Interaction Design week 6

During week six of interaction design class we wrapped up our prototypes of the Lunch Buddy app. I was really excited to see my prototype all come together. I really appreciate the thoughts and comments from my classmates in helping me make my app the best it could be. I was really happy with how the app eventually came out. It is really cool to see how all the interactions worked out and once animation was added it really came together. 

I did learn a few things as I finished up my prototype this week. First I learned that adding animation to interactions can be really helpful. Initially I did not have animation in my app, but by adding animation it gave a better flow to the app and in the end made it look so much more finished. I didn't realize how important a little animation can be. I also learned the importance of having an easy way to move back an forth within an app. I initially didn't think I needed back buttons, but once I added back buttons the whole navigation of the app seemed a lot easier.

Overall creating a prototype was a lot of fun and I was really excited to go through the whole prototyping experience from beginning to end.  

Interaction Design Week 5

In week 5 of my interaction design class we continued to work on the interactions of our Lunch Buddy app. I was able to learn more about the proto.io prototyping program. Sometimes this week while I was working on my prototype it took me longer to figure out how to do the interactions I wanted than initially figuring out what interactions I wanted. It just comes with the territory of learning a new program. So far I am pretty impressed with proto.io and hope to be able to use it again in the future.

Also this week I was able to look at some more of my classmate's prototypes. It looks like all the class is doing really well figuring out the common problems involved with making an interactive prototype. I wish everyone the best of luck next week.

Interaction Design Week 4

This week in class we finally started to prototype our apps. I am using a new software called proto.io to prototype all of the app interactions. So far I think the new software has been doing well for what our class has needed it for.
While prototyping I started getting more excited for this project. I can actually see my idea coming together in a way no wireframing or information architecture could do. I can actually see how my work would be seen by the people who would end up using it.
It has also been pretty cool to see some of my classmates work on the same app and how they are solving the same problems using different interaction methods. I am curious to see how similar or different the apps of my teammates become as we continue to help eachother create better apps. So far this has been a really cool class and I am really enjoying the process.

Interaction Design week 3

For the past two weeks we have been learning about and developing wireframes for our Lunch buddy apps. The purpose of the assignment was to create a wireframe for an application that would help parents manage their children's lunch money account. It was neat to learn about the process and the reasoning behind why wireframes are created. I personally have learned that creating wireframes are very helpful into not only understanding how the app or website will look but where all those little buttons will lead to the seamless navigation within the website itself.

One of the pieces of the past two weeks that I have found helpful was being to interact with my fellow students to get feedback on my initial wireframes. It was really cool to see how my group tackled the same problems for the same app in different ways. Everyone had great ideas and I understand how having a design group helps make an app even better. Working with multiple people can bring out the best designs.