Major Project

03/02/2025 - 25/03/2025
Ng Zheng Kai 0359424
Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Major Project

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Progress

Fig 1.1 All Tasks

After being briefed on the module, I formed a group with Jordan Axel, Michael Chan Henn Loong and Ian Choo Xin Zhe a group of 4.

After we formed a group, we created a Figjam board and we began to brainstorm.

Initial Ideas

Fig 1.2 Proposed Ideas

Each of us came up with an idea, which is a health app (HealthSync) by Michael, a social gaming app (Beacon) by Jordan, a screen-time tracking app (Digital Detox) by Ian, and a first aid guide app (First Aid Guide Web App) by me.

After we consulted with Mr Shamsul, we decided to go with Jordan's idea, which is the Beacon app, HealthSync and First Aid Guide is too risky as health and injuries are hard to be assessed just from an app and requires professional care. Ian's Digital Detox app is not bad, but Jordan's Beacon app is more fun to do.

Research

We delved deeper into Beacon by thinking of more features, conducting interviews, and researching other competitor apps.

Fig 1.3 Expanded Idea

After we conducted the interviews, we gathered the date and clustered them into areas of concern. 

Fig 1.4 Ideate & Group

We then find themes that have emerged from said group, we've found 4 themes, which are, " Bad Matchmaking & Team Finding Experience", "Frequent Toxicity in Games & Communication Preferences", "Long-Term Friendships", "Desired Features & Gamification for Beacon".

Fig 1.5 Themes

Finally, we created user insights based on the themes and data we've found.

Fig 1.6 User Insights

Competitors

We did some research on our competitors that have apps providing similar functions.

Fig 1.7 Competitors

We researched 4 competitors, Lita App, Steam Chat, Noobly, E-Pal. We found each app's pros and cons, opportunities and threats to Beacon (our app), and strategic recommendations to our app.

User Persona

Fig 1.8 User Personas

And for user persona, each of us created a persona, and for me I created Sam, who is a laid back gamer trying to find gamers online with similar styles.

Fig 1.9 My User Persona

User Journey

After we have created our user persona, we started to create our user journey based on 5 stages:

1. Awareness Stage - Identifying the problem
2. Consideration Stage - Exploring Solutions
3. Decision Stage - Trying the App
4. Engagement Stage - Using the App
5. Retention Stage - Becoming a Loyal User

We created 4 user journeys, which are based on the 4 user personas that we have created.

Fig 1.10 All User Journey

And this is the user journey that I created for my persona.

Fig 1.11 Sam's User Journey 1

Fig 1.12 Sam's User Journey 2

Card Sorting

For the card sorting, we used closed card sorting to find out if our users understand the categorizations in our app. We used UserBit as the platform to conduct the card sorting test.

Fig 1.13 Card Sorting Methods

And the picture below shows the card sorting results, we received a total of 12 responses.

Fig 1.14 Card Sorting Results

Prototype

Full Slides

Group10_MAIN/Beacon by Ian Choo Xin Zhe

Figjam Board

 

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REFLECTION

I am excited to start in Major Project 1 because it is the initial setting stage for my final year project and I can't wait to showcase all the skills that I have learned throughout this whole course. Furthermore, I am fortunate enough to pair with friends with similar interests, which I believe can make a for a wonderful group and work together smoothly.

We initially explored multiple ideas, including my First Aid Guide Web App, but after discussions with Mr. Shamsul, we pivoted to Beacon, a social gaming app with a more feasible and engaging direction. This reinforced the importance of adaptability and user-centered design.

Research played a crucial role—we conducted competitor analysis, user interviews, and card sorting to identify key pain points, leading to well-defined user insights. I created the user persona Sam, a laid-back gamer, and mapped his user journey, ensuring our app’s features aligned with real user needs.

Effective planning and teamwork helped streamline the process, using FigJam to organize ideas and assign tasks. Additionally, structuring our prototype presentation clearly improved my ability to translate research into engaging visuals.

This project has been a rewarding learning experience, strengthening my UI/UX research, problem-solving, and communication skills. Moving forward, I aim to refine my iterative design process and further develop Beacon into a polished, user-centered product.