Discover, Define, Design and Deliver

In the wake of numerous music, television, bookstores and other subscription service outlets in addition to the cut-throat competition for the market, here comes an idea to consolidate it all into one single platform for the Ugandan market.

Goals

Uganda, being a country that was and is still migrating and adapting to online platforms, the platform was not to feel alien but rather be an attractive and intuitive one to comfortably compete with other established brands but most importantly provide a better situated local experience.

Being a new digital brand, the perfect spot was to create a look that was distinct but not unfamiliar to the eye. Using Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo and Figma, this involved designing a new logo, defining the brand's typography, colour, designing sample icons and artwork for the project. Immersive media consumption experience with little-to-no colour distractions!

Mapping out userflows outlining the steps that a user would go through as they navigate through the Rectangol platform, from discovering content to starting and controlling playback. The userflow was created in FigJam by mapping out the user's journey through the platform, considering factors such as how they would browse and search for content, how they would select and start playback, and how they would access and use features such as the playback controls and settings. Through the userflow, I was able to identify potential pain points or areas for improvement in the user experience.

This was crucial in planning and conceptualising the layout and structure of the platform's user interface. These were created using Figma and they included from rough sketches, high-fidelity wireframes of the menu navigation, content browsing pages, and video player pages. These wireframes were used as a starting point for further design iterations and user testing, with the goal of creating an intuitive and seamless viewing experience for Rectangol users. Through this wireframing process, I was able to identify and address potential usability issues and ensure that the final product was easy to use and navigate.

This played a crucial role in creating a cohesive and consistent user experience across Rectangol. Rectangol's design system included the color palette, typographic scale, icons which were used to create a cohesive and unified look and feel for the platform, guidelines for layout, spacing, and other visual elements, as well as standards for user interface components such as buttons and forms. By establishing a design system, I was able to ensure that the user interface was consistent and easy to use for users, regardless of which pages or features they were interacting with. This helped to create a cohesive and seamless user experience across the platform.

This involved creation of a working model or simulation of the product, which allows testing and refinement the user experience. Interactive digital mockups were created for Rectangol and were used to test and validate the design concepts and user flows, and to identify any potential problems or challenges in the user experience. Through the prototyping process, I was able to iterate on the design and create a user-friendly and intuitive interface for Rectangol. Prototyping allowed us test and make design refinements in a low-risk and cost-effective manner, ensuring that the final product would be of the highest quality standards.

Rectangol was quite a challenging and rewarding project that allowed me to create a user-friendly and intuitive interface for the platform in additon to expanding my design and research process. A key lesson from this project was the value of a well-defined design system and how time saving it can be. By establishing clear guidelines and standards for the visual and interactive elements of the platform, a cohesive and consistent user experience was created across the platform.

Next steps

Although the project was prematurely halted due majorly due to financial constraints but If it were to continue, I would explore the following:

• Conduct usability testing on mobile to understand product experience on intended platform.
• Explore additional features like a free ad-based access experience.
• Expand on the media playback functionality and creation of more interactive components.

Overall, the Rectangol project demonstrated the importance of a user-centered design approach, in which the needs and preferences of the users are a top priority. By constantly seeking and incorporating user feedback, a high-quality product can always be created.