App Description
Created out of a desire to capture urban spaces in Shanghai before they change, Poppy Seed is a mobile application that maps memories & moods to places. People 'plant seeds' at these locations to document their feelings & memories. The app creates a homepage for each place where other people can add their own feelings and memories.
My Role
Troubleshoot an app currently in development, and redesign it to eliminate issues, while keeping the core concept of the app intact. Deliver both functional and visual spec documents to the development team with the redesign while collaborating with team members in three remote offices: San Francisco, Shanghai, and Bangalore.
Problems to solve
After an informal heuristic evaluation and interviews with the product manager & developers, I identified several of the main problems to solve. The interactions on the prototype weren’t working & could not scale as the app grew in size. The main task of ‘planting a seed’ was not intuitive, based on user testing. The iconography system was overly complex and abstract, and wasn't resonating with users.
User Flows
I sketched out a quick flow and documented which gestures would accomplish which actions on the main screens.
Wireframes
Iconography
I simplified the iconography by using only three different icons for emotions, and categorizing them into three distinct groups: positive, neutral, & negative. User testing also revealed that the original abstract place icons were hard to decipher, so I placed those with recognizable icons. The final icon set is shown below and in-context.
Revamp Branding
Feedback from our stakeholders included rebranding the mobile app to align it more with Gensler's brand guidelines. In addition to utilizing the color palette & font family shared by other Gensler apps, I sketched many ideas to help communicate the concept of the app. I created a polished presentation to pitch the top three ideas to the creative director responsible for Gensler's brand.
Mobile App Detailed Designs
Functional Spec Document
Visual Spec Document