30/04 Questions and Answers

Who are you designing for?

- I am designing for an expat who is feeling alone and Isolated. This can be due to the fact that the expat has a hard time integrating in the new county where the expat probably doesn’t speak the language, doesn’t have a lot of good friends there, is missing their friends and family at home and is not familiar with the dutch culture.

What is their relationship to the collection?

- The collection (nature routes) can help the expat to take a break from work and relax for a bit. Enjoy the nature and explore the area, see something new outside of work and the city and from doing this getting more in contact with the dutch culture.

Which content are you ‘interfacing’?

-My main focus will be to interface the expat to new people (other expats) through the nature routes, maybe something that can connect people who would like to walk the same routes to each other.

What type of interaction is fitting for this?

- An interaction that will trigger and give a reason to the expat to really go outside and have a walk .

What type of medium is fitting for this?

- My first thought is something digital, like an app or website because this is very accessible for everyone and the easiest way to connect strangers to each other.

In general: what are you trying to accomplish through the interface you want to design?

- I would really like the expat to feel a little less ‘alone’ with my interface, connect them to more people in the county they will be staying in for some time and this way make them feel more welcome and comfortable in the Netherlands.

Which visual design elements have you already collected/designed that can be useful for this? 

- I don’t think I have design something helpful for this project yet, but I already have some
Typefaces for it in mind.

10/05 10 Sketches

A mini library located in the hallways of workplaces of expats. They can pic out a paper map of a route or scan the QR code for the digital route.

Interactive doorbell located at interesting parts of the routes. Kind of like an audio tour it tells something about the place, history and culture. Available in different languages.

Mailbox, placed at parts of the routes that are meant for relaxing like for example picknick tables. Equipped with pen and paper for the user to write something like a letter to let out their feeling to a stranger. They can post this in the mailbox for the next person to find and maybe react on it.

A scooter or bike (tandem) that is available to rent by an app. If you rent one you get matched with a person wo also wants to have a bike ride and you can go together.

An escalator that brings you through the nature route instead of by foot. It allows you to really take in the environment without getting tired and at the same time meet new people on the stairs next to you.

Traffic light that expats come across when they're on their way to work. It shows the most nearby nature route and how crowded it is at the moment.

A OV (green)card that the user has to scan each time they start walking a new nature route. When finishing a certain amount of walks the user receives a reward of some sort.

Some sort of signing that can work as publicity for the routes. The arrows point in the direction of a certain nature route and also contain motivational texts.

Walking shoes that contain a daily step tracker. When the user (expat) does not take all the steps they have to the tracker will make a sign and let the user know.

11/05 Typography Sketches

For the first quick sketch I chose a clean and minimalistic Lay-out. The typeface I used for this is clear, chique but also a bit fun especially used within green colors which refer to the nature aspect.

Typefaces that I feel like are useful for my interface. They are not too boring but also clear and structured, nothing too crazy for an interface connected to nature routes.

The sketch, this time designed in opposite colors.

The font Arial Black that I took from my classmate Karya applied on my design.

Redesigned the hierarchy of my first sketch design. I feel like the text and the typeface in the top corner is more suitable for this project.

I will be designing a prototype for an app that will bring expats who are feeling 'alone' together. Through swiping, liking and matching expats can meet through similar interest in a route and plan a walk together or in a group.

- Based on existing dating apps like tinder and bumble you would be able to set a location, like nature routes based on your interests and swipe, like and match with people who are also interested in the same nature route as you.

- From here the user would be able to make a plan to walk together or make a plan for a group walk with others who liked the same route.

- The expat will create a profile where their pictures, age, native language and country, current living area, languages they're capable of speaking, interests and a small bio will be visible for other users (some are optional).

This sketch inspired the concept of my interface.

Concept sketches:

Inspiration and reference pictures for the interface design:

Co-star:
I like the simpleness, calmness and implemented black and white looking images. Especially this part I would like to use in my app design.

Mubi Remix:
The clear color blocking makes the app have a nice hierarchy which I would like to also apply to my design.

Huma:
The light pastel colors used as a background with the simple illustrations work really nice together.

Headspace:
Really supports the idea of the app with the simple and calm lay out.

At first I had the feeling that the idea of an app would be boring and that a lot of other students would do this too, but since I do not have any experience with designing things like apps and websites and I also have a bit of a struggle with using creative cloud I think this concept will be a challenge and eventually help me within further experience during this study.

Mapping out my ideas for the content of the interface.

Sketching out the main pages of the app and how they will look like.

Thinking of icons of to use for the menu, and what they will mean.

Left page: I had the idea of a growing tree that will appear when there is a match, and a page for group walks.
Right page: My first idea for the background and loading page was to make a logo that would look like a tree, but when trying this I felt like it didn't work that well so for my final design I decided do just use my title with chosen type as a logo.

Sketches for the logo and icon of the app that I eventually not used. The tree is referring to the nature aspect of the app.

Here the final background, name and logo I chose for the interface. I was doubting for a long time about the name. When I was looking for synonyms for the word 'friends' I came across the word 'pals' I felt like this word went really well together with the word 'walk' and the goal of the concept.

I made the decision to use a light green fade out background, this in combination with black and light grey gave a really clean and calm look to the app that I think works with the goal of the concept.

Some other reference pictures I used for the design:

25/05 Feedback session with Kimmy

During the short feedback session with Kimmy we talked a bit about the general design and navigation of my interface. Kimmy suggested that when there is a match happening and the user would like to start a conversation with the new friend it would be nice if there were more options, something like conversation starters or suggestions for things to do while walking with the new friend.

Match page

If the user wants to start a conversation they click on the button
''chat with (name)''

Chat page before feedback

Chat page after feedback

I added an option for the user to directly look at the route and the map of the route on the staatsbosbeheer website.

Some conversation starters like Kimmy suggested.

Direct link to invite the match to a group walk with other matches.

28/05 Second feedback session with Kimmy

In the 10 minute feedback moment Kimmy and I talked about the design and some last needed alterations.

Kimmy told me that at some parts on the map the little trees overlap with the outline. This can look a bit unclear, so I will try to change that in the final design.

Also the icon of the heart for the 'find your walk pal' page is maybe not really suitable. The app is based on the concept of a dating app but it's goal is to make friends. The heart is mostly a icon that is

used to refer to the subject of love.
So with this feedback in mind I changed the icon into a star.

The whole overview of the design and the tracking: