Through my professional project I intend to create a concept for an iPhone application & supporting website. The idea is to create a vehicle which enables people to raise money for a charity of their choice. It’s essentially a tool which brings the “sponsored run” method of raising money into the present day. The iPhone application is a pedometer which the user downloads to their mobile phone & activates when they go running, then uploads the distance from their phone on to the website where their sponsors can track their progress & make donations. In my opinion, there is a potentially huge audience for this application as iPhone owners are currently the biggest growing market in the mobile phone industry, & the iPhone application business is also phenomenally successful (93% of iPhone users have downloaded an application according to a compete.com survey). Contributing to charity is currently at the forefront of people’s minds following the huge media coverage of the Haiti earthquake. Also, Spring / Summer is the time of year when individuals feel the need to shake off the effects of winter, become more active & get into shape. All of these things will contribute towards my design being commercially viable.
As I am not technically able enough to code an iPhone application I will develop it as a concept, designing the appearance of it but not actually developing it. I will then design & build the website using fake data from “users” to create the pages where sponsors can track their progress. These pages will comprise of beautifully designed infographics displaying information such as distance run, money raised, amount donated so far, for each individual “user” & then as a whole for all “users”. I will present this website for assessment, alongside an image / set of images illustrating the appearance of the iPhone application & a short description of how it would function.
The reason I am developing something in this area is the Screen Based Communication unit, which I felt was my most successful & satisfying unit to date. This has led me to consider web design as a specialist area for my career & given me a desire to gain as much experience & knowledge in this area as possible. I have become aware of the importance of keeping up to date with trends & technologies as a designer in order to have a sustainable career, & I realize that mobile technology is becoming bigger & more advanced every day. Therefore it is important to have understanding & experience of this area, leading me to wish to develop a concept for an iPhone app. Although the website could work on its own with users entering data manually instead of uploading it, the iPhone provides much more accurate data which in turn encourages the user to run further, as anybody can log on to the site & see their progress. This provides benefits to the charity as they receive increased donations & publicity, & the individual user benefits twofold, improving their physical health due to the increased activity & their mental health by feeling good about making a positive contribution to the world through the simple action of going for an occasional run. I feel that my project will consolidate all of these things, & hope that this will make me appealing to potential employers at the end of year show.
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