Application Design I : Task 1 - Mobile Application Proposal
24/09/2025 - 16/10/2025 (Week 1 - Week 4)
Chang Wing / 0367807
Application Design I / Bachelors of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 1 - Mobile Application Proposal
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Lectures
LECTURES
Week 1
Importance of Application Design
- Seamless user engagement, increase retention
Application Usability
- Usability refers to how easy and efficient it is for people to use a product or service to achieve their goals
- Utilise usability principles ensures an app's design fits the needs of the target audience
- Test app usability repeatedly, observe user behaviours while they interact with the app, gather feedback and iterate the app's design
Importance of Mobile in the Digital Era
- Over 6 billion smartphone users worldwide
- People rely more on mobile devices in this modern era
- Businesses prioritise mobile versions first, with the design focusing on mobile to cater to growing mobile-centric user base
- Mobile app design gives a competitive advance
Challenges of Mobile App Design
- Limited screen real estate: Mobile screens are smaller, designers have to prioritise content to keep a clean user interface
- Diverse device capabilities: Mobile apps have to accommodate wide range of device screen size
- Limited screen real estate: Mobile screens are smaller, designers have to prioritise content to keep a clean user interface
- Diverse device capabilities: Mobile apps have to accommodate wide range of device screen size
- Contextual Awareness: Mobile device is being carried everywhere, designs must adapt to different environments and situations to provide the best user experience.
User-Centered Design (UCD)
1. Research
Understand the target users, their goals and behaviours through methods like interviews / surveys, and / observations
2. Design
2. Design
Create prototypes or wireframes that address user needs usability and accessibility
3. Evaluation
Test designs with real users to gather feedback, identify issues and refine the product iteratively for better user experience
3. Evaluation
Test designs with real users to gather feedback, identify issues and refine the product iteratively for better user experience
Figure 1.1 User-Centered Design Approach
1. Lo-Fi Prototypes
Prototyping and Testing
1. Lo-Fi Prototypes
It is highly recommended to begin with a low fidelity prototype (e.g. paper prototypes / clickable wireframes) to quickly explore design possibilities and get feedback early
2. Interactive Prototype
2. Interactive Prototype
Advance to a more refined and interactive prototype that simulate a full user experience. InVision and Adobe XD can be used to build highly interactive demos for in-depth user testing
3. Iterative Testing
Continuously test prototypes using in-person and remote methods. Observing real users uncovers pain points and guides iterative improvements on the app.
3. Iterative Testing
Continuously test prototypes using in-person and remote methods. Observing real users uncovers pain points and guides iterative improvements on the app.
Designing for Small Screens
1. Compact Layout
Use space efficiently. Prioritize essential elements, apply minimal text and organise content in a clean, scrollable flow to avoid clutter.
2. Intuitive Navigation
Keep navigation simple and accessible. Use familiar icons, clear labels, and consistent placement so users can move through the interface effortlessly.
Keep navigation simple and accessible. Use familiar icons, clear labels, and consistent placement so users can move through the interface effortlessly.
3. Tactile Interactions
Design with touch in mind. Ensure buttons and tap targets are large enough, include responsive feedback, and support natural gestures like swiping or pinching.
4. Visual Hierarchy
Guide attention using contrast, size, and spacing. Highlight key actions and information first to make the interface easy to scan and interact with.
Incorporating Gestures and Interactions
- Tap: The most basic gesture, select or activate items
- Swipe: Navigate through / reveal content such as images and cards
- Pinch: Zoom in images
- Drag: Rearranging items / adjusting sliders
Week 2
User-Centered Design (UCD)
- A design philosophy that focuses on users during the entire development process.
The UCD Process:
Analyse Business Requirements & User Personas → Make Ideation and Experience Mapping → Design UI & UX → Conduct Usability Testing, Prototype Validation and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) → Development
*A research phase is essential, skipping it and moving straight into development greatly increases the risk of misaligned solutions, wasted resources and usability issues.
ROI of UCD
1. Improve performance
2. Improve credibility
3. Increase exposure
4. Reduce resource burden
Users UIUX Designers
Users UIUX Designers
What they want? → What we think they want?
What they need? → What we think they need?
What is easy for them? → What is easy for us?
Brief for Mobile Application Proposal
1. Introduction
Figure 1.2 The fundamental of great user experience
Brief for Mobile Application Proposal
1. Introduction
- Purpose, role of mobile app design in shaping user contentment
2. Background and Context
- Evaluate current app's design, identify strength & weaknesses, competitive analysis, user demographics
3. Goals and Objectives
3. Goals and Objectives
- Determine clear redesign objectives, define primary & secondary goals that meet user expectations
- Develop design strategy
4. User Research
5. References
Problem Statement
Problem Statement
Who use problem statements?
- Product managers, product owners,
- Product managers, product owners,
Things to be included in Problem Statement:
- Who is having the problem?
- Who is having the problem?
- What is the problem?
- Where does this problem occur?
- When does it happen?
- Why is the problem worth solving?
- How
Week 3
Principles of Usability
- Maintain uniform design elements such as color, typography and layout across all screens to create a cohesive experience
- Ensure interaction patterns remain predictable, allowing users to navigate confidently
2. Simplicity
- Reduce the load of information needed to be processed by users
- Reduce the load of information needed to be processed by users
- Keep the interface intuitive and self-explanatory
- Use familiar symbol and terminology to minimise confusion
Figure 1.3 Progressive Disclosure.
Source: https://careerfoundry.com/
3. Visibility
- Ensure visual hierarchy to guide user from important elements to least ones, can be achieved through size, colour, spacing, typography or animations
- Ensure visual hierarchy to guide user from important elements to least ones, can be achieved through size, colour, spacing, typography or animations
4. Feedback
- Indicate clearly when user actions have been registered by the app to reinforce confidence, build trust, and reduce uncertainty, can be achieved through:
- Indicate clearly when user actions have been registered by the app to reinforce confidence, build trust, and reduce uncertainty, can be achieved through:
a) Textual Messages ("Your order has been submitted!")
b) Visual Cues ("Red for errors, green for success")
c) Progress Indicators (Loading bars etc.)
d) Sounds
e) Haptic Feedback
5. Error Prevention
- Reduce user frustration
- Reduce user frustration
- Reduce time spent correcting mistake to create a smoother UX
- Minimise mistakes to gather more accurate datas
Can be achieved through:
a) Input Validation ("Password need to have at least 1 special character")
b) Clear Feedback ("Oh no! Something went wrong.")
c) Confirmation Steps ("Are you sure you want to proceed with this purchase?")
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1 - Mobile Application Proposal
Prepare a proposal for the mobile app project. The app can be informational, service-based, entertainment, fitness or travel and must first be approved by the module coordinator. The proposal should include surveys, interviews, market research, key app features and a clear flowchart. This document decides whether the idea moves to the next stage.
Task 1 - Mobile Application Proposal
FEEDBACK
Task 1 - Mobile Application Proposal
Week 1 (24/09/2025)
Feedback: Interesting idea, incorporate Rednote's feature.
Week 2 (01/10/2025)
Feedback: Keep the problem statement casual and easy for client to understand; The problem statement is good now.
Week 3 (08/10/2025)
Feedback: -
Week 4 (15/10/2025)
Feedback: -
REFLECTION
Through Task I, Mr. Sylvain shared a lot of practical UI/UX knowledge. I started to see why researching existing apps matters, how comparing competitors helps designers learn from established features, and how pulling good features from unrelated apps can make our ideas feel fresher and more creative. Learning to read real user reviews and improve from them is also important. He kept reminding us to keep our slides simple, not too wordy and easy for clients to follow. These lessons really helped me build the confidence and skills to create a proper proposal to move into the next task and as a UI/UX designer in the future.
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