Simplist
The Concept
An application to manage book collections
For most people, it’s difficult to remember all of the books they have in their collection, the kind of books they have (digital or physical), or what books they’ve purchased through various online bookstores.
This application easily combines library collections from several online bookstores and organizes all of your books and titles in one application. It will help users to organize both their physical and their digital books.
My Role
On this project I was responsible for the User Centered Design process, including research, storytelling, scenarios and use cases, information architecture, storyboards, wireframes, visual design, usability testing and prototyping, User Interface Design specification, project planning, and management. I also worked on development for the project as a web-based and mobile-based application.
The concept was for my final project, reviewed back in Summer 2011, and then I continued again from Spring 2012 until final presentation in Spring 2013.
The Process
Conceptual Development
I did some research and comparative analysis about competitors while developing the conceptual design, in order to try to find how to give this application unique positioning in the market.
Information Architecture
Create storytelling, scenarios, and use cases for defining user requirements on how they want to manage their books and information. Based on that, structuring and organizing project content and information, and developing an information diagram on how the information can be presented and the user can navigate through the application.
Storyboards and Wireframes
Using a storyboard to design a user experience, and analyzing a wireframe to define the information layout of specific user views, I prepared an effective testing task list in order to build the design prototype and decide how best to prompt the test user for valuable usability feedback.
Visual Design and Prototyping
I explored strategies for developing the visual design, and reviewed the visual design properties and how they could be implemented in the user interface design. After that, I created a design specification as a guide for developing the application.
The Challenge
Developing a concept that was of interest on a variety of technical and conceptual levels, to keep me motivated to do my best work, stay on track, and prevent momentary burnout from becoming a crisis situation.
The Results
Video
Simplist Dashboard
Simplist Visual UIX Design
The Brand
A Simple List
A simple logo that reflects the application’s purpose: to simplify listing a book collection. Simplist is a SIMPle LIst, a simple brand name with a simple logotype that reflects its purpose.
