Major Project 1 - Final Compilation

In this task, we are required to form groups of four members, with each group developing a project proposal that introduces an innovative concept with social, cultural, or economic value. Through research on current technology and design trends, we will identify a problem, define objectives, and conduct user research to gain insights. The findings will help shape a solution that addresses a gap in our field of specialization, which is UI/UX.

Project Planning:
- Finalize project title and group name.
- Create a timeline and project development plan.
Problem Identification & Research:
- Define the problem or issue.
- State project aim and objectives.
- Identify target users.
Develop “How Might We” (HMW) Statement.
User Research & Empathy:
- Prepare user interview guide/questions.
- Each team member must interview at least three targeted users (with proof of individual work).
- Organize and analyze interview data using an Affinity Diagram to identify user insights.

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

During Week 1's lecture session, I grouped with Yi Xun , Chin Ting, and Ming En, and we were labeled as Group 4. Later, after deciding on our topic, we created our group name, Nom Nom Squad.

My group members and I brainstormed several topics, ensuring that each of us contributed at least one idea to distribute the workload fairly. We finalized two ideas: a Food Guide app and a Smart Parking app. After discussion, we decided to proceed with the Food Guide app. To refine our focus, we narrowed our scope to Malaysian Local Food Guide for this module, Major Project 1.

Although existing apps like Google Maps for food discovery and RedNote for social food-sharing exist, we found that they are not tailored specifically for discovering authentic Malaysian local cuisine. These platforms contain a wide variety of content, making it difficult for both tourists and locals to find specialty dishes from each state unless they search using exact keywords for a specific cuisine or restaurant name.

To address this issue, our group proposed an app called "MakanBuddy", designed specifically for food lovers seeking authentic local dishes and lesser-known food spots. After consulting with our lecturer, Ms. Wong, we began conducting research and analysis to guide our proposal development. Our goal is to ensure that MakanBuddy enhances the user experience, simplifies the discovery of authentic Malaysian cuisine, and provides personalized recommendations with easy navigation for both locals and international tourists.

USER RESEARCH - USER INTERVIEWS

Each group member was required to interview three users, resulting in a total of 12 interviewees. We interviewed 8 locals and 4 internationals, all of whom are young adults and university students which also our target audience.

I interviewed three local users: Angel, Yuk Guan, and Cai Yi. They shared valuable insights and expectations regarding the features they would like to see in our app. Additionally, they provided many useful suggestions to help us develop MakanBuddy into a more user-friendly and practical app for potential users.

User Interview Questions (For Locals & Internationals):

We created two sets of questions, one for locals and one for internationals, since they have different experiences, challenges, and difficulties in finding authentic Malaysian local cuisine. This approach allowed us to ask more detailed questions and gather valuable insights from our interviewees.

My User Interviews:

Google Drink Link:
My User Interviews' Transcript (Google Doc)
My User Interviews' Voice Recordings

Group's User Interviews:

After completing the data collection process, all group members uploaded their collected raw data into FigJam, a collaborative online tool designed for visual brainstorming. To analyze the data effectively, we created two affinity diagrams on the FigJam board—one for organizing and categorizing the raw data and another for synthesizing the information into key user insights. This process helped us identify patterns in the data, allowing us to better understand user preferences, needs, and expectations. Through this, we were able to summarize the most relevant findings, which will guide the development of our MakanBuddy app.

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the two affinity diagrams. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

TASK 2 - DESIGN PROPOSITION

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In this task, we will refine our user research by further developing user insights and analyzing collected data. Based on these findings, we will create User Personas to represent different target users and develop a User Journey Map to visualize their experiences, challenges, and interactions with our proposed MakanBuddy app.

Empathize:
- Further develop and refine user insights based on the collected interview data.
- Analyze user feedback to better understand their needs, preferences, and pain points.
Define:

Create detailed User Personas based on user research data to represent different target users.
Develop a User Journey Map to illustrate the steps, experiences, and challenges users faced.

USER PERSONAS & USER JOURNEY MAP

We created the User Personas and User Journey Maps based on the data collected from our interviews. Every group member actively participated in the process, and we divided the tasks to ensure efficiency.

I was in charge of developing the international user persona, Li Shi Ting, where I primarily focused on the user description, bio, and quotes while also contributing briefly to other sections such as pain points and characteristics. After receiving feedback from our supervisor, Ms. Wong, my group members helped refine and improve the persona.

Additionally, I was responsible for creating the User Journey Map for the local user, Fiona, analyzing her behaviours, pain points, and motivations to better understand her experience when searching for authentic Malaysian cuisine.

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the User Personas & User Journey Map. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

TASK 3 - CONCEPT PRESENTATION

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For this task, we will generate and refine ideas for our MakanBuddy app through brainstorming, storyboarding, and sketches. We will develop Information Architecture, User Flow, and a Design Guideline to ensure a seamless user experience. Each member will also create an individual low-fidelity prototype, and the team will present our progress on 19 March 2025, with the final project submission due on 25 March 2025.

IDEATE:
- Brainstorm ideas using storyboarding, sketches, and other visualization methods. (Group Work)
- Gather design inspiration from various design resources and websites to refine ideation. (Group Work)
- Develop Information Architecture using methods like Card Sorting to structure the proposed solution. (Group Work)
- Create a User Flow/Workflow Diagram to map out the user’s journey and interactions. (Group Work)
DESIGN:
- Establish a Design Guideline that includes color scheme, typography, and UI components, ensuring alignment with the project theme and user personas. (Individual or Group Work)
- Develop an initial low-fidelity (Lo-Fi) prototype, either as sketches or wireframes. (Individual Work)
PRESENTATION & SUBMISSION:
- Group Presentation (10%) – On-site presentation on 19 March 2025. (Group Work)
- Final Submission – Completed project submission by 25 March 2025 (Online). (Group Work)

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE MAP

Card Sorting:

Our group utilized the Card Sorting method to organize and structure the content of our MakanBuddy app. We conducted this activity using the UXtweak platform, where we invited three users to participate. This process helped us gain insights into how users naturally categorize information, ensuring a more intuitive navigation experience for our app. The feedback from the participants provided valuable input on refining our Information Architecture, making it more user-friendly and efficient.

I was responsible for analyzing the Card Sorting results and managing the entire activity. My tasks included summarizing the findings, organizing them into a detailed document, and creating a comparison table to highlight key patterns and differences in user categorization.

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the Card Sorting Analysis. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

Google Drink Link:

Card Sorting Results (Google Doc)
Card Sorting Comparison Table (Google Sheets)

Information Architecture Map:

At this stage, our group began detailing the features of the MakanBuddy app and exploring additional potential functionalities. We discussed and decided on the key features based on user recommendations gathered from our previous user research, including User Interviews and the Card Sorting activity. This helped us better categorize the features to ensure a logical and seamless user flow within the app, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the Information Architecture Map. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

USER FLOW CHART

The User Flow Chart was developed based on our previous research data, including insights from user interviews and the Card Sorting activity. Our group collaborated to structure the flow logically, ensuring a smooth and intuitive user experience. Through discussions, we refined the navigation process to align with user expectations and enhance overall usability.

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the User Flow Chart. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

DESIGN GUIDELINES & SKETCHES

We developed a comprehensive Design Guideline for the MakanBuddy app to ensure a consistent, cohesive, and user-friendly interface. These guidelines cover essential design elements, including colour schemes, typography, icon sets, and the app icon design. By establishing these visual standards, we aim to create a seamless and aesthetically appealing user experience that aligns with the app’s theme and enhances usability.

Design Guidelines:

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the Design Guidelines. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

Sketches (Individual):

As requested, each of our group members created their own sketches for the initial low-fidelity (lo-fi) prototype of the MakanBuddy app. These sketches served as the foundation for our design, allowing us to explore different layout ideas and user interface structures. By individually contributing our concepts, we were able to compare, discuss, and refine the best design elements to ensure a clear and user-friendly app interface.

My Sketches:

Sketches (all members):

Group's FigJam Board: FigJam Link

Here is a screenshot of our FigJam Board for the Sketches. Please click the FigJam link above to view the content more clearly.

Here is our overall progress for Task 3, as shown in the PDF file below.

FINAL PRESENTATION

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The final presentation is a crucial evaluation where each group presents a concise yet comprehensive overview of their Task 1 to Task 3 progress. The presentation will be assessed by multiple UI/UX supervisors, and scores will be averaged. Groups must arrive early, follow time limits, and provide relevant links for additional details.

Presentation Details:

Each student will be assigned a time slot for their presentation.
All UI/UX Supervisors will evaluate all groups using a standardized assessment sheet.
Final scores will be averaged from the evaluations of four supervisors.

Presentation Format:

Total time slot: 20 minutes per group
- 12 minutes for the presentation
- 8 minutes for Q&A
The presentation should provide a high-level overview of Task 1 to Task 3.
Include links to detailed information in the presentation slides.
Add a slide with all group members’ ePortfolio links.

Important Guidelines:

Marks are allocated for the presentation.
Arrive one hour early before your assigned time slot.
If a group is late, the next group will proceed instead.

Week 7 Presentation (on-site):

On Week 7, after our presentation and during the Q&A session, the lecturers advised us to refine MakanBuddy's market positioning. Mr. Razif raised concerns about user retention, suggesting we explore Duolingo’s engagement strategies. Realizing we hadn't clearly highlighted our unique selling points, we added new pages to our final submission and presentation slides to clarify our app’s uniqueness and address feedback from the Q&A session.

Below is the PDF file containing the additional pages in our final submission slides.

Final Revision (after gathering feedback from all 4 lecturers):

APPENDICES

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Group's FigJam Board:

FigJam Link

Group's Full Report (Task 1 to Task 3):

Canva Link

Group's Presentation Slides:

Canva Link

FEEDBACK

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Week 1:

Ms. Wong asked us to propose our initial preliminary ideas for this module, where we finalized and narrowed down our options to two ideas: a Food Reviews & Guide app and a Smart Parking app. After presenting both ideas to her, she advised us to avoid the Smart Parking app, as many other groups had already proposed similar concepts, and the scope was too broad. She mentioned that the Food Reviews & Guide app was a slightly better choice, but she encouraged us to clearly define its strengths and uniqueness compared to existing platforms like Google Maps or other social media apps. To refine our idea further, she recommended that we conduct additional research and discuss our approach in more depth.

Week 2:

Ms. Wong advised us to narrow down our Food Guide app by focusing on a single concept. After further discussion, we decided to specialize in state-specialty cuisines, refining our app’s scope to Malaysian authentic local food, primarily promoting traditional dishes from each state. Once we finalized this idea, Ms. Wong approved it and instructed us to proceed with user research, including interviews and other relevant methods. She also reminded us to ensure that our interviewees align with our target audience to gather meaningful insights.

Week 3:

Ms. Wong approved our user interview questions after we presented two sets of interview questions: 10 questions for local interviewees and 10 questions for international interviewees. We also explained our reasoning for having two sets of questions, as these two groups face different challenges and approaches when discovering local food. She then instructed us to proceed with the user interviews, after which we could work on the interview transcripts and affinity diagrams to compile and analyze the information gathered from the 12 interviewees. Additionally, she recommended synthesizing the data after collecting all responses to facilitate better comparison and identification of common insights.

Week 4:

Ms. Wong asked us to include the raw data input for the user interview answers, before come to the synthesis data. For the user personas, we have only included basic information about the users. Ms. Wong suggested that we add a section that delves deeper into the users' habits, preferences, and needs to enhance our understanding of them. Also, the user journey map need to be revised too. The map contains five stages: Exploration, Consideration, Onboarding, Engagement, and Loyalty. While the content for the last three stages is acceptable, however, the first two stages are incorrectly written. These stages should reflect the user before using the MakanBuddy app, not describe users who are already using the app.

Week 5:

In Week 5, Dr. Wong suggests that we should move the user personas to FigJam for better visualization and organization. Additionally, our ppt animations should be removed to maintain a cleaner and more professional presentation. For the slides, we should use pickup point to clearly present the content. To enhance clarity, each user persona should be presented on a separate slide. Furthermore, the summary of interviewee insights should be highlighted to emphasize key findings. Our user journey map need to modify specifically by changing "Awareness" to "Exploration" to better reflect user actions before using the app. Lastly, user habits should be incorporated into the user persona to provide a more comprehensive understanding of user behaviour.

Week 6:

Ms. Wong gave us feedback mainly on our User Flow Chart and Presentation Slide. First, she mentioned that the User Flow Chart needs some changes. When users log in, they should go to the Home Page first instead of other pages. Other than that, our User Flow Chart is complete, so no further changes are needed. For the Presentation Slide, she suggested removing the excessive details. We don’t need to present everything, like the Interview Questions and Interview Data Summary. Instead, we should focus on the key points to make our presentation clear and concise.

Week 7:

All the lecturers advised us to refine the market positioning of our MakanBuddy app. Mr. Shamsul pointed out that similar functions could be achieved through Facebook groups and other platforms, while Mr. Razif raised concerns about user retention, questioning how we could keep users engaged. He suggested looking at Duolingo, a popular language-learning app, to understand how it successfully attracts and retains users. Our group realized that we had not clearly highlighted our app's unique selling points, making them less understandable. To address this, we incorporated new pages in our final submission and presentation slides to clarify our app’s uniqueness. We also responded to the lecturers' feedback and Q&A session questions by providing well-structured answers to ensure our concept was more compelling and well-defined.

REFLECTION

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Throughout Major Project 1, from Task 1 to Task 3, I have gained valuable experience in conducting user research, analyzing data and developing a user-centered design solution. This project has strengthened my skills in problem-solving, teamwork and UI/UX design, allowing me to better understand the importance of user insights in creating a functional and intuitive application.

I am grateful to my group members and our leader for their cooperation, dedication and sense of responsibility throughout this project. Their commitment to collaboration and open communication made our workflow smooth and efficient, ensuring we met deadlines and produced high-quality work.

I would also like to thank our supervisor, Ms. Wong, for her valuable guidance and constructive feedback. Her insights helped us refine our ideas, improve our designs and strengthen our research approach. This project has been a challenging yet rewarding experience and I look forward to applying what I have learned to future projects.

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Siang Huey Yee (0369549)