Design an app - Short project
Welcome Thanks for joining Design Club :) We'll be designing and prototyping mobile apps. When you've prototyped your app, you'll get a certificate . You'll need: printouts of these worksheets , some scrap paper + a pen Optional: coloured pencils/ pens; old magazines; sticky notes Activity Fill in this cover sheet with your name and today's date. Have you done any design before? What did you design? What's your favourite app and why? Discussion point
Understand the design process Activity Read out each step and discuss what it involves. Can you think of some examples? Scavenger hunt: take 5 mins to find something at home you love to use: what features do you like about it? Discussion points You can use Design Thinking for all sorts of problems (not just making an app!) Can you think of a way you might apply Design Thinking in your daily life?
Activity Choose a favourite: decorate it and add your own examples. Why is it your favourite? Discuss each mindset and what it means. Which mindset might be more challenging for you? Discussion points Designers like to approach work in a positive, open way. Why might it be important for designers to have these mindsets? Remember the 5 steps of the Design Thinking process. Which mindsets might work best for each step?
Choose a person to design for Activity Pick a character from the worksheet. Alternatively, choose someone you know in real life. Advanced: choose a celebrity or famous person (and do some online research)! Discussion points Emphasise that good design meets the needs of people Discuss how a design might differ for different people
Activity Look at the design challenges. What do you think each one involves? Pick a challenge to design for. Picking a challenge If this is your first Design Club Project and you're working in a group, agree on one challenge to focus on together. Advanced students might want to choose separate challenges and then compare notes. Discussion points Great designs help people achieve something important to them. Remember that if you're working in a team and you don't get the challenge you want, you can do another app design project after this one. Everything you learn on this project will go towards making your next project even better!
Frame your design challenge Activity Fill in the details for your design challenge. Discussion points This helps keep us focused on who we are designing for and what we want to help them with. Why do you think it might be useful to stick up this sheet in your working space and revisit it?
Create a profile of your user Activities Think of a story about the person you're designing for: what does their typical day look like? Tell your story to the group. Create a profile of your user (by filling in this worksheet). Based on what you now know about your person, do you need to reframe your design challenge ?
Discussion points
Activities Think about what your person's needs might be in relation to your challenge Write or draw their needs on scrap paper first if you want Make a list of your person's needs and, next to each one, write an idea for a feature that might help Think of a name and tagline for your app
Discussion points Why might thinking about a person's needs help you create good feature ideas? Can you think of an app name that would appeal to your user? Is the name and tagline catchy? Do they suggest what the app does?
Activities Sketch a home screen for your app. And then at least one screen for each feature idea. Think about whether you want to add a menu or contents screen. You can test out ideas on scrap paper first. Print off extra worksheets if you need them. Create screens in pen or pencil first, then add colour if you have time. Discussion points Why do you think sketching might be a good way to communicate ideas? How might your user move from one screen to the other? Review app design basics Do you want to add a menu or contents screen? How might your user get an overview of the app?
Activity For this stage, you'll need access to a smartphone or tablet. Download Marvel App and create a free account. Press the "+" button to start a new project; write in your app's name. Take photos of your screen sketches and crop to fit. Add links between each screen. Discussion points Can you tweak your screens at all? Maybe you want to add a back or menu button to help with navigation. Do you want to re-draw or re-design any of your screens?
Activities For this step, you'll need a friend or adult to role play your user. Or, if you've chosen to design for someone you know in real life, you can ask them to test the app for you. Invite them to press play and click through the app you've designed in Marvel App. Ask them the questions on the worksheet and write down their answers.
Discussion points Why might testing be important? From the feedback you've had, how might you improve your app design?
Activities Think about the whole app design project you've just completed. What did you enjoy doing most? Were there any bits that could have gone better? Is there anything you could go back and improve on? Write down the next thing you'd like to do.
Discussion points Why do you think it's important for designers to reflect on the work we've done? How might you carry on using design thinking in your every day life? What would you like to design next? 
