Before bringing a product to life, there’s a bunch of pre-work that needs to be done in order to save time, money, and sanity. Having a great idea is awesome, but it is not enough. The planning and execution that will truly decide whether a project is successful or not.
To demonstrate the importance of ideation, I created the idea for Action, a movie and entertainment app.
The Context
Action is an app that specializes in the identification of movies, television, and digital content (YouTube, podcasts, etc.). Shazam-like in nature, the application will feature a bold UI with an intuitive user experience that promotes exploration and in-app experiences.
Similar to the Shazam app, Action will be able to identify movies and shows based off of dialogue and visuals. The user would point their camera at the scene and record a 5-20 second clip that the app will analyze and provide the title, episode (if applicable), an IMDb-like cast pop up, and a list of where you can continue to watch the program online.
If you have Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, or other online streaming service, you can connect it to Action and just click through to watch. Finally, just for fun, there would be an integration that provides popular GIFs and memes of the show/movie that would be shareable to social media and messaging platforms.
Action aims to take the guessing out of what you are watching and provide you with an easy way to keep enjoying the show or share it with others. While the idea of this app is super helpful, we would need to take into consideration programing in other languages, as that could be a major pain point.
The Ideation Process
To start the ideation process, it’s important to define and express the problem you are trying to solve. Many design teams employ a point of view (POV) statement in order to do this.
Users who like to identify shows and movies in a snap need an app that is easy to use with integrated features because laggy apps with limited controls creates frustration.
POV Statement for Action
To help with the development of the Action app, I will be using three different ideation methodologies to explore possible solutions.
The semantic exploration will help develop functionality, the sketch storm will help develop UI/UX, and the pessimist vs. optimist conversation will test conversion and identify potential issues.
Ideation Methods
The Conclusions
While ideation does not yield a complete final deliverable, these exercises made it possible for me to draft the beginning stages of Action. The semantic exploration and the pessimist/optimist conversations were the most crucial pieces as they allowed me to dig deeper into the root issues and identify where to direct the most attention.
By selecting three methodologies that focused on different parts of the development process, it was possible to get a good overhead view of what it would take in order to bring Action into fruition.
Alex Piwtoratsky. 