Application Design I Project 1 : Mobile Application Proposal
Application Design I Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal
21/04/2025—14/05/2025 (Week 1-Week 4)
Application Design I / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylors University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Instructions
2.
Lecture
3.
Project
4.
Feedback
5.
Reflection
Instructions
Lecture
Week 1/Introduction
to
Mobile
Application Design
This is
the
first
week.
Mr. Zeon
gave us
a brief
introduction
to our
MIB this
semester
and
explained
the
importance
of
mobile
application
design,
which is
to
create a
simple,
intuitive,
and
multi-device
interface
with a
user-centric
approach.
Through
user
research,
prototype
testing,
and
continuous
optimization,
design
not only
improves
user
experience
but also
enhances
application
performance,
user
satisfaction,
and
market
competitiveness.
We need
to find
three
apps to
conduct
a simple
analysis.
Fig. 1.1
Introduction
(23.04.2025-week
1)
Week
2/The
Art of
User-Centered
design
(UCD)
Week 2
introduced
the
concept
of
user-centered
design
(UCD),
which
emphasizes
that the
entire
process
from
product
conception
to
development
should
always
focus on
user
needs.
It
distinguishes
the
roles of
user
experience
design
(UX) and
user
interface
design
(UI): UX
focuses
on the
usage
process
and user
experience,
while UI
is
responsible
for the
interface
vision
and
interactive
performance.
The UCD
design
process
includes
user
research,
experience
definition,
prototype
design,
usability
testing,
and
development
implementation,
with the
aim of
improving
user
satisfaction,
reducing
errors
and
costs,
and
enhancing
brand
trust.
Fig.
1.2 The
Art
of
User-Centered
design
(UCD) (30.04.2025-Week
2)
Week 3 /
Usability
"Usability"
is at the
core of
mobile
application
design,
pointing out
that an
excellent
product
should be
efficient,
easy to
learn, and
have a low
error rate,
allowing
users to
complete
tasks
smoothly.
Five
usability
principles
(core)
- Consistency: The interface style, navigation structure, fonts, and brand elements are kept consistent to improve learnability and user trust.
- Simplicity: Reduce the operation steps and use clear icons and familiar terms so that users can get started without instructions.
- Visibility: Clearly display key information and operation items, and use visual hierarchy, button changes, etc. to guide user attention.
- Feedback: Give clear feedback (such as text prompts, color changes, sound effects, and vibrations) after the user operates to enhance interactive understanding and confidence.
- Error Prevention: Reduce the probability of user errors and improve operation accuracy through input verification, confirmation steps, clear prompts, etc.
Fig. 1.3
Usability
(06.05.2025-Week
3)
Week 4:
Presentation (14.05.2025-Week
4)
Start the
presentation
of our final
proposal in
the class.
Project
1:
Mobile
Application
Proposal
Requirements:
- This proposal outlines a mobile app redesign project that aims to improve the user experience and interface of an existing app, which currently has severe usability challenges. To better understand the problem, we will conduct user interviews, competitor analysis, and market research. The redesigned app will have a more intuitive interface. This document contains an overview of the main features of the redesigned app, a detailed user flow diagram, and preliminary research results. It is intended to evaluate whether this redesign concept is suitable for further development and implementation.
Company selection criteria:
- Avoid choosing well-known brands that you frequently use, such as GRAB, Starbucks, GSC, TGV, etc.
- Ensure the app has over 100 reviews on the Play Store.
- The app must contain more than 10 different pages.
Week
1:
This
week's
assignment
is
to
research
various
apps.
Please
select
three
company
apps
that
we
think
would
benefit
from
improved
design.
The
goal
is
to
identify
all
existing
flaws
and
come
up
with
potential
solutions,
analyze
their
design
issues,
and
make
a
PPT
of
our
findings
for
feedback
in
the
second
week.
Fig.
1.1 Apps
I
uses
(23.04.2025-week
1)
After
Mr.
Zeon
finished
talking
about
this
task,
I
started
looking
through
the
various
apps
on
my
phone.
Some
of
the
popular
apps
I
usually
use,
such
as
Xiaohongshu,
Douyin,
Weibo,
etc.,
are
very
easy
to
use
and
easy
to
get
started.
However,
there
are
a
few
apps
that
I
don’t
use
often
on
my
phone.
They
are
not
easy
to
use
for
me
and
can
even
be
said
to
be
"difficult
to
use."
The
first
one
is
Duolingo,
which
is
an
educational
language-learning
app.
I
downloaded
and
used
it
when
I
first
started
learning
IELTS.
The
overall
style
of
this
app
is
cartoon-style,
the
interface
design
is
very
cute,
and
it
is
very
interactive.
It
should
be
very
friendly
to
novices.
But
when
I
actually
used
it,
I
found
several
problems:
First,
it
has
a
lot
of
ads,
which
often
interrupt
the
rhythm
of
learning;
second,
although
it
is
visually
attractive,
the
function
settings
seem
a
bit
"too
childish,"
and
sometimes
I
find
it
difficult
to
locate
some
advanced
content
or
specific
functions.
But
it
has
a
high
rating
The
second
is
ZARA's
shopping
app.
I
occasionally
use
it
to
browse
clothes,
but
its
interface
makes
me
feel
not
very
comfortable.
Many
functions
are
hidden
deep,
such
as
return
instructions,
contacting
customer
service,
etc.
I
often
have
to
click
through
several
layers
of
menus
to
find
them,
and
there
is
no
obvious
"online
customer
service"
entrance,
so
I
can't
get
help
in
time
when
I
encounter
problems
or
have
questions.
The
last
one
is
Hotlink,
which
is
a
Malaysian
telecommunications
app.
I
use
it
mainly
to
recharge
phone
cards
or
check
call
fee
information.
But
the
problem
is
that
a
lot
of
content
in
the
app
is
written
in
Malay,
and
I
have
never
learned
this
language,
so
it
is
very
difficult
to
operate
every
time.
Especially
when
recharging,
I
often
don't
understand
the
meaning
of
the
options,
for
fear
of
choosing
the
wrong
package.
In
addition,
this
app
is
almost
impossible
to
load
in
places
with
poor
signals,
and
the
loading
speed
is
very
slow,
which
adds
a
lot
of
difficulties
to
use.
APP
Choseon:
Duolingo
ZARA
Hotlink
Week
2:
I
started
using
Duolingo
for
a
few
days
and
also
asked
my
friends
about
their
experience
with
Duolingo.
I
integrated
their
experience
with
mine
and
corrected
and
improved
the
previous PPT. Then
I
added
the
nickname
of
the
app
page
to
each
page
of
the
CURRENT
APP
DESIGN
page.
Fig.
1.2
Screenshot
for Weakness (30.04.2025-Week 2)
Fig.
1.3
Duolingo
App (30.04.2025-Week
2)
Fig.
1.4
ZARA
App
(30.04.2025-Week
2)
Fig.
1.5
Hotlink
App (30.04.2025-Week
2)
Here is the link to Canvas.
Fig.
1.6
Initial
Proposal
Draft
(30.04.2025-Week
2)
Week
3:
At
first,
I
chose
ZARA,
a
shopping
app,
as
the
research
object,
but
in
the
actual
analysis
process,
I
found
that
I
was
not
familiar
with
this
app
and
used
it
less
frequently.
In
order
to
experience
the
user
interface
and
functional
flow
more
deeply,
I
decided
to
change
the
research
object
and
chose
Duolingo,
which
I
often
use.
Duolingo
is
an
educational
language-learning
app,
mainly
used
for
learning
English
and
other
foreign
languages.
Although
I
have
not
used
it
continuously
for
a
long
time
before,
I
have
recently
experienced
the
process
of
continuous
use
for
a
period
of
time
through
this
project
and
have
a
deeper
understanding
of
its
functions
and
user
experience.
I
also
shared
with
Zeon
my
unfamiliarity
with
ZARA
and
the
idea
of
changing
the
app.
He
expressed
his
understanding
and
suggested
that
I
continue
to
use
familiar
apps
as
the
research
object.
At
the
same
time,
he
reminded
me
that
a
complete
project
report
will
be
conducted
next
week
(the
fourth
week),
so
I
need
to
complete
the
production
of
the
PPT
as
soon
as
possible
to
ensure
that
the
project
progress
is
not
behind.
In
order
to
confirm
the
weaknesses
of
Duolingo,
I
need
to
find
three
apps
for
comparison.
These
three
are
"Bai
Ci
Zhan,"
recommended
by
IELTS
teachers,
and
two
other
more
distinctive
apps:
"Shan
Bei"
and
"Liulishuo."
By
comparing
and
analyzing
the
features
and
designs
of
these
competitors,
I
was
able
to
better
understand
the
strengths
and
weaknesses
of
Duolingo
in
terms
of
user
experience.
Fig.
1.7 Screenshot
For App
Analysis (06.05.2025-Week
3)
Week
4:
Presentation
After
the
speech,
Mr.
Zeon
suggested
that
I
add
the
ratings
to
make
the
data
more
intuitive.
For
the
three
apps
to
be
compared,
don’t
just
introduce
them
in
general
terms.
Compare
them
with
Duolingo,
which
you
are
researching,
and
compare
Duolingo
in
terms
of
user
experience
and
user
design.
Fig.
1.8 Screenshot
For Competitive
Analysis
liulishuo (14.05.2025-Week
4)
Fig.
1.9 Screenshot
For Competitive
Analysis
Shanbay (14.05.2025-Week
4)
Fig.
1.10 Screenshot
For Competitive
Analysis
Baicizhan (14.05.2025-Week
4)
Feedback
Week
2:
1) Need to
add
the
nickname
of
each
page
of
the
current
application
design.
2)
Write
more
details
about
the
weaknesses
of
Duolingo.
3) Because my
phone
uses
Chinese,
my
ratings
and
reviews
are
in
Chinese,
which
I
need
to
translate
into
English,
as
well
as
every
page
of
the
app.
Week
3:
1) When analyzing
the
app,
we
found
that
the
Zara
app
was
too
superficial,
so
we
switched
to
Duolingo,
which
is
used
frequently.
2) Mr.
Zeon
suggested
that
I
change
the
app.
In
addition,
he
also
reminded
me
that
the
full
presentation
would
be
conducted
next
week
(week
4),
so
I
needed
to
complete
the
production
of
the
PPT
in
time
and
catch
up
with
the
reporting
progress.
Week
4:
1）Mr.
Zeon
suggested
that
I
add
the
ratings
to
make
the
data
more intuitive. For
the
three
apps
to
be
compared,
don’t
just
introduce
them
in
general
terms.
Compare
them
with
Duolingo,
which
you
are
researching
Reflection
In
this
project,
I
chose
ZARA
as
the
research
object
at
the
beginning,
but
I
found
that
I
was
not
familiar
with
this
APP
during
the
actual
operation,
which
led
to a
lack
of
sufficient
user
perspective
in
the
analysis.
This
made
me
realize
that
it
is a
very
critical
step
to
fully
use
and
understand
the
APP
in
the
early
stage
of
the
project,
and
the
research
direction
cannot
be
determined
only
by
impression
or
interest.
Later,
I
decisively
changed
the
research
object
to
Duolingo,
which
I
often
use.
Although
this
decision
was
somewhat
temporary,
it
did
allow
me
to
dig
deeper
into
the
problems
in
the
user
experience
and
be
more
confident
in
doing
subsequent
analysis
and
design.
During
the
process,
I
also
searched
for
information
online
and
tried
to
understand
other
English-learning
apps
on
the
market,
such
as
100
Words,
Shanbay,
and
Liulishuo,
as
references
and
comparisons,
which
gave
me a
more
comprehensive
understanding
of
user
experience
design
in
this
field.
However,
I
did
not
do
well
enough
in
project
time
management.
Due
to
the
change
of
APP
in
the
middle
and
the
unclear
direction
of
the
preliminary
research,
the
progress
of
the
PPT
was
somewhat
delayed.
Teacher
Zeon
reminded
me
that
the
reporting
time
was
approaching,
and
I
realized
that
I
needed
to
speed
up
the
pace
and
arrange
the
work
of
each
stage
reasonably.
This
experience
taught
me
that
even
if
there
are
adjustments
in
the
middle,
we
must
ensure
that
the
overall
rhythm
is
not
disrupted,
especially
when
time
is
tight,
and
we
must
plan
and
execute
in
advance.
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