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Application Design /Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal

23/9/2024-18/10/2024 Week1-Week 4

Jie Xuan/ 0356515

Application Design/ Bachelor of Creative Media/Taylor's University

Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Lectures

2. Instruction

3. Project 1: Mobile Application Proposal

4. Feedbacks

5. Reflections

LECTURES
Week 1
First week, Mr. Zeon briefed us this subject's Module Information and about his requirements for this module. He emphasized the importance of application design and he also said that our assignment progress are also very important. As our first task, we were assigned to create our draft proposal. 
 
This week lecture slide is to understanding usability is essential in the design process. It involves defining usability, applying principles such as navigation, information architecture, and visual hierarchy, and conducting usability testing to develop practical skills. In today’s digital era, the importance of mobile cannot be overlooked, given the ubiquity of smartphones and the shift in user behavior. A mobile-first approach offers a competitive advantage but presents challenges such as limited screen real estate, diverse device capabilities, and the need for contextual awareness.

User-Centered Design (UCD) places a strong focus on understanding the target audience and their specific needs. This approach begins with research to gather insights into user behaviors, pain points, and preferences. Design follows, with the creation of wireframes, prototypes, and mockups that address these needs. Evaluation through usability testing and user feedback validates design choices and helps identify areas for improvement.

When designing for mobile usability, understanding user needs, prioritizing key features, optimizing for mobile performance, and iterating based on feedback are key steps. UCD brings significant benefits, including increased user satisfaction, improved product adoption, reduced development costs, and enhanced brand reputation. Prototyping and testing, using both low-fidelity and interactive prototypes with iterative testing, further improve the design.

Optimizing mobile app performance is crucial for a seamless user experience. Strategies such as minimizing app size, using caching and lazy loading techniques, and optimizing network requests help reduce load times, conserve battery life, and ensure responsiveness, even on older or lower-end devices.

Week 2
This week's lecture covers the fundamentals of User-Centered Design (UCD), User Experience (UX), and User Interface (UI) design. We were introduced to the UCD process, which is essential for the final submission of Project 1. For this project, we need to focus on a single company's app and assess whether the proposed mobile application concept is suitable for the next stage of development. It is important to refer to the Week 2 lecture slides for additional guidance and required components. UCD is a design philosophy that prioritizes user needs, providing the framework to create products that are both user-friendly and visually appealing. UX focuses on ensuring smooth, functional interactions, while UI handles the visual design, making the UX come to life.

The UCD process includes several stages: discovering business requirements (such as brand vision, goals, target audience, and competitors) and developing user personas (motivations, goals, and needs); defining ideation and experience mapping (like user journeys and scenarios); designing the user experience (user flows and task analysis) and user interface (sitemaps and prototypes); validating through usability testing and prototype validation; and finally, developing through coding and production. Successful design should prioritize functionality (utility), ease of use (usability), visual appeal (desirability), and create a positive brand experience.

Week 3
This week's lecture highlights the importance of usability in application design, focusing on key principles such as consistency, simplicity, visibility, feedback, and error prevention. The final project proposals are due in Week 4, with each student allotted 5 minutes to present. 

Usability refers to how effectively, efficiently, and successfully users can interact with a product in a specific context. It emphasizes clarity and learnability, ensuring that users can intuitively understand the interface and navigate it without prior experience or the need for instructions. Efficiency and goal completion are also critical, as the interface should guide users to achieve their objectives in a simple and time-saving manner, avoiding unnecessary complexity. 

Common pitfalls in usability include overly complex interfaces, confusing navigation, unclear calls-to-action, and poor error handling. The principles of usability include maintaining consistency for a user-friendly and cohesive experience, designing for simplicity with clear communication and progressive disclosure of information, and ensuring visibility through an organized hierarchy that directs attention to key features. Providing feedback to confirm user actions and offer guidance helps with learning, while preventing errors reduces frustration and increases accuracy and efficiency.

Week 4
This week we present our final proposal in class. 


INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions:
Things to include in the final proposal
1. Introduction
- Introduce the purpose of the proposal.
- Explain the importance of mobile application design and how it impacts user experience.

2. Background and Context
- Describe the existing mobile application and its current design.
- Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the current design.
- Explain the user demographics and user needs of the application.

3. Goals and Objectives
- Define the objectives of the redesign.
- Identify the primary and secondary goals for the new design.
- Explain how the new design will address user needs and improve user experience.

4. User Research
- Describe the user research methods you will use.
- Explain how you will gather user feedback and insights.
- Provide a plan for user testing and validation.

5. References
- Include any references used for research and inspiration, such as articles, books, or design examples.

PROJECT 1: PROPOSAL

 A. Proposal Draft
First week, Mr. Zeon introduced User-Centered Design and asked us to select three apps that could benefit from design improvements. We were also tasked with identifying their current issues and proposing potential solutions.

After some brainstorming, I chose three apps I have experience with: KUMMUTE, MUDAH.MY, and KTMB MOBILE. I identified several pain points I’ve encountered as an end user, making these apps ideal for analysis.

Here are my three apps choices for redesign: 
1. KUMMUTE
2. MUDAH.MY
3. KTMB MOBILE

Second week, I work on the proposal draft.

Third week, after consulting with Mr. Zeon told me that I should write more weaknesses detail of the chosen apps. It's also important to identify and highlight the strengths of these apps. So I add on the weakness detail. 
Proposal Draft

B. Final Proposal Process
Third week, for final proposal Mr. Zeon recommended me proceed with either the MUDAH.MY or KTMB MOBILE application, as both have strong potential for improvement. Ultimately, I decided to redesign the KTMB MOBILE app. 


Mr. Zeon recommended using a website called Similar Web to research app user demographics. It offers valuable insights into user behavior, audience location, traffic sources, and overall app performance. By analyzing these metrics, we can gain a deeper understanding of our target audience and refine our app design strategies. Additionally, Similar Web aids in making data-driven decisions by comparing competitors and assessing the app’s market position. 

In week 3, I start doing my final proposal. I have used Bus Online Ticket, Kummute and Grab as the competitors analysis.

I also do the comparison with other competitors app to gain a deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. This analysis helped me identify areas where I could improve my current design, ensuring that it stands out and meets user needs more effectively. 

C. Presentation Final Mobile Application Proposal 
After all the research and analysis I presented my final proposal on week 4. 

Application Name: KTMB MOBILE
Category: TRANSPORTATION
Nationality: Malaysian users 
Gender: Higher proportion of female users compared to male users
Age: Largest age group of visitors are 25 - 34 years old
Income: A diverse range of income levels. 
Education Level: Users with a variety of educational backgrounds.
Location: Users primarily from Malaysia
Target Audience: Malaysian who use KTM to travel around Malaysia

This is an QR code train ticketing system app. Book all the train tickets online including KTM train, ETS train, Intercity & North Commuter between Kuala Lumpur right up to Padang Besar and other destinations within our operation in Semenanjung Malaysia. Select KTMB Mobile App ticketing system based on your travel period. The KTMB Mobile App features a fully integrated, industry-leading QR code ticketing system that significantly enhances the boarding process. It makes the customer easy to get train ticket instead of queue up to buy the train ticket.

The purpose of doing this app research is to have a clear understanding of how to redevelop and enhance the KTMB mobile app, ultimately gathering insights to improve user experience and boost overall app performance within the online transport ticketing industry. The redesign will focus on creating a more efficient app that remains competitive in the digital transportation landscape, with a keen emphasis on addressing user needs and expectations to guide the improvements.
Final Proposal

FEEDBACK

WEEK 2
General Feedback: Ensure we have included conclusions for each company's chosen app.
Specific feedback: Mr. Zeon suggested continuing with the Mudah App or KTMB App options because these two App have potential for improvement on interface and user experiences aspect. 

WEEK 3
General Feedback: User demographic data should be sourced from the official company. Demographic data can find from similar web. 
Specific feedback: Mr. Zeon recommended compiling all user ratings and reviews and summarizing them on a new page. Additionally, for the competitive analysis section, screen recordings will be replaced with screenshots, and each point will be elaborated with corresponding pages presented. Highlight the important points of feedback from users, weaknesses slides need to add more details pictures and elaborate more words. 

WEEK 4
General Feedback: Overall Good, If students want to refine the PPT can do it. 
Specific feedback: Can add more detail and refine the content if you want. 

REFLECTION
Observation
In the early stages of the KTMB mobile app research, I observed that several transportation and booking apps share common usability issues, particularly around navigation, readability, and cluttered interfaces. Through initial analysis, I noticed that the KTMB app's interface is less intuitive compared to competitors like Grab, especially in features crucial for quick bookings and navigation within the app. During peer presentations, I also noticed that understanding demographic factors such as age, gender, and income levels is essential, as it impacts user expectations and shapes the redesign direction to cater to KTMB's primarily Malaysian user base.
 
Finding
After analyzing the KTMB app alongside competitors, I found that key areas for improvement include simplifying the booking process and enhancing the QR code ticketing feature to improve efficiency. Using Similar Web for competitor analysis highlighted specific demographic insights, such as the app's primary user group being 25–34 years old and a slightly higher proportion of female users. These insights allowed me to better align my redesign proposal with user expectations. I also identified specific design elements from successful competitors, such as Grab’s streamlined layout and Bus Online Ticket’s organized booking flow, which could be adapted to the KTMB app to improve user satisfaction and usability.

Experience
In this process, I have learn how to do Application Analysis and learn how to analyst app weaknesses. This is truly a amazing journey for me. It is because everything in this subject for me is so new and I need time to do so many thing. Mr. Zeon’s feedback throughout the process was invaluable, especially in guiding me to detail the KTMB app’s strengths alongside its weaknesses and in advising the use of Similar Web for data-driven insights. Writing and refining the proposal draft deepened my understanding of balancing user needs with technical constraints, while the competitive analysis encouraged me to think critically about how the KTMB app could stand out within the transportation sector. Presenting my final proposal reinforced the value of structured research and provided the confidence to integrate user feedback into future design decisions. The research journey has been an enriching experience in applying User-Centered Design principles to a real-world app.

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