2018
Calendar app &
Website
Job Info
Client – Professur Andrea Deplazes, ETH Zürich
Duration – 6 Weeks
Roles
Concept
UX Design
UI Design
Grafic Design
Project Management
Support
Collaboration Partners / Teammates
Graphic Design – Thomas Berger
Development – fivelines.ch
We were asked to pitch a blog. We proposed a calendar app instead – based on a critical analysis of the design brief and merciless design thinking process. The client’s publication cycle has been accelerated to twice a week, up from 6 months. The website is the first step of an ongoing digitalisation process at the chair of architecture and construction.
Process
1. Rapid Prototyping Releasing
The main challenge of this project was a time constraint: We were requested to release a first version of the website 4 weeks after our introduction. We had to develop and pitch a concept and make sure we would secure development capabilities to deliver on time. We still invested the necessary amount of time to identify the gaps within the feature requirements and propose a more stringent and UX oriented approach which awarded us the contract.
– Usability research of available CMS to shorten the publication process
– Technical difficulty: deploying cutting-edge technology on university infrastructure
2. Mobile and Student First
The chair’s main task is to give guidance to architect freshmen by providing a tight schedule of assignments and lectures, which is subject to last-minute modifications. We proposed the initial version of the website to be reduced to a mobile-first calendar web application. This decision was based on the preference of smartphone sessions as seen in analytics data of websites at the department of architecture.
– Included iCal service to enable operating system level integration
– Responsive design: the client’s projection of his publishing activity is as variable as display size
iCal subscription for more comfort
3. Online publishing for a university chair
In its second phase, the website got extended to a full content publishing website, the calendar remaining a central but less prominent feature. Furthermore, calendar events and articles had to be cross-referenced to allow a more intuitive and immersive experience.
Our design would allow integrating all kinds of rich architectural contents such as images, slideshows, videos and 3d models along the text and downloadable material.
– translated the categorisation of the legacy website into an custom expandable tagging system
– introduced user experience research and usability surveys within the chair and the pupils
Deplazes 1. Gridlayout Landing Page
Deplazes 2. Layout with Download Buttons
Deplazes 3. Layout with Tutorial
Deplazes 4. Layout Example with Slideshow