What did you learn? I learned how to use Figma’s design & prototyping tools to create an augmented reality app which combines traditional video footage and design features with the real, outside world by manipulating the timing in which designs pop up on the screen and how they can be interacted with. We learned how these elements are applied to games like Pokemon Go and to hospital apps.
What was easy? Working with the video was probably the easiest since I have a lot of experiecne from ther courses working with Adobe Premier Pro. Although, it was a very time-consuming process.
What was challenging? Getting my videos to work in Figma by cutting down the size and working with the prototype tools took me a while to get used to. Also, I changed my idea a bit from the start and I did not really have a solid idea of how I wanted each flow to work going into the project. I kind of just figured it out as I progressed. The videos were not hard to do, but they took me forever since it was my first time working with sprite animation. I had a hard time finding free-to-use sprites for each animal and I’m not a expert with animating it. I did it becuase I wanted my app to look nice, so I didn’t just want to have every element just fade in because that would be lazy and would not look good. I challeneged myself but I am happy with the results.
How could your submission be improved? Time was the biggest factor holding me back in this project. I had to balance this massive project with final projects for other courses and final exams. If I had more time, I’m sure I would have some better ideas and the design choices would be a bit better. For example, I used picture slideshows for flows 4, 5, and 6, but I did not have many better ideas and I was racing against the clock due to other things I had to get done. However, I think I applied my skills well in this app and I am proud of the work I did since it was not easy and every piece was very time-consuming. I did not expect this project to be so complex but I am happy with it overall.
How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios? I understand Figma prototyping much more clearly now and I am much more confident in my skills. This will definitely be useful in the future if I ever decide to design an app, which I have thought about before. Not only that, now my design skills have improved. Before taking DMA217, I was still unsure of my Figma design skills and I barely knew how to use the prototyping tools effectively, but now that I am at the end of the course, I know a lot about app prototyping and I have created an awesome and creative app prototype that works.