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Overview
InstaNews is a concept iOS app for a news organisation. This was created as part of a Lab Based Project, an optional course in our sixth semester.
Role
Duration
Jun 2022
Project Type
Academic Project
The Background
This was created as part of a Lab Based Project, an optional course in our sixth semester. The main goal of this course was to get students comfortable with the latest tools and technologies in the software industry, while also encouraging them to collaborate with others while building the project.
The class was asked to form groups of three, and each group was assigned a project prompt at random and had three days to finish it.
I was the team's only designer, working alongside two engineers. I was in charge of the product experience, as well as the development of the application's front end.
Key Achievements
The following are some notable accomplishments:
Design thinking was used to streamline the entire process. I was able to use the design thinking process successfully to identify the problem, brainstorm solutions, and create the final product.
Completed from start to finish. We exhibited our capacity to execute and deploy features as a team by coding the final designs in such a short period of time.
Scored 93/100 marks ( highest in the entire department of CSE ) for the project.
Each of us was able to contribute to the solution, resulting in a highly collaborative and spectacular outcome.
The Prompt
Defining the MVP
As we just had 3 days to complete the entire project we decided to go directly for brainstorming sessions for the application.
After a lot of discussions we decided to have the following features in the application :
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Defining the Tech Stack
After defining the MVP, we started looking for the tools required to build our application. Following our study, we finally chose to use :
Firebase : for application authentication.
Contentful : for the application's backend.
Core Data : used to store user profile information.
CloudKit : to sync profile data to iCloud.
Revenue Cat : for in app purchase.
Low Fidelity Designs
High Fidelity Designs
With time running out, I quickly designed the app's User Interface with the appropriate styling. I also produced an application prototype, which helped us visualise the application's overall flow.
See the functional prototype here.
Development
While the team responsible for building the app's structure & integrating the APIs I was responsible for creating the app's aesthetic part. Look at the before and after pictures to see my work.
Find the GitHub repository link here.
Learnings
Some key takeaways from this event are that :
The best designs come from collaboration. It was inspiring to see how each one of us was able to bring to the table a different perspective during the sketching sessions.
Design thinking is key to effective products. This really helped to shape the discussions with the team as it allowed me to stay focussed and on track throughout the entire process.
First impressions first. These programs are all about selling the concept. The visual design of our application was key for us to get the attention of the panel members.
Results
We were able to successfully implement 60% of the designs and delivered a presentation at the end of the program to a panel of judges.
We scored 93/100 marks ( highest in the entire department of CSE ) for the project.
I had a really enjoyable experience at this program & was extremely lucky to work with some of the most collaborative & talented people to come up with a product in a short period of time.
Thank You
Hope you liked the project.
