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I believe users who use weather information are struggling with over complete weather data and inaccurate information. In addition, these users are finding it a challenge to customize what they want in a weather app so that they can spend more time enjoying their sport or hobby.  

Some similar app that users find themselves using and our direct competition, are apps like Windy.App, Chime: NOAA Weather and Weather Channel

Business Requirements 

• Identified business goals, target the right users and outlined requirements for development 

• User Surveys 

• Many different users have been asked to take a survey using Google Forms. The questions pertain to users experience with current weather apps that they are using and the structing of how often they are looking at their app. In addition, users have been asked what would make the apps they are using have a better experience. 

Research Goals 

• Understand what specific needs and wants users are using weather applications for.

• Identify what apps users are currently using and what pain points they are finding using those apps.

• Understand how long users intend to use weather apps and what is the true accrued time they spend in the app

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Attempting to create a user-centered design, it was imperative that before I began designing, I would need to find the pain points, problems, and features that users did or did not like. This data was gathered through survey testing with a script that was designed to push surveys to think about their idea weather app. The survey lasted 15-30 minutes with open ended questions. Through Affinity Mapping I was able to arrive on an idea of what my users needs.

Diving deeper into what kind of user would use an app like Element, I began interview and creating User Personas.

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The initial screen design process was facilitated by thorough prior research, incorporating personas, journeys, and a sitemap. The creation of the first user flows aligned with high-level MVP goals, with task prioritization. Time management utilized pen and paper sketching in the early wireframing stages, resulting in detailed step-by-step screen designs for clarity.

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The first drawn concepts of ELEMENT were mainly created to portray the features of the app. How users will access settings and the features and how Element will look all began at this stage. 

Using Figma, I designed my first sketches into low-fidelity wireframes. An interactive prototype was created from the mid-fidelity wireframes.

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With the Mid Fidelity design all flushed out with interactive points. The next step was to test the prototype for function and refining. The mid Fidelity Prototype was intentionally left in black and white so test would focus on the navigation and experience. 

From the feed back I was able to construct a refined version of the prototype using car sorting and analysis. With the update information I was able to update the design even further. 

In

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Gaining insight form the testing session, It was time to move over to the first High Fidelity design for Element. The design incorporated the feedback from testers and updated features that were missing from the original design. In addition, The complex onboarding process was removed to streamline the design for easier usability.

When asking colleagues to test my prototype, a few concerns arose and design had to be editing.

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Taking in all the elements and data gather from multiple iterations and designs with feedback from user testers and colleagues, the High Fidelity Prototype of ELEMENT offers users what they need in a weather application with the customization to be able to access all data the user will need. 

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A new hypothesis that has developed through the design of Element as come to light in the goal of what Element is designed to be. Originally, the main goal was to offer user the customizability to add or take away elements from the homepage in order to have everything that the user need on the main page there. The issue of this hypothesis is that there is a large learning curve for user to be able to understand that with a long onboarding process. 

My new hypothesis is that having elements separate will allow users to keep things organized and easy navigation and organized windows will be faster at providing users data than having everything on the homepage. This would need further testing by comparing the two ideologies. 

Next steps would be a finalize round of testing and then a refinement of the design before sending to engineering. 

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1. Have you ever given feedback on someone else’s designs before? Have you received feedback on your own design?

2. How would your teammates describe you professionally?

3. Tell me about a difficult project where you overcame a challenge.

4. Think of a question you could ask the interviewer. For instance, this could be something about their organization’s culture, flow, or a more specific question about a product .