While taking a class course on how the process of digital design or web design works. I have learned that somethings are constantly changing. Take Google for example, they want to keep themselves updated to represent the times and situations that we live in every day. To help out with our living styles and situations; we are given by them (the company) the best tools to use on a daily basis. As for this project, I was assigned to look at what could be done to change the look and or feel of what a typical email has. Or to find something that could be changed from a bug that may not have been seen or fixed yet.
The Research
After much class discussion and doing my research of googles email system (or G-mail for short), I was able to find an idea of what could be done. With everything there, that google has to offer the user, I found that the desktop version has a lot of things built in and shown off to the side to share photos, files, and comments as well as documents. It has a way to create tasks and calendar events as well as to create and keep notes. I felt that this had just about everything. Then I looked at the mobile side of things. This is where I found that there are very big differences between the two. First, the mobile version of Gmail was made just to store, or to send and file emails and data sent by the emails. But then the emails do not link up to the same things that the desktop version has, instead it sends you directly to the other apps made specifically for calendar events, note taking, or creating tasks on your phone. These two images below helped me gather the ideas of what I could do for the changes in g-mail.
These Images helped me put together ideas of what i could do to make changes to the Gmail.
The Ideal Situation
The problem that I wanted to solve for this Gmail was to combine the email with the google calendar, google tasks, and google note apps. I also wanted to add in a way to create a sequence of events that can tie into all three of those. Since the platform and the creation of google is there, I did not need to start from scratch to recreate this idea. Therefore, I took what they had and copied the mobile version of it and made a wireframe out of it. then I put it into colors which was easy to do.
The Challenges
The things I faced this time was how to really sell it as a new version or idea of the product that is already there. Perhaps Google may have fixed this issue by now or has made a way to do what I have thought of. However, it was after the hurdle of what to make or recreate, I was able to go to work by following the processes and create the prototype. In the images below, these are the examples that I recreated so that the ideas in the wireframes can go together.
This next image help with the way things could look and be simplified without the use of the screens that leave the area or g-mail app that could cause frustration. The reason for this look is to help combine what is on the desktop and make it look as though it was already there for the mobile app version. This will make it easier and more accessible for the user rather than trying to make the effort into flipping between apps and doing the event manually. It is a shame that google did not think to create an automatic event or link chain. Normally you would have to flip between apps on your mobile device to add or make changes to a task, a schedule, or a note. But why not do all three things from an email that you get? Therefore, I am creating this version of Gmail to see if this situation could be solved.
The Prototype
In my prototype I created a way that can be able to solve this by simply touching or clicking on the date or time that google will already have recognized and underlined. This is all you need to start the chain reaction to the interaction of all three. Then you can go to the other apps manually and double check to see if they are there and listed since they were created straight from your received email. This is the idea that I created for this project in detail. The finishing touches did not take long, because the background did not need a lot of colors. it was just the way I had reimagined this to see how it will work in my mind. Here are just a few of many pictures of the adobe XD work that I put together in the prototype.
Conclusion
In conclusion of what I have learned from this course of wireframing and prototyping. This project was to help me, and others understand that it is possible to find things that could be corrected and make your own version of it as to either simplifying things, or make it user friendly, or to solve a bug or issue that the app has. This can be applied to all sorts of other things as well in many ways. If there is a will and a way to do so, there is always a solution to something in the end. Even if those who created the product or website might have thought of everything themselves. This project is not the official design but a solution that google could take into consideration. I would like to present to you now the final prototype for this project. https://xd.adobe.com/view/472e1a36-0d38-47aa-6a35-043530e3c1e1-311f/?fullscreen
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