This is my first project ever.

The Mandala-making app was designed for Coursera! I chose this project because I enjoy drawing mandalas, and the pictures in mockups were hand-drawn by me. The Mandala-making app was designed to help users create unique and perfectly geometric mandalas like mine. The app targets individuals passionate about art and creativity.

My role was conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, and iterating on designs.

The problem

Some people struggle to free their creativity and create art due to a busy schedule and a lack of artistic skills.

My goal

To create an app that doesn’t require special art skills, tools, and materials and is easy to use for people of different ages.

User research: summary

I conducted interview research to understand the users for whom I’m designing the app. The primary target group of potential users consists of individuals who are passionate about art and are actively seeking ways to express their creativity.

Before conducting the research, I held a bias regarding the primary user group.

However, the findings helped me realize that both male and female users could be interested in the app. The main challenges that users aim to address include limited design options, complex user interface, and sharing their artwork with a community of fellow enthusiasts.

Customer persona

Kevin is a busy young professional who needs new ways to express his creativity because it helps him in finding a balance between his work and personal life.

User journey map

Through Kevin's user journey mapping, it became evident that the Mandala-making app would greatly benefit users in their mandala creation process.

Wireframes

Creating wireframes I focused on the main flow which was to create, download, and share mandalas. I prioritized simple design with all the main functions users might need to use, and which is easy to navigate.

Usability study: findings

1. Users want a more colorful interface

2. Users want some buttons to be named

3. Users think some buttons should be  changed to more intuitive buttons

4. The “add” button is not very visible

5. Users want a confirmation button when they delete a mandala

High-fidelity prototype

The final high-fidelity prototype shows smoother user flows for creating and editing mandalas. It’s also met user needs for saving and sharing mandalas.

View the Mandala-making high-fidelity prototype.

Takeaways

While designing the Mandala-making app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are just the beginning of the process and not always the best possible decisions. Usability studies and peer feedback helped me adjust the design to make the app smoother to use.

Thank You!