Nota Nicky Hope Brief 8 Design Boards
Product Overview A notes and to-do list app designed to express my disdain at the lack of excitement in the productivity apps that currently exist, and add a new sense of visual vibrancy and colour to my portfolio.
Research Many of the pre-existing productivity apps that are available struggle to find a good balance on the flexbility/usability trade-off, and are either highly usable but lacking in features or packed with features but finnicky to use (see right). The point of Nota was to get this tradeoff right, but also add visual excitement and ‘movement’ to an otherwise static and overwhlemingly bland visual world.
Visual Strategy Colour gradients, drop shadows and cards/tiles are the three most influential visual trends in recent user interface design - they all work together to create a sense of material and realness, and the injection of colour helps to add vibrancy and excitement to otherwise stark or bland elements. The point of this brief was to be colourful, and so gradients are used to great effect for vibrancy and to add hierarchy.
Visual Strategy Clear top titles remind the user where they are at all times, and the choice between List and Grid views is helpful for varying screens sizes, personal preferences and the type of information being displayed. Gelion, a neo-grotesque, was chosen for its incredible legibility and contemporary look.
User Feedback and Success In user feedback sessions, 85% of those surveyed (47 people) said the visual design of Nota would encourage them to more regularly use it over the other task/notes apps on the market. Users praised its use of colour, and said it actually made them more likely to want to complete the task becuase it incited an active emotion, rather than the more muted aesthetic of other apps which they said only reinforced their unwillingness to complete the tasks.