suitable references and ideas.

Week 8

For this week, we had changed our perspective of design research as previously we realised it was not very user friendly for our target audience. We did further research and study on the target audience and what are the rules that should be followed when designing for them. Hence, we further researched on the logo design references with better rationale.

Each member had to come out with some ideas, and we will choose the best idea and go on it. Here is a screenshot of what 6 members had done:

We finalized our logo choice with mascot (which is the penguin) as we think it suits with our brand identity and name. It is also fresh to have a mascot based brand in Malaysia. 

For the UX, we did further research on our target audience and laid out rules that we should stick to for the UI designing. We also started working on the completed flowchart and sitemap based on the function list from the IT team. We had to read through and digest the function list from the IT team as it was quite confusing and we needed to implement it in the flow chart and site map.

The screenshot of the flow chart and site map:

Week 9

Based on the feedback from previous week, this week we mainly focused on refining our progress from last week especially on the flow chart and site map. We also had a meeting with the IT team to confirm the flow chart and site map.

We also did further research on our target audience to understand the rules and principles we should take note while designing for elderlies.

For the branding, we started to look more into the rationale of our choice of logo and how it relates to our target users and brand product.

After the foundation for the project was laid down, we started to distribute job tasks and also create a project timeline to ensure that we are on track and everyone is working equally.

Jobscopes:

Logo Design: Gordon (will help out with High fidelity design once logo is done)
Courier App Design: Joe and Qian Hui
Website: Joe and Qian Hui

Customer App Design: Kar Yan and Abigail
Onboarding Illustrations: Wei Xuan

Joe will overlook the entire App UI UX Design and Qian Hui will overlook the entire project

Week 10

This week we start to work on the app design, logo design and illustration. We started out by drafting our ideas and layouts for a few key functions first in miro so we can have a rough idea on the project. Then we shifted the rest of the project to figma to complete the wireframe.

Everytime when a section is done, we would update in our group and everyone would take a look and provide feedback. Then the refinement would be implemented and the design would be reviewed again. We constantly provided each other feedback and improved on the app design. Our design direction is mainly based on our previous research on elderly. A few rules that our design should follow: text should not be smaller than 12pt (ideal is 16pt), buttons should be clear and direct, functions should not be hidden (swipe to see, scroll to see etc.  should be avoided), information should be laid out and not chunked too many times, amount of taps should be reduced as much as possible. 

For the logo design, we realized that the design might end up too cute looking and not very reliable and friendly, so we had a discussion and laid out a few rules that should be followed: the logo should be stable while showing the movement and not too cute looking.

For illustration, we have also agreed on a simple illustration style so that it is easy to look at and not overwhelming for our users. We also created the content for onboarding pages so I can draft the illustration based on the content provided.

The content board that created by my teammates:

The illustration style that we aim for:

We have also put out the user testing this week when the low fidelity design was complete.

MY PART:

This week i had started to design the main character which is the delivery man. Here is the process of how i create and finalize the delivery man design :

The penguin design:

Week 11

After the user testing results are back, we start to work on the high fidelity design. The logo design was also confirmed, so Gordon would be assisting the customer app high fidelity design. Wei Xuan is also progressing on the onboarding illustrations with sketches. After we have discussed and updated each other on our progress, we have also provided feedback for our designs and continue to refine and work on it. 

Throughout the week, Joe kept close contact with the IT team to ensure the designs are in line with the functions and confirmed by them as well. We have also had discussions on some features that we would like to add in and ask whether the addition is alright with the IT team.

Joe and Qian Hui also guided and provided feedback for the customer app design to ensure that the designs are consistent and rationalised, also whatever is added should be approved and confirmed with the IT team beforehand.

MY PART:

The overall concept had done, but i need to reduce the characters. So far there are 5 characters. My teammates suggest to stick at 1 customer and the delivery man as the main character. The design for our penguin (mascot) is fine.

Here is the screenshots for the attempt 1 from the slides:

Here is the illustrations after fixing, which is the attempt 2 that come with the low-fi UI design:

Week 12 For this week we finalised our high fidelity design and sent it to the IT team for final checkup. The courier app, customer app and admin panel were then refined according to feedback and is ready for submission. The assets were exported as well and compiled in google drive for the IT team.  We also contacted the business team about their progression and what are the marketing and promotional collaterals that are needed. They requested for newspaper, brochure and social media advertisement design. Kar Yan worked on the newspaper design, Qian Hui worked on the brochure design while Gordon worked on the social media design.

Kar Yan also did further research on marketing on the app mainly focused on how to market to our target consumers.

MY PART:

I had finalized the design of my illustrations, just had to fix a little bit. For example, put in the high-fi UI design into my arts, refine the faces of the character to make them consistent.

Here is the final looks of my illustrations:

Courier App:

Consumer App:

Week 13

Here is the slides for our final presentation: 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xQDVb0l7M_GirezF9bfTa6FxJLsQ6lXSnY2jXUjf1o0/edit#slide=id.gada5d8d5b6_0_67

The Google Docs for our team: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nYuKW7p4HIyAP-N--ppeEj6zaMorh_XDX4S8BR6E2rY/edit

Miro board link: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_kmTjV4Q=/

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REFLECTIONS

Week 2

I was required to research about the “order on spot”  gas order system. In general, this is one of the traditional way to order gas. The consumer would stand outside their house and wait for the gas lorry pass by, and order gas on spot. Through the findings, this way of ordering gas is still very common between towns. I did interview my parents to understand more about this order method. My family was the one that using this method, so I was required to research on this. Through this, i understand that actually the older people were satisfy on using phone call method. Through the research, I understand more about this method and help to learn about the market needs. After this, I will be more aware about the gas ordering systems.

Week 3

Based on the findings  that we had researched we listed out the questions that might answer our doubt by creating an online questionnaire in Google Sheet. This is to correct the right data,  understand the market needs and problems. The reason why we using online questionnaires was because it is the most simply way to collect data. Some of the questions in the questionnaire might be used in future projects.

Week 4

I had to try to interview the delivery man in my region which is Sabah, but i failed. But in the end, i succeed to interviewed 3 delivery man through the phone numbers that members gave me. The questionnaire is for the consumers while interview the delivery man is indeed as we need to understand their needs and problems to design our “courier app” which is design for the delivery man. We collected the correct data and understood the delivery man needs which also help us to know the challenges that they were facing. After this experience, i will be more confident to interview people.

Week 5

Our team started to analysed the questionnaire results and interview responses. Abby and I was work on the first part of the “Defining insight” in Google Docs. This is to summary and discover useful information. It help us to develop our app prototype based on the relevant statistics. I learned a way to easier organize/analyze the data that we collected.

Week 6

This week we focus on refining the "How might we". It has a reality check on value, needs, challenges, barriers.It help us to find out the challenges/problems that we need to solve, and brainstorm how to solve it. It also a good way to fill the little gaps that we might not easy to be notice.

Week 7

My group was more focused on the brand identity. We list down some brand names that might work, and write down the brand concept which include our vision and mission, the story behind, the values and so on.  Each member also needed to find some layout references that might be useful for our layout design. I was more focused on the design for the tracking part. We then have a meeting to present the works that each of us had done and the reason why we had chosen such a reference. Why the leader want to have this activity, it is because it help to get an overall concept of how our app will look like. Thus, It help us to have a clear direction on which way we need to go and come out with more ideas.Sometimes, it also might come out with some unimaginable results. This way can be applied in my future group projects.

Week 8

This week is more detailed, each member should come up with some idea for logo design, layout design,colors and illustration design of the app. We also need to give out the reasons behind each idea. Same as last week, we need to present our own idea in our own group meeting. This is to gather ideas from each member so that we can come out the best of the best idea for our app. It is useful because members can rate for all 6 ideas and choose one as final, it is easier and fair. This kind of group discussion can be apply in any group projects.

Week 9

This week, we had already confirmed the illustration style and my members had list out the content of onboarding pages for me so i can start to work on it. I started to sketch out the overall illustrations of how it might look like. After showing my members about the sketch and get approval, i started to design the main character (the delivery man and the penguin,which is also our mascot).Sketching the ideas out first will give a better direction for myself and it is easier for me in future when i need to create the artworks on AI, therefore i no need to struggle at the same time while creating the illustrations. This reason also applies to why I design the main character first before I officially work on the illustrations.  Through the process, I learned that every single design there should be a reason behind it. Why it looks like this, why the main character's face should look like this,etc. Thus, this kind of method is applicable for any projects.

Week 10

I had come out with all the illustrations but there were still some problems i need to fix. This week, i refine the illustrations and make sure all the illustrations looks consistent (especially the face and body of the characters). Refine the work and make it perfect, be responsible for my only part, as im not good in UX/UI design, the only thing that an entertainment student can help is the illustrations part. Next, I learn that even the part of what you in charge of is not very important, but you still need to do your best for your group. In conclusion, the biggest support for the team is to finish your own duty.

Week 11

As i need to finish all illustrations before week 12, so i had finalize my artworks this week. After the IT team had finalized the low-fi design, i added the UI design on my illustrations and my parts is almost done, waiting for the high-fi design and add it into the artworks is my final step. The reason why I need to finish it before other members, is because they need to use the illustrations to put inside the onboarding page in the hi-fi design, so the progression of the group won't be delayed because of me. The thing i had learn this week is never delay the group progression because of you.

Week 12

I had finished my part.