P2: Generate ideas for a new interactive media product for a client brief
The purpose of my app The city that I have chosen to base my app on is Berlin. Therefore the purpose of my app is to promote Berlin, and educate people on this beautiful city, focusing on entertainment, scenery, and the history of Berlin. My objective is to help the user get to know the city.
Client needs I think one of the most important client needs is that the app is easy to use. This would mean that it is simple yet effective, by doing this it means that pretty much anyone can use the app no matter what age they are. A big need from the client is that the information used with in the up must be up to date. For example I need to make sure that whatever source I get the information from, it must be reliable and non-bias. Because the apps purpose is to promote and educate people about Berlin, it is important that it gives off a positive vibe and impression. But it's equally as important that people have a positive experience with using the app itself.
Target audience Because it is a travel app, my target audience is mainly tourists and possibly students. I think a target audience of 16-60 is a good age demographic because anybody younger than this is unlikely to be travelling without an accompanied adult. I'm not aiming my product at a specific gender as I don't really think it is necessary and by keeping it more open I will be able to gather a larger audience. In terms of disposable income, I think that my audience will have some because it is a tourist app, and traveling isn't cheap. Especially as my app will have some shopping aspects it would suggest that people have spare money to spend.
Target audience needs Here are the basic target audience needs:
Informative, allowing the user to learn about different aspects of the city.
Aesthetically pleasing- bright colours and nice fonts etc.
Fun entertainment aspects e.g. game/quiz.
Photos to engage the audience but also give them some familiarity with the city so they know what to expect.
Search bar, to ensure they have an easy way to search for what they're looking for.
Clear buttons.
Content The homepage of my app will have a series of buttons at the bottom; Location (a map), Shopping, Berlin quiz, and a photograph gallery. The location button will take the user to an interactive map of the city, where they can familiarise themselves with the overall layout of the city. The shopping button will take the user to a page where they can find local shops whether it be clothing shops or food shops. I'm planning for the quiz to be on the german language, in which a german word will pop up, and the user will enter what they think the word is. The gallery will be a collection of several photos of the city.
Format The format of my app will be for an iPhone 7 simply because it is the most recent phone released for IOS. The main reason for this is because I use IOS myself and so am familiar with it.
Platform budget In order to build may app, I may have to hire a team to help me out with the production process. One example is that I may need to hire a coder to help me code the app. Obviously if I were to hire people, it would cost me quite a bit of money, as I would want to hire professionals who have previous experience and know what they're doing. I researched on the internet how much it would cost me to hire a coder, and it seems that the average price is about £80-£150.
Because I may use other peoples images in my app, another platform budget to consider would be issues related to copyright. Unless I use photographs that I have taken myself, or ask the owner of photos before I use them, I could get into some legal difficulties regarding copyright. The reason copyright may become an issue is because I will be using images in my app. In order to avoid any issues related to copyright or intellectual property rights, I may have to pay a fee to use other peoples photography, the royalty for these images could range from anything from £5- £35 depending on the photography or company whose images I would like to use.
In order for people to be able to use my app on their iPhone's, I need to consider hosting issues. I have done some research into the cost of a hosting platform, and it seems that a fee for this could range from £1-£50. I need to be aware of these costs throughout my production process.
I think it would be a good idea to apply for a patent, in order to avoided anybody copying my app or equally as bad, claiming rights to it. I would have to apply for a patent from the government, and from the research I conducted I wasn't able to find a specific price on how much it would cost, but I will be careful to bare in mind that there will be a fee for one.
Navigation Map:
Storyboard
Imaginary Entity
Mind Map:
P3: Produce A Plan For The Creation Of The Interactive Media Product From The Generated Ideas
GANTT Chart:
Moodboard of Content:
Comercial Considerations:
I have left some room within my app for commercial considerations for example sponsorships. An example of sponsorship would be on the food page of my app. Above I have a picture of somebody eating curry wurst in front of the Currywurst Museum. The text bellow the image also mentions the museum. Therefore if I was to publish my app I could receive sponsorship from the museum for promoting it within my product, and in turn be paid for doing so. There is some danger related to this though. If I where to include images of a company/shop etc. without there permission, I could actually be in danger of breaching copyright laws, resulting in a fine or even in some cases prosecution.
Another example of sponsorship is the promotional video that I included on my events page. Because I needed a promotional video for my app anyway, receiving some sponsorship from the company that made the video would be an easy way to generate some extra income from my app. Due to the fact that I would be showcasing the production companies work, it is highly likely that a fee could be negotiated. However, as well as having trouble with copyright if I am not granted the correct permission for using the video, I could also be breaching the intellectual property act. This is because the video is a product created by a company/individuals from their own creativity, it is legally their intellectual property, therefore it is important that I would have complete permission.
GUI (Graphical User Interface)
Graphical user interface def. "a visual way of interacting with a computer using items such as windows, icons, and menus, used by most modern operating systems." It is very important for my app that the GUI is simple and easy to use as my target audience age range is rather broad. For example younger people may use the app to educate themselves on a new city, and make them less wary of discovering new places, just the same as elderly people who are less technically savvy may want to. In order to make the GUI as simple and easy as possible to use there are a few things I will make sure are included. The first one being that the icons and buttons are clear, for example the icon I might use for the events page would be a calendar etc. I will also make sure that the buttons are clear, simple, and big enough. Secondly I will keep the page numbers low, not so low that the app is boring and unhelpful but low enough so that it isn't overwhelming.
As well as being easy to use, my GUI also needs to be visually and aesthetically pleasing, so that my audience are engaged whilst interacting with it.
In terms of written form, I am planning to keep the vocabulary universally readable and not over complicate the text with big fancy words just for the sake of it. By doing so everyone is able to understand it and it meets the ability of everyone within my target audience.
I'm planning to use these particular colours in my app. The first reason behind this is that the yellow, red, and black are the colours of the German flag which I'm hoping to be aesthetically pleasing within this app because of it's relevance. Secondly, these are all very bold colours that everyone can see easily and there is nothing completely clashing. Thirdly, I thought that the choice of just four colours was very important in terms of the app looking professional because if I were to use an array of many different colours, it wouldn't carry the same theme through out and would just overall look more messy.
As well as choosing the right colours, the font is also a very important choice. I don't to use anything too formal or fancy as I think this would contrast with not only the app itself but also the target audience. Having said this, I'm also aware that a casual font or a more 'fun' informal font could make the app look rather amateurish. Therefore I need to strike somewhere in the middle. Below are some examples of the fonts I'm considering.
Product navigation map
Accessibility
As mentioned previously, my target audience has quite a large age range. This means that the accessibility needs to be easy and simple, ensuring all can use it. For example at the bottom of my home page there will be five buttons; Home, Map, Shopping, Events, and More (in which Food and Quiz are located). This feature makes it incredibly easy for the user to simply look for what they want, click it, and they're there. Once the user has done with the selected page, there is a very clear 'back' button at the top left hand corner of each individual page, which will return them to the homepage, where they can begin the process again. My app will be accessible on iPhone 6 and 6s.
Interactivity
Within my app there are several forms of interactivity, for example: A map, a video, scrolling text, and buttons. The scrolling text is definitely the entertainment section of the app, because it is a quiz in which you can learn funny but useful German phrases. This can be enjoyed by all ages as it isn't complex, you simply move your finger up and down the screen to reveal different parts of text. The map will be quite an important feature for my app as it is arguably the most useful. Not only does it display a map of the city on the users screen, it also allows for the user to zoom in further to see more details, for example street names, and it also allows you to pinpoint a location. It is really useful because it allows the user to have a full map of the city but on a small screen. The video is also a great interactive feature of the app as it gives people a great visual representation of the city and shows it in it's best light. The video can be played full screen when the screen is tilted, and subtitles can even be displayed if for example a def person wanted to use the app.