Lucy & Niamh

In this session, we worked designing the app itself.
Lucy:

I went onto DaFont.com in order to choose a main font for our app logo. After downloading several, and choosing a possible font, I then applied this to a loading page. This page will be shown when the app is selected before the main page. Keeping with a minimal theme, the logo along with the name of the app is

Intial groupwork- Worksheet one

 (to complete)

Communication and group work

1.    Establish how your group will operate

2.    Who will do what?

3.    When will you meet?

4.    Exchange contact information

Group - company

1.    Create your group/company blog (you can use a variety of blogging platforms, such as WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, etc.

2.    Write your first blog entry – your initial thoughts/ideas about the assignment for the module.

Information and further study

Visit the following web-sites of UK media companies

http://www.brand8pr.com/

http://www.brave.co.uk/#everything

http://wearefury.com/

In your group consider the following questions:

1.    How would you evaluate the ways in which these companies/organisations present themselves?

2.    What is the overall look and feel of their on-line material?

1.    To what extent do they utilise social media effectively?

2.    What ideas or inspirations have you gained from looking at these media companies?

Considering audeince - Worksheet three

Habit forming and considering audience-

When considering target audience and marketing it is key to consider habit forming in order to keep our users hooked on our application, and allow it to become a habit for our user, a factor that is crucial to the most successful applications. We started to consider products and services that we use habitually, in order to engage with how they become part of a daily routine. We conducted a list of varied applications, finding types of applications that we use daily. These were forms of social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook messenger. Other varied apps outside of the social media realm were music apps mainly Spotify, as a leading music application. Other applications were core apple and android apps such as clocks and email applications.

We then considered how these products and services are easy to use, a crucial aspect for forming habits. Simple layout and design we found was key, alongside the ability to navigate quickly and efficiently. Considering habits of usage, we found that certain applications have a time slot in a daily routine, this is constituted by the concept of an application staying constantly logged in, this was a concept we found made us check the applications out of routine times. The high usage of social media allowed us to identify that being sociable, switched on and constantly in touch is a large appeal for apps to a certain target audience.  

After studying the above points we considered how we could design our app to be easy and enjoyable to use. We will consider simple layout and an easy to navigate system in our design. Another aspect we will consider is the social media aspect of Globe Trot, inspired from daily usage of applications such as Facebook and Instagram. We aim to make the application easy to sign up, consistently logged in if users required and personal daily updates and notifications to integrate into users everyday routine.

Allowing for the use of variable rewards in Globe Trot, is a key marketing aspect to keep users loyal to the brand. In terms of incentives we considered the aspect of different offers and incentives for loyal users that could be signed up for a certain amount of time. Ideas for rewards could be: discount on the ‘booking’ section of Globe Trot if recommended to a friend that books with the app -reward cards that collect points with each booking, this can be used as credit on the account -the idea of gifts, buying gift cards and credit for friends and family (as inspired by TrendWatching)- winners weekly or monthly for best photograph or story shared in the social side of app -daily updates on trending locations to keep the audience feeling engaged (such as the idea of recent films and television shows set in certain places can be shared with the audience as part of the social/inspiration part of the app, this will be reported as a trending feed and will be different and updated daily. A slight different side of the user content feed on the social side of the app)

 

App Logo Development

Mollie- After the initial work on logos for our travel app we decided on a final name of: Globe Trot for out app. Above are the initial and final app logo ideas. Firstly we experimented with the use of the name on the app logo and different designs, we then realised that a simple logo for the app would be most effective when looking at existing apps typically on the iPhone. We finally chose a dip dye colour effect of green and blue for the background colour, symbolising nature and the sea, iconic for travel, therefor we feel this colour pallet works well for what our app symbolises. In terms of design we have chosen a simple global design, as it is iconic as it is iconic and represents Globe Trot as a brand clearly. We are currently deciding if to use the block or white globe for our final app logo, we are planning to carry some target market research to see which colour our audience deems more effective to the brand.

initial designs and ideas



developed app logo ideas

final logo ideas- black and white option

Mollie-
After the initial work on logos for our travel app we decided on a final name of: Globe Trot for out app. Above are the initial and final app logo ideas. Firstly we experimented with the use of the name on the app logo and different designs, we then realised that a simple logo for the app would be most effective when looking at existing apps typically on the iPhone. We finally chose a gradient colour effect of green and blue for the background colour, symbolising nature and the sea, iconic for travel, therefor we feel this colour pallet works well for what our app symbolises. In terms of design we have chosen a simple global design, as it is iconic as it is iconic and represents Globe Trot as a brand clearly. We are currently deciding if to use the block or white globe for our final app logo, we are planning to carry some target market research to see which colour our audience deems more effective to the brand.

Company Name and initial logos-

We initially began with the concept of "Studia" which is a compound blend of 'student' and 'media' however, after looking at similar company names, we realised that it may limit us as a brand, as we would have a very restricted target audience. And so, we decided to explore a broader range of names.

We played around with words surrounding what we thought, as a media company, we would be doing: improving brands and businesses. We started with 'improve' and looked at positive connotations of this word. Our favourites were: ......

Niamh: The word 'Elevate' seemed to resonate with us as it has positive and uplifting connotations. We also started to connect the word with other images and immediately latched on to the idea of a mountain which has associations with greatness, achievement and impressiveness. We want our media company to be a platform for businesses and brands to come to us in search for improvement and assistance in building successful brands, and so the word 'Elevate' meshes well with this idea. 
Below is a screenshot of my InDesign document from week one, where I began to play around with fonts and logo ideas. To simplify the idea of a mountain, I experimented with a triangle which we will develop further in the process of creating our company logo.

(mollies to make notes on/ and move onto app logo section )

Further App Ideas

Micaela: After each researching different genres of Apps, we decided to focus on a category that we all share an interest in: travel.

As there is for most topics now, there are various travel apps that target differing audiences all sharing one thing in common: their love for travelling. These apps differ in small things that zone in on amore specific audience, you could even refer to these differences as their USP or unique selling point. Some focus on finding their users the cheapest deals, whether that be for flights or accommodation whilst others concentrate on things such as grouping experiences by their previous customer ratings. Here are some of the most interesting apps that I found within our chosen genre:

FlightTrack:

This is a genius app aimed at those sorely interested in flights. The app covers information on everything from specific departure gates to cancellations. The app offers a satellite view of flight plans and progress and offers it's users in-depth information concerning their chosen airport and flight. The accessibility of users to see the progress of particular flights also allows it's user to anticipate the arrival of their loved ones at any given time. 

WeatherPro:

Whilst the previous app sole concentrated on flight mapping, this one concentrates on offering it's user all the information they could possibly want in terms of weather conditions for over 2 millions geographical destinations. This app out-does any pre-installed weather app on a smart phone and offers users a niche insight into what to expect on their travels allowing them to pack their clothes much more accurately!

Entrain:

This is an app developed by The University of Michigan addressing ways in which users can counter act things such as jet lag. The app scientifically calculates how your journey's will affect the average sleeping pattern and anticipates how you can counter-act set backs such as this that could seriously affect your enjoyment of the trip. The app dispenses advise as to how to alter your circadian cycle in advance so that your trip is not affected. 

EX Currency:

The clue is in the name for this app. It offers a free money conversion service which allows you to see how much money you should be liable for when you need to convert your pennies into different currencies abroad, though a lot of these type of apps are paid for, this one is free but offers the same, or maybe better service. 

Packing Pro:

This app will advise you on all you could possibly need on your travels. It doesn't generalise either, this particular app will take your destination, companions, dates and activities into consideration before giving you detailed advise on what to take and what not to. The app takes factors into consideration that you may not think to do so yourself, including weather forecast, activity practicality, safety etc. 

These niche apps are proof enough that there really is an app for pretty much everything. After looking at several examples such as these we started to list certain selling points from each and combining them in an attempt to design the ultimate travel app created for anyone's travel needs. 

Initial Thoughts and Ideas

The first step of our production process:

For our first meeting we discussed some basic ideas as to what type of App we were interested in producing together. As a team it is we agreed that it is essential to be working on something that we all equally find of interest. Some ideas for our app creation that we came up with were as follows: Cooking and health foods, Beatification and cosmetics, fashion, music and travel.

As each of these areas of interest appealed to us individually at different levels we collectively decided to take the subject of our choice and conduct our own research into existing apps already made to accommodate individuals interested in them around the world.

I, Micaela, chose beautification and cosmetics as my topic of interest as this is something that I spend a lot of my time researching and participating in outside of academia anyway. Some of the most popular and most easily navigated apps that I found on the UK App store were: 

Pretty In my Pocket:

- This is an all round good app for those who are interested in beautification in a broader sense as it allows it's users to compare products on the market to find cosmetics/services that are of better quality or better value for money. This app also allows you to scan existing products onto your account so that you can read and leave reviews on said product, it also allows you to search products based on their user based star ratings in order to find products that are more likely to be premium as judged by consumers. 

Veemotion:

- Whereas Pretty In my Pocket is an app aimed at those who are actively buying beautification products on the current market, Veemotion is an app aimed at those who are vlogging/blogging about the industry and its latest products. This app simplifies the taking and editing of photographs and videos that individuals can post better quality viewing materials online for others interested in the same topics. i.e. tutorials. 

Make-Up Genius by L'Oreal 

- I actually expected to find a lot more of this type of app. The larger cosmetics brands stealing the top spots on the app store but actually only two made made the cut for top dogs. This app is a virtual store that allows users to take a photograph of their own face so that you can virtually apply L'Oreal products to yourself without using messy swatches, it's also a successful way to promote the brand as it's fun and interactive whilst also proving incredibly practical. 

Ask Bobbi

- Ask Bobbi is the second largely commercial brand that I saw reached the top most suggested in the app store. Unlike L'Oreal this app isn't virtual but instead allows users access to a number of different sources in which they can access beautification at different levels. Tutorials are available and so are a means of contacting the artists themselves for bookings etc. Similarly you can buy Bobbi Brown products through the app of course but this outlet is mainly promoted through tutorials and physical examples of the products applied on models etc. 


Niamh: 
I chose to research Apps of the food, drink and health genre. I began my research by looking at the Apple App store and I found that there was a whole category dedicated to 'Food & Drink'. This section then subdivides into more specific types of food and drink apps such as apps created by celebrity chefs, apps specifically for vegetarians and apps for restaurant chains (the list goes on). I also found that the majority of these apps were all free of charge, which is something we will remember in the process of creating our App. I took a closer look at some of the top 30 Food and Drink Apps and I generally found that the most popular type of food App were takeaway ones. 

'Change4Life Sugar Smart': This app encourages a healthy lifestyle in which you can scan the barcode of every day food and drink products with your smartphone and it tells you the sugar content. It gives you an estimate of your total daily sugar intake and gives the user helpful hints and tips on how to cut down on sugar. The App has bright colours and is very simple to use. 

'JUST EAT takeaway food delivery': This was second on the food and drink charts. The App allows you to order a takeaway in just 'a few easy steps' and offers the user to choose from over 20,000 restaurants. Safe and easy payment can be made within the App and there is a feature in which the customer can 'save with exclusive local offers.' Customers may also access their order history and save their payment details so that they can re-order their favourite dishes 'in seconds.' This clever strategy encourages customer loyalty. 

Starbucks: The official app for the famous coffee shop is also at the top of the Food & Drink App charts. The App consists of many features including a menu, a store locator and a reward system for members who can now actually pay for coffees in store via the app without using any money. Members can now: 'pay using your iPhone touch at company-operated Starbucks stores, check your Starbucks Card balance, reload your Card, view your transaction history and transfer balances between Cards.' The reward system, although very beneficial for Starbucks customers, ultimately benefits Starbucks as it ensures customer loyalty. 

Jamie's Recipes: This food App is by celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. The idea is that the user gets recipe inspiration and can follow step by step instructions on how to recreate Jamie's famous dishes. The free version of the App offers a selection of recipes and a 'handy shopping list feature'.  However I did note that the description in the App store encourages the user to purchase the subscription version of the app in which there is a much larger range of recipes and video tutorials by Jamie. The App is very aesthetically pleasing, and appeals to a range of people as many of the recipes are tailored to people wanting to create delicious meals whilst on a budget. 

Mollie-

For my initial research I looked into music applications, I constituted my research on exisiting apps on iTunes all from the top free charts in order to consider new ideas and gaps in the market.

Spotify- Number one on itunes free chart, a free version and a premium version availed, appealing to students at a cheaper rate a month through unidays (discount app for students)

What is Spotify?

-          A app to listen to music on mobile or tablet on the go

-          - search for tracks, artist, playlists and follow other artists and users, share playlists and make a music collection

-          Inspiration from readymade playlists and get personal recommendations

-          -free with adds and limited shuffling, premium allows no adds, unlimited shuffling and listening offline mode without wifi or 4g

-          -available and popular worldwide

-          -brand has a strong social media presence with links to facebook and twitter accounts for promotion of the brand

             https://www.spotify.com/uk/

TIDAL- Second on the chart and a competitor for Spotify

What is TIDAL?

-selling points

-high fidelity sound quality

-high def music videos (an extra from Spotify)

-curated editorial, recommendations for you from experienced music journalists (professional edge)

-stories behind the sound, integrated music articles and interviews

-offline mode (similar to Spotify with the upgrade from the free version)

-favourites and playlists (similar to Spotify with the upgrade from the free version)

 http://tidal.com/gb

 Sound cloud- third in iTunes charts

What is sound cloud?

Sound clouds unique selling points

-explore trending music and trending audio feeds

-follow friends and artists and see what they share

-browse by genre

- play pause and skip from lock screen

-login and register with facebook and google + (strong link with other social media)

-anonymous listening

https://soundcloud.com/

 Shazam- sixth on iTunes chart (free)

-identify music instantly

-follow the new artist found

-stay up to date with them 

 http://www.shazam.com/

Initial market research- (based at a target audience of 20-25, primarily students) ROUGH QUESTIONAIRE

How old are you?

 What is your occupation/ what do you study?

 What music applications do you use?

 Do you pay for the application?

 How many devises do you use this application on?

 How often would you say you used the application?

 What are the top three features?

 What is your least favourite feature?

 What would you say is missing from the application?

 How would you rate it out of 10?

After the initial research from the questionnaire I used the feedback to come up with the two rough ideas below after looking at gaps in the market.

Rough idea for a new music application-

1.       An app based on existing artists, you could follow what they are listening too, or with a single feature to follow artist, personal for the audience and used primarily from fans, a wide range of artists of all genre of music, would also promote artists and increase support from fan base

2.       Rise of the Vinyl- shopping site? Music can be bought on vinyl once listened too