Application Design II - Task 1: App Design Self Evaluation & Reflection
15/12/25 - 04/01/26 / Week 1 - Week 14
Brendan Fedya / 0376283
Application Design I / Bachelor of Design
(Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 1: App Design Self Evaluation & Reflection
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Lectures
II. Tasks
III. Feedbacks
IV. Reflections
I. LECTURES
➼ Lecture 14: Monetization & Gamification
Monetization: how to provide revenue to the system, in this case — the application.
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| 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.
II. TASKS
➼ Class Tutorial: AI Critique Student Designs
For this task, we are asked to reflect back on our final project of the first Application Design module, insert it into generative AI to gain professional-level feedback.
For that, I took a screengrab of my MUJI app redesign home page:
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| Figure 2.1: MUJI redesign - homepage screengrab. |
This is the feedback I gained and analyzed after inserting it into Generative AI:
1. Visual Hierarchy
While the 'sale banner' appears contrasting, it is too visually aggressive. It causes viewers eyes might not comfortably flow down to the "events" and "for you" sections. A good layout guides the eye naturally from the most important element down through secondary and tertiary information.
2. Accessibility
Placing thin, white text over a busy background photograph—even with a heavy red color overlay—creates contrast issues. Users with visual impairments or those viewing the app in bright sunlight might struggle to read the smaller dates or the "*online exclusive" text.
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| Figure 2.2: Sale banner design. |
The heart (favorite) icon on the "for you" card is floating quite close to the edge of the image. Standard accessibility guidelines (like WCAG) recommend a minimum tap target size of 44x44 px. Ensure interactive elements like that heart icon have enough invisible padding around them so users don't accidentally tap the product image when trying to save the item.
3. Modern Aesthetics
The icons in the bottom navigation and the top header are very thick and heavily weighted. Modern UI—especially for a brand like MUJI, which is famous for its extreme minimalism—tends to favor a strict adherence to a crisp line-art style. Switching to thinner, uniform line-weight icons without heavy fills will immediately modernize the interface and make it feel more elegant.
4. One Suggested Big Fix
Redesign the hero banner. Instead of a red-tinted photo of a busy store aisle, try using a completely clean, neutral background (like an off-white or light gray) with high-quality, minimalist product photography. You can announce the "40% OFF SALE" using crisp, stark typography—perhaps just black text on that neutral background, or a very refined, minimalist monochromatic badge. This will instantly align the app with a high-end, professional aesthetic and fix your contrast issues simultaneously.
Feedback Challenge:
Based on the feedback I gained, I decided the question the hero banner feedback. My reason to create a visually heavy hero banner is to draw viewers attention to that page — as based on user research, people tend to interact with sale products more than regular products when navigating through an app. And if I made it look less visually contrasting, it might weaken the effect that I intended to give.
AI response:
You are confusing "visual noise" with "visual hierarchy." Right now, the banner is shouting. It definitely gets attention, but it does so at the cost of the user's visual comfort and the brand's identity.The challenge for a professional designer is to create that exact same level of contrast and priority, but to do it elegantly. You want to command attention, not demand it.
Click here for the Figma link!
Click here for 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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