Switcharoo - Digital Prototyping Project
In your teams explore possible digital prototypes to expand the operations relating to a case study organisation.
Build one of the solutions into a functional prototype for showcase and present to a professional panel.
What is Switcharoo?
Switcharoo is a direct response to the overconsumption culture we currently face in the West. We noticed a gap in the market for an option for consumers to swap toys within their community. Many families have lots of toys that do not get used by their children for many reasons, either the children have grown out of them or they favour their newer and more exciting toys. We at Incline Designs believe these toys still have lots of life in them and should be in the hands of those who will use them, so we created SWITCHAROO.
Switcharoo is a mobile application that allows users to browse toys in the community that others have listed as well as list their own toys that wish to swap. Toys can then be swapped either directly with another app user or through our credit system (one toy listed = one credit) that they can use to trade indirectly if the person with the toy you want doesnt want one of your listed toys.
We have also included the option to donate toys so that those who don't have toys to trade due to economic struggles are still able to participate and use this app.
The Design Process
Chosen Case Study
As a team we decided to choose the Carlson Toy Library as our case study which we would draw inspiration and develop a digital prototype to
Case Study Analysis
Project Proposal
Design Sprint #1
During the first sprint our team spent our time developing and fleshing out how our app would work, what features would need to be included and how the app should look and whether the app should be targeted towards parents or the children themselves.
After completing the first sprint we had a basic prototype that showed our user experience flow and many of the features that we want ted to include and how they would work within the app. We started on the look of the app and the colours we would use however, this was not fully developed at this stage.
Design Sprint #2
After completing the first design sprint and presenting our idea to others for feedback, we started on the development of our final prototype.
This started first with the creating of moodboards and collaboration within the team to see what we wanted when it cam to the visual look and feel of the app. This was then translated into our first frames of the app being created and put into the figma prototype. By playing around with the prototype we were able to find gaps in to app and what other features and therefore frames would need to be made for the app to feel complete. Variations of frames were made as well throughout the process where we were able to receive outside feedback on which looked the best.
Final Prototype
After final user testing and feedback, this is the final app prototype that was produced. This final app includes features such as a home feed, search page, new listings page, swap match feature, messenges, and a profile page showing personal activity on the app.
My Role
My official role in this project was the Project Manager. This role included tasks throughout the project to make sure the team was working well together and that everyone had their work done by the set deadlines. This included making a project plan so that each member of the team was aware of the expectations for their roles inbetween studio times and other meetings, recording any feedback from our tutors and turn that into actions for each member of the team. In this role I also gave a lot of the feedback on what had been completed week to week making sure that everything had been thought of and that our user experience flowed in a logical way that users would understand easily.
Because the role of Project Manager mainly had its responsibilities during the times when we were meeting as a team, I also helped out the Art Lead to create some of the screen frames as well as the icons used within the application so that some of her workload was lessened and we were able to complete the project in time.
Reflection
In my role of Project Manager I was able to learn throughout our project how to bring a group together and allow communication so that we were able to effectively produce a working prototype. I learnt that our team was able to work together most effectively when the group was aware of what they were expected to do and the way they were meant to contribute to the team.
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As project manager I noticed that when group members were not super sure about their promise of work then it was less likely to be completed by the next class which meant we would be behind and we would need to catch up in the class time which made it more difficult to have constructive discussions with our tutor.
In our first design sprint even though my role is the project manager, after I had created our project plan, I spent a lot of this time with the art director helping her flesh out our frames and a style that we would like to convey throughout the prototype. This helped the art director and took some of the workload off of her so that we would be able to finish in time.
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In our second sprint I was able to let each member focus on their own roles and I was able to help them know the amount of work they would need to be able to complete by the next class in order for us to be ready by the presentation at the end of week 12. Through this role I was really able to gain understanding on the scope of our project and being constantly aware of whether or not we would need to scale the project down or if we could scale it up depending on how we were tracking with time and our capabilities and limitations.