For this project, I limited the amount of research because I wanted this project to focus on the practice of creation of the application and of using the programs.
I interviewed 2 users about what they would want in such an application post death. Their responses helped guide the specific features available for the dead in the application.
I utilized secondary research to look into mythologies around death and the afterlife to inform the visual aesthetics of the app.
I ended up primarily pulling from the mythology of Thanatos the God of Death in Greek mythos because as the fairer of the souls to the gates of the underworld, his role aligned well with what I imagined the functionality of the app to be.
I looked at existing social media apps, and banking apps to inform the design of the interaction flow from log in to dashboard.
I specifically wanted to work on interactions surrounding for security and social interactions that would allow the dead to keep up with their loved ones.
Social interactions should allow interaction with the living.
The users talked to wanted ways to not only keep up with the big events of their living friends and family, but also attend and interact with them.
This necessitated two different modes for the application in order to better serve this functionality.
Visuals and interactions should be dark, but soothing while in the underworld and the overworld should contrast.
I ended up primarily pulling from the mythology of Thanatos the God of Death in Greek mythos because as the fairer of the souls to the gates of the underworld, his role aligned well with what the functionality needed to meet the social interaction insights.
Security interactions should be vague but communitive.
This helps insures the security of the account if an intruder attempts to gain access to it while still giving the user enough feedback to understand where their mistake was.
For the first iteration I focused on creating a soothing dark aesthetic. I did this by using a starry night sky as the background, dark blue drop shadows, and semi-transparent white text boxes.
I carried the dark theme of the aesthetic into the dashboard by prioritizing blacks, dark greys, and lighter greys for contrast in the post cards.
For the second iteration, I focused on the security insights. When designing for security. I took into account that all automated responses should be vague and informative as noted by the insights from the research. This can be seen during the account recovery flow in the messages received at the incorrect log in screen and the recovery confirmation screen. Both clearly communicate that there is a problem without giving anyone with malintent more information about how to better hack the account.
For the third iteration, I focused on the social insights. To create a space in which the dead could interact with the living, I introduced a alternative mode and aesthetic to match it. This resulted in the underworld and overworld modes. In addition, I added a power saver mode because having the phone open to interact with the living could be strain the battery of the phone over long periods of time.
During the fourth iteration, I worked on creating mock ups for the motion graphics within the app and on the different user flows for understanding navigating the app.
For the mock ups I focused on the loading screen (top) and the card opening animation (bottom).
Loading Screen
I chose to utilize a heart graphic for the loading screen because the intent of the app is to create emotional connectedness between the dead and their living relations.
Card Opening Animation
I choose to take inspiration from social media apps for the card opening motion graphic. I wanted the animation to be minimal and familiar to the user.
To bring the design to its final version, I focused on polishing visuals, user flows, and the motion graphics demonstration. All of which can be seen below.
For the final design, I honed in on the different aesthetics to for both the underworld and overworld modes. I honed into the coloration for the overworld mode and simplified the UI of the both the underworld and overworld modes.
You will notice the lack of "post" button on the underworld mode. This was done with functionality in mind. Since all posts deal with the events and dealings of the overworld, the functionality was tied to the overworld mode exclusively.
For security, I finalized the security flow for individuals needing to recover their account, but otherwise it remained relatively the same.
Again I focused on the user flows that connect the two modes and I worked to integrate the functionalities into that user flow.
Finally I put together a demo for the motion graphics that I had sketched out as well as additional transitions.
While I did not realize it as I worked through this project, in hindsight I can see that utilizing small class assignments as a means to determine project direction resulted in my first attempt at working within an Agile environment. Personally, I realize that this simulated Agile environment is not the same as I would find in the workplace; however, the experience of working in sprints on the small details is one that I cherish.
By following the agile methodology (however accidental), I found it easier to really focus on the specific deliverables without being overwhelmed about the entirety of the application. As I progressed and new features became relevant or important, I could work to include those and in the end produce a mid - high quality design around what is an out of this world idea.