App Development

Visual communication, coupled with the use of technology, is the way of the future. It’s easy to find evidence of this trend by taking a look around. Each day, we’re bombarded with images and video of the products we should buy. We've become so attuned to communicating visually that most of us have learned how to reduce full text messages into a string of emojis.

Although the written word will always be a mainstay of technical communication, it’s important that we lean into this trend and adapt with the times.

The Devil’s Deliver Mock-Up is the prototype of an app meant to connect students who struggle with food insecurity to school resources and healthy meal options. The mock-up put access to food at the fingertips of all Arizona State University students and their families, no matter where they live.

The concept of the app was created through surveys of in-state and out-of-state ASU students currently enrolled in classes. Of the respondents, nearly half ranked as being food insecure. With their input, Devil’s Deliver was designed to be a school supported food delivery subscription service like Hello Fresh.

Ease of use was a key performance indicator for this app. It used visual commonalities found in similar apps for a familiar feel that was easy to navigate.

What I found surprising was how much goes into the development of even a simple mock-up application like this. Conducting surveys to find a solution, collaborating with the team for ideas, then bringing it all together for functional testing and re-design were all included in the process.

I have had no experience building anything like this in the past, but I really enjoyed working with new technology to produce something useful.