Locative App Prototype

Mobile Locative App: Designing for Smartphones

Wireframing Overview

Click here for the full App Project Report

You can navigate this prototype. Hover over the app and clickable spots will become highlighted.

M.A.W.R.M. Components: Rhetorical Situation and Descriptive Components

Rhetorical Situation:

Exigency

I developed this Locative App Prototype primarily as a final project in the Mobile & Locative Media course taught by Jordan Frith,  PhD. at Clemson University in Fall 2019. The course fulfilled the requirements of my cognate area in the M.A.W.R.M. program. The challenge was to come up with an idea for a location-based mobile app, write a proposal, and develop the app’s prototype consisting of a minimum of four (4) screens.

Secondarily, I was prompted to create this project as a course assignment but also because there is a need for this type of app in the transportation business, specifically in transporting via school buses. I approached the CEO and CFO of Samson Tours, Inc., a small business based in Atlanta, GA, with the idea for a locative app that would help with daily operational tasks. During the proposal process, I named the app TracMyBusATL, which I pitched as an app that would fulfil the need to track school buses in real time and share that information with all users and Samson Tours workers. The purpose was to provide Samson Tours, Inc. with a plan for developing a proprietary app that the company can offer exclusively to its clients.

Audience

The audience for this the TracMyBusATL project were private bus companies and the app targeted users such as drivers, dispatchers, route supervisors and managers, schools, students, parents of students, teachers, and school officials. 

Privacy and security was a major concern in developing this app since one of the user groups would be students under the age of 18. The login screen would be restricted to users with login information assigned by the schools. Schools would share the login with parents and students and would need liability terms in place to protect everyone involved. 

Again due to an audience that includes minors, this app would not be connected to any public social media apps. There would be no sharing of information to protect the identity of the users who are minors and provide security for buses on the road at all times.

Constraints

When I endeavored to create and prototype this locative app, I had absolutely no clue how this type of app, or any other app, worked. I did not know any terminology beyond an app and an app icon existed and the fact that I can use them on my phone. The learning curve was definitely a major constraint. Moreover, I had never used a prototyping app. By the time I completed this project, I had learned how to use Justinmind and Adobe XD. The effort to self-teach was another constraint because I learn best with in-person guidance.

Descriptive Components:

Design and Invention Processes

The invention process for my app consisted of doing research about app elements, jargon, design, and prototyping tools. I also had to become more familiar with the school bus transportation system currently in place at Samson Tours. 

The first steps I took were developing a name and icon. For the name I collaborated with Samson Tours’ CEO/Chief of Operations to come up with a name that would point to the functionality of the app as well as its service location. To design the icon I use The Noun Project and adobe Illustrator. 

Next, I looked into apps to help me design and prototype my app. Eventually, I decided on using Adobe XD and relied on Adobe tutorials to complete this task. 

Subsequently, I read about “use cases” and set those up for my app. I proposed TracMyBusATL users would be able to:

  • Open the app and Log In, then, TracMyBusATL will show the street paths for the bus routes available to that client’s account by displaying them over Google Maps. Each Client LogIn ID will be stored and will not need to be entered each time the app is opened.
  • Choose a Bus Route Path,  and the map will display the path of the selected route(s), stops along the route, and any vehicles currently dispatched to and running the route(s), as well as directionality, if a vehicle is in motion.
  • Have the ability to pick a stop from a list or by clicking on a bus stop icon. Once selected, the scheduled stop times for that stop will be displayed.
  • Have the ability to tap on a vehicle icon to view the next stop for that bus and the predicted minutes until the arrival of that particular bus at its next stop. If the user has location services enabled on their smartphones, an icon for the user’s current position will be displayed on the map and visible in relation to the location of the bus and its next stop.

Reflection

One major lesson learned in completing this project was to not be fearful of learning the very intricate tools that Adobe publishes. I started with a free version of Justinmind because it seemed much simpler to learn to use than Adobe XD.  I was correct. However, Justinmind did not give me the results I wanted. I eventually gave up on a fully developed app to start over using Adobe XD, which was very challenging, but I was very proud of my final prototype.

I also encountered a lot of resistance from a school that was initially interested in funding the app, but pulled out of the deal along the way due to concerns with legal liabilities and minors using an app supported by their school. This entity is a private and religiously affiliated school and after engaging with lawyers the school’s administration did not allow me to user test the prototype between parents and students. Eventually, I gave up on user testing all together as Samson Tours also lost interest in the project.

Demonstrated M.A.W.R.M. Competencies

  • Demonstrable digital literacy.
  • Appling visual communication theories to design practices.
  • The ability to apply rhetorical theory to contemporary professional communication practices.
  • Sufficient knowledge of scholarship, research, and design methods and the ability to apply them critically.
  • The ability to apply rhetorical theory to contemporary professional communication practices.

Apps/Tools

  • Adobe XD
  • PREZI Next

scholarly references:

Don Norman’s discussions on human-centered design drove my approach to developing this app. I wanted my app to have a simple and accessible design so all age groups could navigate the app with ease. The first draft of this prototype was a color scheme disaster.  I tried to follow the colors used by the client (red, white, and blue) at the beginning of my process but ended up switching to a more modern color scheme. Thus, I started to look at the first draft to find what I did not need from it, then, I started to rebuild the design by really focusing on the purpose and use cases that I had developed in my proposal for this project. Following concepts discussed by Don Norman’s in The Design for Everyday Things. Norman writes: “If the system lets you [humans] make the error, it is badly designed. And if the system induces you [humans] to make the error, then it is really badly designed” (167).”

With that concept in mind, I needed to look back on the use cases I established to ensure that I only had clickable features according to what the user needed to move from screen to screen within the app. A cute clickable logo, for example, was useless. However, the presence of the logo in each screen indicated to users they were still navigating within the same app. I find that as an app user I tend to jump from app to app on my mobile screen and sometimes get lost. My audience (users) would be from different age groups and backgrounds (parents, students, teachers, drivers, transportation operations managers), so I also had to create a design that was considered how easy it was to see clickable areas. To meet those needs, I used radio buttons that highlight with the touch of a finger and clearly placed navigation arrows in the header of each screen.

Another concept I considered from Norman’s book was the idea of automation. Norman refers to automation like systems found in semi-self-driving cars that “automatically [keep] an automobile within its assigned lane at the correct distance from the car in front” (213). In the same way, I see the automation aspect played out in the use of my locative app because it eliminates the need for many of the operational tasks where humans can mistankly communicate incorrect information. An app that shares location with its specific users eliminates the need for phone calls to inform users of any changes with less risk of misinformation while on the road. As Norman posits “when the automation works, the tasks are usually done as well as or better than by people. Moreover, “it saves people from the dull, dreary routine tasks, allowing more useful, productive use of time, reducing fatigue and error” (Norman 213). An app such as TracMyBusATL definitely automates the exchange of information that schools, parents, students, and drivers can receive on the go and without errors. Not to mention, the information is shared simultaneously. 

Norman, Donald A.. The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books. Kindle Edition, 2013.