While brainstorming my favorite apps that I’ve been using, I realized they all fall into these categories that relate to higher productivity, seamless application, and low key mimic tasks that I want to do in real life but have no time for. Personally, I want to use my phone just for productivity and expanding in some way — learning, reading articles or discovering a new recipe. I want to consume content and be inspired, but I don’t want to be consumed by it.
What makes a good product?
“I believe that there are three goals in product design — pursuing aesthetic delight, delivering product value, and achieving the business goal.”
I found this quote from Shawn Park, senior product designer at Discord, that encompasses what it means to make a good product for a user. The 2 apps I review down below help me feel organized, remind me I’m capable of being productive (because I can get things done and have time to spare), mimics real life tools or actions that I am too lazy to go out and physically buy or do, and in the end help with my productivity. I believe these apps are responsbily made because they’re not like social networks that are monitering what my every move is and then spitting out an ad for me to see every 10 seconds.
What’s a product you feel “addicted to,” or otherwise feel negatively habituated?
This goes into the design ethics of an app especially pertaining to social media platforms. Is it ok to be shown things you’ll like consistently? Well yes and no because how can you expand if you’re likings are never questioned. Definitely Instagram I do not feel respect’s the user’s time as a great product nor is it resposibly made. It does create habits but, unhealthy ones and itstead of solving problems I think it creates more particularly pertaining to mental health.
The 2 apps down below, I picked because these products spark inspiration and productivity. I’ll be analyzing based on these questions:
- What personally attracts you to product design?
- What task is it solving?
- What makes it a great product?
- How is it innovative?
- What makes it great and over the top?
Meco
Meco is the type of app I never thought I needed, but then it is there and I actually thought about this problem. So finding it was a happy accident in the app store.
Problem: going to my email and wanting to look at newsletters but then being overwhelemed with all the “boring” or “work” related emails that cause stress, wanting to go back toa newsletter and it being lost in my starred emails and losing the inspiration
Solution: Responsibly made to organize newsletters, easy to learn right away after downloading the app, solves a problem that I didn’t realize needed solving, respect’s time and makes it faster to find information, it’s simply made in the need to save time finding things in your email.
Attractions: Connects to my gmail account and takes out all the fun newsletters that get lost and organizes them into easy to read components that give a brief overview of what each newsletter has to offer.
Qualities: UI design is ever so pleasing — limited color pallette and cute touch of using emojis to keep it not so serious since it’s not you’re email no more. Organizational — it sort of creates profiles (if you want to call it that) of each organization that sends the newsletters and you can easily see all the ones that you have yet to read along with all the ones you’ve finished reading.
Procreate
Procreate is an in between of Illustrator and drawing in real life with pen and paper.
Problem: Drawing without having to bring all of your art materials. Making mistakes along the drawing process that you can’t take back. Waiting for paint to dry before moving on to the next step in the art process. Needing to scan in artwork to then put onto your cloud devices to post to social media.
Solution: Procreate is adaptable to all environments and places (well except rain.) It is a seamless solution for people that have a lot of ideas and just want to draw it right away without having to gather all of their art supplies and then start.
Attractions: That I can draw something that would take me a long time to usually draw on Illustrator. The app allows you to choose different types of paper and practically control all parts of the drawing process. There’s pens, patterns, brushes, colors, that you would not be able to access in the real world if using pen and paper unless you plan ahead.
Qualities: I’ve been able to expand into making more digital art because there are definitely roadblocks in a creative process heavily related to motivation. Knowing that I can just pick up the iPad and start drawing opens up a lot more ideas and possiblities since it is so accessible.
All in all I don’t believe I have any products that I can’t live without, but I do appreciate how products can solve a problem, expedite work flows, and spark creativity. I consider apps that solve everyday issues the most innovative. Fidning the perfect balance of some issue that is already happening and finding an indespensible soulution that be beneficial to someone’s everyday life.
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