Based on our user personas and three main task uses for the application, we came up with three usage scenarios:
Valentina, 21, is a senior at Wellesley College majoring in Peace and Justice. She feels disconnected from the Wellesley community after taking a leave of absence last year. She is motivated to help build community despite COVID, but she does not know how to do so since she is not part of any clubs and she does not have much time to participate on campus activities. Valentina is looking for a way of sharing the positive experiences that she has had during her time at Wellesley with the entire community. She would like to be able to post about nice moments she has had with friends on the Wellesley campus in a digital platform that all Wellesley students can access. She would appreciate being able to post quickly in between breaks in her busy schedule.
Jenny, 22, is a junior at Wellesley college majoring in International Relations and minoring in Comparative Literature. She took a gap year in between high school and college, and then studied abroad in Korea for her entire sophomore year. Because of this, she has had a hard time finding people to connect with, and doesn’t talk to her first year friends much anymore. She is very busy with school and work, and wants to prioritize herself and her mental health now, so she is looking for a fulfilling way to do that without having to invest too much time into something like a club or organization. She also has only spent a year (or less, considering the pandemic) on campus, so she doesn’t know great study or hang out spots either. She feels isolated from both her peers and the general community at Wellesley.
Mina, 19, is a sophomore at Wellesley College majoring in English. She has never felt a strong connection to the typical Wellesley experience because of her unusual first year; she made friends but lost contact because of the blocking system or because she moved off campus during the spring semester. Though she enjoyed the time she spent taking classes from home, she doesn’t feel settled in the campus community. She feels isolated in her experience, and wishes she could connect with other students in her year who feel disconnected from campus because of the unusual circumstances of their first year.
For our final design, we wanted something minimalistic and trendy, to appeal to the age group we are targeting (college students). Along this theme, we used sans serif typography for that clean, modern look. Also, since we allow picture sharing on this app, we wanted to keep everything else relatively simple so as not to overwhelm the page. We chose to keep the main colors very basic (black, white, and cream). For our accent color, we chose a forest green shade – due to the reflection of gratitude we hope users of the app can experience, as well as its inherent connection to the outdoors and nature, we wanted a color that was soothing and calm.