Many apps start as a presentation for a client or investors.
Presentations are also important for general meetings and for explaining the thought process behind a design or software for an application.
We'll practice presenting the midterm using a slide deck, or series of slides.
We'll look at a few of the essential components for creating an application for an audience.
We don't need our application to be profitable so we're going to ignore the business model components and focus on the design, user interaction and general idea.
As my example I will be using an app for MEA students to keep track of their major progress.
One liner
This is sometimes referred to as the elevator pitch. It's useful to be able to capture your idea in one sentence. It makes it easy for people who will hear lots of pitches to remember exactly what your idea consists of.
My web app will help MEA majors at BMCC keep track of the courses they need to take in order to graduate.
Audience
MEA Majors at BMCC
Your audience is the people who will be using the app.
For my app, the audience is MEA majors.
Problem
One strategy to make your idea clear is to identify a problem and show how your application fixes it.
The problem might be something that people want that isn't available.
Or a way to connect people that doesn't already exist.
The problem my application addresses is MEA Majors losing the sheet of paper that tracks the major progress.
It's very easy to lose a sheet of paper. One solution is to replace it with a web application that is always available.
Solution
How does your idea fix the problem presented in the previous slide?
This slide describes how your idea fits the need identified by the problem for the audience introduced at the beginning.
My solution: a web application tracking student majors courses will make it impossible to lose and make it easily accessible for students when they are picking classes or being advised because it can be brought up on the computer along with registration software.
Features
This is a chance to list any other features that may enhance the experience of the application that are not necessary to it's core functionality.
For my app, some features might include:
- Password reset
- Login via Google account
- Lists of alternative classes
- Links to class descriptions
Design mockup
A simple mockup of the web application home screen creates a visual for a viewer to imagine using the app and can help connect the idea and features to a concrete image.
This can be a screen shot of the prototype site.
UI flow chart
A flow chart helps a viewer understand the experience of a user with the application.
A flow chart is used to map each interaction between the user and the application starting with creating an account.
A flow chart can help the designer see the whole process before committing anything to code.
