Challenge Summary
Welcome to "ACE - Windows 8 Mobile Design Concepts Challenge". The purpose of this challenge is to design the look and feel for our future "Activities" Windows 8 mobile application (created for mobile and tablet). We are looking for your UI/UX expertise to provide design concepts and click-path solutions based on the provided requirements.
Note: In this challenge we are focused on designing applications using Windows 8! Jump in and research Windows 8 design patterns now!
Round 1
01. Activities dashboard screen
02. Create new activities screen
03. Manage activities screen
04. Activities timeline screen
- Any additional screens for strengthen your concepts.
- For the Checkpoint Review please provide what you can of the requested screens for a client design review. The more you submit the more feedback we can provide!
Round 2
01. Activities dashboard screen
02. Create new activities screen
03. Manage activities screen
04. Activities timeline screen
05. Assign activities screen
06. View assigned activities from other user screen
- Any additional screens for strengthen your concepts.
- Mobile version of the screens would be helpful for us to see the potential in where this design can go in the future and show your thinking for Responsive Design
The goal of this challenge is to create cool user interface design concepts for our client mobile application that will run on both smartphones and tablets. This application will be used by several different types of users to view and manage their activities. We are looking for the [topcoder] design community to help us planning our new "user experience" (UX) for the ACE “Activities” application.
We know this is a different design challenge for many of you because of the Windows 8 design focus, so we are providing a good number of branding guidelines, best practices and inspiration examples in this Challenge – plus please discuss with us and your community to think through how to meet the goals we have outlined here! If you have questions, let us know! We're here to help!
Design Concept Goals
- How should this application look as a Windows 8 tablet experience?
- Suggest to us how user can interact/user the application (flow and navigation).
- What should the priority features be?
- How fast user can find information?
- Research Windows 8 Interface Design!
- Think simple but effective solutions! Have fun creating this - let us know how you think it should work!
User Story / Design Requirements
1. User will install/download the application from application store.
2. User will open the application, they will be able to see their "activities" and also can create and manage “Activities” - our ideas probably to create something similar like "ToDo list", etc...
3. Once the user creates Activities, they can assign it to a person with a variety of context so they know what needs to get done and know when.
4. User should be able to take a look at activities which have been assigned from some other user.
5. Show activities in a timeline. Show dependencies between activities.
6. Activity attributes include: category, start date, end date, status, progress (e.g. % complete), overdue, attachments, time allocated, etc.
7. More feature ideas (just a sampling - we want you to come up with more sharp concept and ideas) :
-- Example feature: Would want to highlight if a deadline is missed.
-- Example feature: Prioritization
-- Example feature: On schedule vs. on target?
-- Example feature: Allocated vs. Remaining vs. Complete
8. Any screens that can strengthen your concept for our application.....We want more ideas for you! Really think through what makes a great design and user experience for this application!
Branding Guidelines
- Follow Microsoft Windows 8 Design guide (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh781237.aspx)
- Win8_UXG_GA.pdf (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30704)
- Touch interactions for Windows guide (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465415.aspx)
- Create it for a tablet device : 1080 x 1920 px (landscape only)
Look through these Best Practice guidelines and Inspiration of good Win8 tablet design:
-- Best Practices UX Design Win8 (http://devproconnections.com/windows-8-development/best-practices-ux-design-windows-8-apps)
-- Windows 8 Modern UI Design Concepts (http://www.slideshare.net/JakeTaylor1/windows-8-modern-ui-design-concepts)
-- Point of Sale Line of Business App Design Inspiration: (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35841)
-- Windows 8 Line of Business App Design Revisited (video): (http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Visual-Studio-Toolbox/Designing-Windows-8-Line-of-Business-Apps-Revisited)
-- Inspiring Windows 8 App Designs: ( http://thenextweb.com/dd/2012/11/10/25-inspiring-windows-8-app-designs/)
IMPORTANT:
- Keep things consistent. This means all graphic styles should work together.
- All of the graphics should have a similar feel and general aesthetic appearance
Target Audience
- Sales person - Activities may be phone calls, actions to close a deal
- Project team member - Activities may be tasks on a project, stories, etc.
- Case Worker - Activities may be some task around working on a help-desk ticket.
- Other - similar to above, there would be other types of common business users. Each user may have their own nuanced features when using the app.
Judging Criteria
- How well you plan the user experience and capture your ideas visually
- Cleanliness of your graphics and design
- Your design should possible to build and make sense as a tablet application
Submission & Source Files
Preview Image
Please create your preview image as one (1) 1024x1024px JPG or PNG file in RGB color mode at 72dpi and place a screenshot of your submission within it.
Submission File
Submit JPG/PNG for your submission files.
Source Files
All original source files of the submitted design. Files should be created in Adobe Photoshop or illustrator and saved as layered PSD / AI file.
Final Fixes
As part of the final fixes phase you may be asked to modify your graphics (sizes or colors) or modify overall colors. We may ask you to update your design or graphics based on checkpoint feedback.
Final Deliverables
- Layered PSD files created in Adobe Photoshop or similar
- AI files created in Adobe Illustrator or similar
Please read the challenge specification carefully and watch the forums for any questions or feedback concerning this challenge. It is important that you monitor any updates provided by the client or Studio Admins in the forums. Please post any questions you might have for the client in the forums.