15/12/25 - 04/01/26 / Week 12 - Week 15
Brendan Fedya / 0376283
Application Design I / Bachelor of Design
(Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 4: High-Fidelity Prototype
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. LECTURES
➼ Lecture 14: Monetization & Gamification
Monetization: how to provide revenue to the system, in this case — the application. |
| Figure 1.1: Different types of monetization. |
MY TAKE: I don't think my MUJI app requires a paid feature to enhance the sales, the additional features are to boost the sales itself, and revenue should focus on that aspect. Sale/ discounted banners engage people to spend more on those products, as user research revealed that people tend to engage on this kinds of products more. In addition, limited edition products through events (which is also one aspect of gamification) could additionally help in this aspect.
Gamification: usage of game elements to boost motivation and engagement of users.
Some choices include:
- Customization
- Levels
- Experience
- Statistics
- Leaderboards
- Achievement
- Medals
MUJI app can leverage this on the community page, an experience active community member could be shown with a badge, also increasing trust from other people.
Find balance in gamification, don't make it too complicated, but also not too simple to attract players. Duolingo is a very good example of gamification application in the app. Making users feel FOMO could make them interact more with gamification aspects (streaks, achievements, leaderboards, etc.) Initiate stuff first, and then people would be more lenient to follow.
If a designer can speak about money, understand the client wants and needs, then more chance towards success. Don't talk about design only.
➼ Lecture 15: Portfolio
Considering target market is essential when pitching to clients. Hence you should know their needs and why they need you in the team. What you have in a portfolio will be what they expect from you later on.
CV should be ATS friendly.
When a company is hiring for jobs:
HR will analyze your CV, and see whether it is worth moving forward.
The team will then consider your skills presented, outcomes, and field of work. Manager in addition will see what are your strengths, how is your learning process through your portfolio and how you can fit in the team under them.
Storytelling, articulating is very important in presenting yourself.
Don't rate yourself stars in portfolio, you can compare your skills (e.g., stronger in graphic design rather than UI/UX, etc.) but not rating yourself as you are not the best person to judge yourself.
➼ Portfolio Content Structure
INTRO
What was the project about, how long did it take, under what circumstances, who worked on it and what part you are in charge of?
What is the format (app, website, etc.), what does it do, who will use it, and how does it help them?
CONTEXT
Why does the project actually matter?
Include where do we use the product, what did it aim to solves, its stakes and challenges.
SPECS
Explain the things that you use to create the product, and it's limitations. Don't forget to mention the timeline, as projects and design tools get outdated very quick.
DEMO
How it works, how it looks like, how it moves (important), how it's being used by the people.
FEATURES
Explain everything that it does, highlight the key highlight feature (the best part of the project). Comparison to other choices, supported by data.
CHOICES
Explain the rationale behind your choices (e.g., fonts,colors,etc.). Comparison between choices, why do you make that choice? How you decide on it, what they do and what is affected through that choice, along with tests conducted (what worked at the end, what didn't work).
RESULTS
Explain the success metrics, the impact created, and comparison between before the project vs after the project. Also, noting down project timeline (at what point did you stop working on, and explain what's next if the project would be to worked on again)
CTA
See the full story, how to contact the author, and download the project files. Don't leave them hanging! What do you (the designer) want from them (the client)?
➼ Portfolio Project Structure
Case study, for your best projects include detailed information behind it.
Showcase, for projects that you did halfway.
Snapshots, for less relevant projects — only for supporting ambient (including the other skills you can do)
Show outcomes first, then the process. Give them different levels of reading (3sec, 3min, 30min)
Don't explain design lecture in portfolios such as theories, explaining what are the methods,
Mix and match projects based on the company that you apply, so that they will find it relevant.
➼ Class Exercise: Usability Testing with Classmates
Some feedback I gained from my classmates:
- Navigation bar could be higher, and seems too tight.
- Cart button in product page could be moved to the side instead of middle.
➼ High-Fidelity Progress
Based on user-tests, I decided to revise navigation bar designs. Using text to support the icons will significantly help the users to know what each button functions.
 |
| Figure 2.1: Navigation bar design. |
A sale banner on the start of the page should be something contrasting, that could catch the attention of the users. To create the background, I used MUJI's original image as an overlay to the iconic red color, and then layered information about discounted / sale details above it.
 |
| Figure 2.2: Sale banner design. |
Buttons in the top bar are reduced to lessen out distractions. Only 'settings' and 'notification' is put in the top bar. This is applied by a lot of applications out there.
 |
| Figure 2.3: Enabling top-bar buttons. |
The rest are mostly refinements mainly considering the consistency of the layout. I used AI to get good product images that could be as similar as possible with the original image of the products.
Figure 2.4: Other design refinements.
Information are then arranged accordingly to allow ease of navigation.
 |
| Figure 2.5: Arranging frames. |
➼ Final Submission
The final submission consists of the Figma prototype link of the app, the promo page, as well as the presentation slides:
III. FEEDBACKS
‣ Week 13
- Monetization could be purely from sales.
- Icons could still be bigger.
IV. REFLECTIONS
With this, we have concluded our studies in this module. It was a long run, and to be honest, I struggled nearing the end. I feel that the closer we got to the later weeks, the more difficult the tasks became, especially as there were more assignments from other modules.
On top of that, Sir Sylvain provided a lot of reflections, and he consistently related what he taught to real industry practices. He applied the principles he taught to his own work as well. Through this, I was able to find relevance in what we were doing, and I felt motivated to complete the assignments even though there were many tasks to manage. One thing that really stayed with me is the importance of having good behaviour when working, as what we do in class reflects who we will be in the industry later on. With a good attitude, people are more likely to be willing to train you, even if you are less proficient on the technical side.
My only regret in this module is that I lacked proper time management skills, which caused me to fall behind in my project progress and prevented me from seeking feedback on time. I hope that in the upcoming modules, I can significantly improve my time management, as this is a bad habit that I should not continue, and it will affect everything I do in the future if left unresolved.
Overall, this module brought me many new insights that I was previously unaware of regarding the design industry, and I am truly grateful for that. I hope that in the future, I can apply these lessons more consistently, grow both professionally and personally, and perform better in managing my responsibilities across modules.
Final words, I would like to sincerely thank Sir Sylvain for his patience and guidance throughout these 14 weeks. This module challenged me and pushed me to reflect on my own habits, mindset, and growth as a student, and I hope your reminders about attitude and professionalism will stay with me when I'm going to do more demanding projects later on in the future. Thank you for believing in us and pushing us to do better!
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