Second Subject Matter Expert Meeting

On Sunday afternoon, I met with UI designer and MCAD alum Grace Deck. This meeting coincided with the Sunday deadline for our prototypes in the Capstone course. Earlier that weekend (and earlier that morning) I had finished some pretty big changes, including:

• additional logo work

• creating a set of ten new illustrations to be used as icons

• sourcing imagery for a new onboarding sequence

• designing and adding that new onboarding sequence in Figma

• replacing the previous stock illustration set in Figma with my own illustrations

• creating new components and buttons in Figma

• shooting and then adding video content in Figma to create a more realistic walking sequence

• updating icons throughout Figma with new illustrated versions

• prototyping new interactions and changing many existing interactions in Figma

A look inside my Figma file

On one hand, this was the perfect time to share my work with Grace as I had so many new pieces in place. On the other hand, I was feeling a little scattered as much of it was still incredibly fresh. We hopped on a Google Meet and I walked her Grace through what I had. It was immensely helpful to have a UI expert put fresh, well-informed eyes on what I'd spent all weekend immersed in. I ended up being especially grateful for the timing, as there was just enough time after our meeting for me to process her feedback and apply what I thought would best serve ArtWalk before turning in my prototype assignment for Week 3. Grace pointed out strengths within my project, and provided excellent, constructive tips for areas that could be improved. Some suggestions she gave me include:

• We discussed the pros and cons of keeping the paintbrushes I was using as bottom arrows in the onboarding section. I'd added "next" and "back" text beneath them for clarity based on previous feedback but I expressed that I felt it looked a bit cluttered. Together, we decided that arrows would be a simpler, cleaner way to go.

• Consider changing my button styles so the selected state has a more obvious change. Possibly add a line around the outside of the button when pressed.

• Add a "skip" button to my onboarding screens in case a user already intends to use the app for only one purpose rather than walking AND meetups. This way, the user can bypass screens that don't apply to them which will make them more likely to continue and actually use the app.

• Change the language in my filter menu to say "filter by" rather than "sort by" as those have different meanings.

• Move my filter menu closer to the filter button for stronger visual association.

• When the heading in a dialogue box is a question, the options should be yes or no. Remove the camera icon from my AR Art Stop "Use Camera?" dialogue box OR change the header to something other than a question. I removed the camera and added a yes or no option.

• I had expressed that I wasn't sure whether I wanted to leave the Instagram button in the artist bios. I wasn't sure if it was still fitting with where the app has gone since I originally placed it there. Grace encouraged me to keep it, as it adds another layer of possible connection and would potentially be helpful to the artists involved.

• I talked about how I've been having trouble getting a slider that works on mobile in Figma. Grace suggested that I look into Framer for interactive elements.

• Think about color theory and color psychology. Be prepared to describe my thought process behind choosing my color palette, as I'm seeking to remedy loneliness and it's very blue. Take a look at apps that are addressing social isolation to see what they're doing. I'd been thinking of blue as a calming color which would be good for users experiencing anxiety as a result of isolation. I'll dig deeper into this and be ready to weave my reasoning into my final presentation a bit.

• Break out visual elements rather than having them all in one style guide slide. This was one of the first things I did after I returned to make edits after processing our discussion.

• In my final presentation, include plenty of information about my research findings and my process.

• Being a digital designer means never being truly done. There can always be a backlog of ideas. We discussed zeroing in on my MVP, which could mean saving some features or ideas for after the Capstone course is done.

• Last but not least, never take a piece of feedback and act on it right away. Give it some time, then consider what to do with the feedback.

I'm very thankful to Grace for taking the time to review my progress with me! Her feedback has already made a significant positive difference in the edits I've made to the UI of ArtWalk.