OUGD403- How to budget as a new student during Freshers week

Challenges/Problems/Issues

1. Getting out of bed
2. Managing money
3. Getting lost
4. Losing swipe card
5. Losing keys
6. Confidence issues
7. Journey planning
8. General organization
9. Bad weather
10. College building layout
11. Learning/remembering names
12. Public transport
13. Understanding accents
14. Loan complications
15. Course equipment
16. Computer induction
17. E-studio
18. Remembering passwords
19. Food facilities
20. N.U.S card
21. Take library books back on time
22. Fitting in with group
23. Eating properly
24. Big enough bag to fit sketch books ect
25. Housemates
26. Halls rooms/space
27. Alcohol
28. Smoking
29. Neighbor’s/noise
30. Sleep deprivation
31. Stress
32. Running out of toilet roll
33. Washing clothes
34. Visiting home/friends
35. Presenting work in big groups
36. Rail card/bus pass
37. Software management
38. Keeping fit
39. Tv license
40. Council tax
41. Deposit for accommodation
42. Social/work balance
43. Writing skills
44. General health
45. Work load
46. Deadlines
47. Creative block
48. Meeting people from other courses/years
49. Sharing facilities with other years
50. Medical arrangements
51. Remembering to sign in
52. Digital camera
53. Hiring college equipment
54. Professional work
55. Good hairdressers
56. P.A.T testing cables
57. Blogging

As a group we had to think of as many challenges, problems or issues that can occur for students. We chose ten that we thought were most important then passed them on to the next group.

Out of the ten we had to choose three and pass them on.

These are the three we ended up with.

We were asked to re-write them as questions, choose one and put into a pot to randomly select one.

Group question:

How to budget as a new student during Freshers week?

After some discussion,we have decided to design a simple interactive app that allows a student to calculate their budget for the week.

Background/Considerations

Who needs to know?

• New students/first years
• Futre students
• Current students
• Students that live at home or away

What do they need to know?

• Price of tickets for events
• Food necessities 
• Taxis/Public transport
• Material necessities
• N.U.S card

How will you tell them?

• Social media (post advertisement)
• Smart phone App
• Web page
• Business card
• Flyers
• Email alert

Where will they look?

• Freshers pack
• Student halls pack
• Enrolment
• Open days

How will you know its working?

• how many times its Downloaded
• Rate the App
• social media Comments/likes

How will they interact with it?

• Smart phone-App
• Computer-Web page

What is the tone of voice?

• Down to earth
• Experienced
• Light hearted 
• Informal
• Calming
• Reassuring 

Initial ideas

Name Ideas

• Fund your Freshers 
• Freshers Fund
• Fresh Funds
• Fbudget
• Fudget

We decided on the name 'Fudget' for our App. It's a play on words combining 'Freshers' and 'Budget'. We chose this name because it's short, punchy, catchy and light hearted which is what the App is all about.

App Content

• App logo
• Main character
• Home page
• Map/Level
• Information screens
• Budget display

We thought it would be best to assign a role to each member of the group. I am responsible for designing the App logo and Home Page.


Logo Development

Will is in charge of the character design so I asked him to send me the files so I could start to incorporate them into the logo to keep continuity across the App.

Inspiration for the character came from the iconic golden owls in front of the civic hall in millennium square.

Logo Ideas

I sketched a few ideas out by hand to get a rough idea.

We decided to include the pound sign symbol just to make it clear the App is about finances. I've used random colours in the designs just until the other elements have been created. Then we can decide which colours work best as a whole package.

I like this design the best. The diagonal lines draw in your eyes towards the character, pound signs, then the Name.A lot of the Apps I looked at whilst researching didn't display the name in the logo but I think it works well with the illustration. The type is also temporary until the other designs have been finalised.


Home page

The homepage is were the student will enter their budget for the week. Simply enter the budget into the box and click the arrow to go to the next page.

First home page design. 

I think it's too similar to the logo and could do with some dialog to bring the character to life.

Second home page design.

 Having the full bodied character with dialog works well and creates an over all more friendly vibe. Also it suits the general illustrative style and direction the App is going in.

As the development of the map is undergoing I have incorporated some of the elements to keep continuity across the platform.

Map development

Our initial idea was to design a 2D map with a few points of interest.When clicked it displays some options to choose from. For example, click on the 'Events' button; a page pops up displaying events going on throughout the week and the cost. Select the events you want and the app deducts the cost from your overall budget displayed at the top of the page in the budget bar. 

These are the components to go onto the map.

Basic map design 

I created this rough draft of the map on illustrator to take to our progress crit.

Progress Crit

These are the visuals we used to present to our peers.

The feedback from the crit was really useful. The main points raised were 

• The buttons on the map screen could do with being bigger
• More detail on the map 
• link to a bank account
• more features 

Some of the suggestions made a good point if the app was for long term budgeting but as it's only beneficial for Freshers week, we all agreed to keep it as simple and user friendly as possible. However, we will be making the buttons bigger and adding more detail to the map.

Final Map Design

We decided to change the river to a train track and add lots of buildings to represent the city centre.

We decided to mount it in a iPhone for a more professional finish.

Home Screen Final

Information Screen Examples

This is the food screen that Amy has designed. The idea is to select your preferred option then press the back arrow to return to the map. There is also some tips on saving money with some links to the cheapest supermarkets in Leeds.

We thought it would be a good idea to design a history page so the user can quickly view what they have spent their money on. To access it you click the budget bar at the top of the map. I think it needs a button to remove items if you wish to change your purchases.

Promotional Designs

App store page

This is the App store page that Sam has designed for promotion. I think it needs a 'rate this App' section at the bottom so can if the app is working.

Business card

Front/Back

This is the business card that Bobby has designed. The idea is to scan the bar code on the back to receive a £5 pound discount when you purchase an N.U.S card.