Gift from afar
One of my recent projects for the Bespoke Design course at the university is called "Gift from Afar". The aim of this project was to design a digital platform that enables people who are living far away from their loved ones to send personalized gifts that reflect the personality, interests, and needs of the recipient. The project was completed in teams of two.
Problem
Receiving personalized gifts from friends and family is not possible for students studying abroad.
Solution
A digital gift-giving experience combining the user's passion for food and adrenaline. By providing a personalized and exciting gift-giving experience, we hope to bridge the distance between people and bring them closer together.
Research
In the initial weeks of my project, I had the opportunity to meet with my user and develop research questions, set-up, and techniques. Through a semi-structured interview, shadowing, and asking my user to create a collage representing her, I was able to collect valuable information. Using Miro, I organized the data into clusters, which helped me to gain important insights into my user's preferences, behaviors, and needs. This allowed me to create a detailed user portrait that will guide the development of my project. Overall, the research phase was a crucial step in understanding my user and creating a solution that addresses their needs.
Surprise for the User
On Dutch traditional Sinterklass day, I had the opportunity to create a special surprise for one of my users. In keeping with the holiday tradition, I needed to come up with a creative and humorous way to present the gift, along with a poem that reflected the user's personality. After doing some research, I discovered that the user has a passion for photography and a love of food, particularly Nutella. Armed with this knowledge, I was able to craft a personalized present that incorporated these characteristics. It was a fun and rewarding project, and I enjoyed the chance to connect with my user in a unique way.
Design Vision
Design direction: A meaningful real-life imitation of gift-giving
Our goal is to create an experience that replicates the emotions felt when giving and receiving gifts in person, even when users are separated by distance. We want our users to feel the same sense of joy and connection they would with their loved ones. Our aim is to provide a moment of surprise and delight when the user receives a gift, reminding them of the warmth and recognition that comes from being thought of by others. We understand the value of keeping meaningful gifts close, so we'll explore innovative ways to preserve these treasures virtually, whether in a digital keepsake box or on a personalized virtual wall.
Ideation
Prior to ideation, my partner and I collaborated on creating a user persona that would guide us throughout the design process. We generated several How Might We questions and utilized creative techniques such as the worst idea, brainwriting, and dot voting to conduct testing. From there, we brainstormed 40 ideas and narrowed them down to 20 ideas to sketch. Following that, we created paper prototypes and developed three draft concepts each.
Storyboard and video explanation
After coming up with some initial ideas, I decided to create a storyboard to help us visualize and explore the user experience of our gift-giving app. By mapping out the different steps and interactions involved in the app, we were able to refine our design and make sure it would be intuitive and user-friendly. If you're interested in seeing more, We've also created a video explanation that provides a deeper look into the final design. This video will give you a better understanding of the app's features and functionality, and how it can enhance the gift-giving experience for users. Please feel free to take a look and let me know your thoughts!
