MILESTONe 2
Using Inspiration
Link to Figjam File
Problem Statement
To create a low-fidelity (lofi) prototype of a digital artifact that satisfies the need of one of the two people depicted in the painting "Still You Bloom in this Land of No Gardens."
To gain a deeper understanding of the needs and characteristics of these individuals, the first step is to stare at a photograph of the painting for at least ten minutes. The ultimate goal is to design a digital artifact that addresses the specific need of one of these individuals, using a lofi prototype as a starting point for further development and refinement.
Our second milestone is rooted in inspiration- where do great product ideas come from? While we draw inspiration from many places, many find fine art a generative place to begin.
A Unified Storyline
To ideate, we spent 10 minutes individually staring at a painting and each of us jotted down ideas for an app that would solve the problem of one of the two subjects in the painting- the mother and her child.
Though our meanderings took us in several different directions, we all gravitated toward the mother and agreed on a few of her (hypothetical) background and character traits:
She appears cool and confident, illustrated in her posture and facial expression
She has good taste, shown by her clothing, luscious garden, and home furnishings, and
She cares deeply about her family and ancestral ties, as seen in her and her baby's choice of clothings— as they wear traditional African prints and a "Black is Beautiful" shirt, respectively.
The painting emphasizes this last point in further ways. Making us reflect on the title of the piece, several of the plants in the painting are comprised of photographs of African peoples. The photographs seem old, due to their sepia-ed effect, which leads us to believe the subject is carrying the stories of her ancestors with her in this new, Westernized land. After a quick search, we found the painter is in fact Nigerian, further validating our assumptions.
Initial Lo-Fi Screens
In the process of creating a digital artifact, the team began by sketching out individual low-fidelity (lo-fi) prototypes. We aimed to visualize and synthesize ideas for our product's design, considering key features that needed to be incorporated into the final product. The sketches served as a starting point for further discussions and iterations, leading to the development of a more comprehensive and well-defined final lo-fi design.
Then we came together to have a comprehensive discussion about each design and its features. Each of us expressed our opinions and highlighted the features we particularly liked. These annotations helped the team to understand which features were preferred by the majority and why. This discussion allowed the team to collaborate and make informed decisions about the final design, ensuring that it incorporated the features that were most appreciated by the team members. The annotations also helped to keep track of important feedback and preferences, which could be used to further improve the design in the future.
Liz' s Lo-Fi Sketches
Krish' s Lo-Fi Sketches
Esha's Lo-Fi Sketches
Swaraj's Lo-Fi Sketches
Chosen Lo-Fi Screens
The process involved collaboration, review, and refinement of the initial sketches to arrive at the final design. The use of lo-fi sketches in this process highlights the importance of creating rough prototypes early in the design process to explore and refine ideas before moving to more polished and detailed designs. By working together, the group was able to identify common elements and make decisions that resulted in the creation of a final lo-fi design that may satisfied user's collective needs.
BUYER's FLOW
SELLER's FLOW
Key Takeaways
Paper prototyping helps put our ideas on paper without getting lost in the details.
Working on our ideas individually first and then discussing why we did what we did helped us understand different approaches and eventually helped us come up with a low-fi prototypes which was best of “four” worlds.
Setting up a timer and working on a one screen at a time helped us stay on track and not spend a lot of time sketching details that were irrelevant for this stage.
While sketching out our ideas, we realized we were getting influenced by the designs of applications that we use the most. It took us multiple iterations to create sketches that reflected our ideas rather than the ones that already exist.