Case study overview
In the four semesters I was on Generate, the hardest part of each project comes around the time when teams start to finalize the high fidelity screens. Within the nature of Generate, it is important for each designer to have ownership over their own flow/deliverable and be given the opportunity to really delve into the project and make individually informed decisions. A challenge that comes with this is getting all designers to converge near the end of the semester when adding fidelity to their screens. Each designer is so uniquely talented and possess their very own design styles. At this point as a design lead I found it important to agree on a design direction without compromising the authenticity and effort of the designers—this decision was to be a collective effort.
What is Care-Wallet?
Care-Wallet is a family caregiving platform that is person-centered, bringing more transparency to the care that the older adult needs. It guides the family caregivers in both providing and facilitating the care at home, each step of the way. Taking care of a loved one with a progressive neurological disorder can be stressful when it comes to managing tasks about their health and the numerous documents/notes. This care becomes even more complex and stressful if the management of these tasks and resources is not centralized between numerous caregivers.
Exploring visual and brand identity
Before the 7 week mark—in addition to refining flows and wireframes—our team spent a good amount of time ideating on branding and visual identity. The goal was to have some visual inspiration to aid the translation of low fidelity screens to high fidelity screens. There were opinions from the client, the project lead, each designer, and myself that ultimately had to converge into a unified direction. It was my job to consider everyone’s input and set up the rails that pointed to the most successful route without holding any hands.
The designers take a stab at adding fidelity
The branding and visual identity exploration had not quite been narrowly refined by the time we got to applying color, type, and visual elements to screens. Consequently, I was fascinated by how different each designer’s translation of their screens turned out. Although it was great to see how each individual’s brain worked, the differing screens introduced a new challenge of finding cohesiveness and unity.
*if slides are glitchy refresh page :)
Translating the designer’s screens
They were using the mood boards, colors, and type sets we were exploring with…but lacked technical execution. How could I use my technical expertise to take their ideas and present them in a realistic direction to give them guidance without overstepping? I decided to take a hi-fi screen from each designer, create a simple style guide, and use a strong application of design principles to tidy up the direction using a screen that was not theirs. I did not want to take their screen directly to edit, since I felt like that would be discouraging and leave little room to grow. At this point I also decided on a type hierarchy from type sets we were going back and forth between to take a step past that checkpoint.
Creating components at a team workshop
In the next team workshop, we worked together to create high fidelity components to further solidify a design system for continuous iterations on screens using the style we had all voted on.
Off and running
At this point, the designers were polishing and prototyping their screens with enthusiasm and skill. I was surprised with how hands off I was near showcase. I believe that the combination of leading by example, giving the designer’s space, and giving the the tools such as component making and auto-layout enabled them to be off and running.
Final Prototype
This is the final prototype we presented at the showcase. I think it's safe to say we successfully delivered an MVP.
