App-based // This solution will feature an app that the person can download on their phone. The main purpose of the app will allow a user to track, cancel and pay subscriptions. It will have multiple features, including a section for current subscription shows and subscription fees. The app can be monetized with Banner ads on the bottom of the screen or by doing a tiered level status for users depending on how many subscriptions they can add to the app. The app will be able to connect to one or multiple email addresses and banks to find out what subscriptions the user has access to. The user will no longer have to keep track of the services that they own. With the app, they will know precisely what services they own and what shows they have access to.
The app has a home screen that will allow the users to open and view other important information such as:
*Home
*Shows and music
*Subscriptions
*Accounts
*Options
The Home screen will feature the latest alerts on updates to the app, subscription payments, and inactive status of different apps. On this screen, you can scroll to view upcoming payments and your overall payment for the current month. The home screen harbors buttons to the other kinds of screens. If the user clicks the add button they are able to add either a card or another subscription and the specific screen, either add card or add subscription, will open so that the information can be added and set to your account. Clicking on any of the respective buttons/tabs will send the user to the respective screen. The notifications area will be clickable and will open to all the alerts that the user has and that will then take the user to the respective screen about it.
The Shows screen will feature all of the shows the user will have access to with their current subscriptions. The layout of this screen will be similar to the layout of a typical subscription service. It will have sections like” new”, “recommended”, “Horror”, “Comedy,” etc. It will come with search and filter functions. If you choose a show, it will tell you what subscription is giving you access to this show, and if it has ads. If you press on it again it will direct you to that shows page on the subscription service that gives you access to the show.
Subscriptions will give you a list of all of your subscriptions. If you click on one it would give you the option to see all the information about the subscription such as the transaction history and the date of the next payment. Lastly, it will give you the option to cancel the app of the subscription service in question by going to that app's subscription cancellation page.
The accounts screen will give you a list of options for going to the screens to view all your subscriptions, notifications, where you can manage your cards, and other simple options. Each subscription screen will tell what subscriptions are attached to what card and email with the option to change/manage your options for the app or cancel any of them.
The options screen will include accessibility settings and the ability to log out of the user’s account. The accessibility settings would include settings like automatic subtitles, screen readers, and colorblind filters.
The app has a home screen that will allow the users to open and view other important information such as:
*Home
*Shows and music
*Subscriptions
*Accounts
*Options
The Home screen will feature the latest alerts on updates to the app, subscription payments, and inactive status of different apps. On this screen, you can scroll to view upcoming payments and your overall payment for the current month. The home screen harbors buttons to the other kinds of screens. If the user clicks the add button they are able to add either a card or another subscription and the specific screen, either add card or add subscription, will open so that the information can be added and set to your account. Clicking on any of the respective buttons/tabs will send the user to the respective screen. The notifications area will be clickable and will open to all the alerts that the user has and that will then take the user to the respective screen about it.
The Shows screen will feature all of the shows the user will have access to with their current subscriptions. The layout of this screen will be similar to the layout of a typical subscription service. It will have sections like” new”, “recommended”, “Horror”, “Comedy,” etc. It will come with search and filter functions. If you choose a show, it will tell you what subscription is giving you access to this show, and if it has ads. If you press on it again it will direct you to that shows page on the subscription service that gives you access to the show.
Subscriptions will give you a list of all of your subscriptions. If you click on one it would give you the option to see all the information about the subscription such as the transaction history and the date of the next payment. Lastly, it will give you the option to cancel the app of the subscription service in question by going to that app's subscription cancellation page.
The accounts screen will give you a list of options for going to the screens to view all your subscriptions, notifications, where you can manage your cards, and other simple options. Each subscription screen will tell what subscriptions are attached to what card and email with the option to change/manage your options for the app or cancel any of them.
The options screen will include accessibility settings and the ability to log out of the user’s account. The accessibility settings would include settings like automatic subtitles, screen readers, and colorblind filters.
A digital mockup of the prototype was made to help visualize it, and then a paper prototype was created for the prototype and user testing. Additionally, some screens shown can be accessed in a variety of ways. Because of the nature of a prototype, these designs are to test the overall functionality and usability of the app. However, in further prototyping and gathering data, banner ads at the very bottom of the screen will be included in order for the developer to monetize their application.
(fig 1 - 4)
Figure 1-4 shows the login process of the prototype where users are able to see the logo and are able to log into their account for the app with their information.
(fig 5)
Figure 5 shows the home screen where the user is first introduced to the app's features. At the top, there is a search feature button on the top left and a notification button on the top right; both of which will be discussed further along the document. There is also the side-scrolling section where the user can check the inactivity of certain apps to show and prompt the user to see if they really need the app and need to continue getting charged for an app that is rarely used. Below that area is another scrolling area which shows the upcoming subscription payments that will be charged on the user’s cards. At the very base there are buttons which also go to the account, settings, add cards or subscriptions, and calendar which will also be discussed in the coming sections.
(fig 6 -10)
Continuing on to Fig 6, this screen shows the account which gives the user access to the tabs which open the subscriptions, notifications, managing cards, and options screens. Fig 7 shows a scrolling list of all the subscriptions that are currently connected with the account and app. There is a tab here that can access a recommendation screen, which is Fig 8, that will compile all the shows and music the user has available through their subscriptions in different specific categories. When the user presses any of the options they will open up to the respective application for the user to view. Fig 9 is the notification screen which will show all the upcoming payment alerts, transactions, recommendations, and any other important information for the user. As for accessibility in Fig 10, it shows some options for the user to change languages and specific modes if they click it or if they click the slider it will just change the dark/light mode. There are also tabs about more information on the app and ways to share it in order to spread it to more users.
(fig 11 - 15)
Fig 11 and 12 are the screens that show the cards that have registered in the app and the user is able to swipe sideways in order to see the different cards. The user is also able to view all the transactions that have been previously made on that specific card. As for Fig 13 and 14, this is the process of adding a card after you select the adding button on the home screen. The user is first able to add the information needed for the card and after pressing add the user is then shown a confirmation that the card has been added with the option to add another or be done with the process. Fig 15 shows the confirmation of removing the card on the screen which is shown to the user only after they press the remove card button on the Fig 12 screen.
(fig 16 - 20)
The process of adding a subscription follows Fig 16 through 18. On the first screen, a list of possible options of subscriptions that a user can add is shown; though if the subscription that the user wants to add is not in that list they can go to the top right corner and add it manually. The next screen shows the process of adding information about that subscription and there is an option for the app to search for that information when that button is pressed. Once the user has entered all the correct information they will then see a confirmation screen which gives them the option to either add more subscriptions or finish the process of adding subscriptions. Possibly after viewing the screen on Fig 7 and pressing the one of the subscription options in Fig 19 this screen is where the user can view not only all the information that was added for the subscription but also the amount they have spent through the year on the subscription. By pressing show history they are able to see all the transactions that were made. Like card management, the user is able to cancel the subscription from this screen. This is where the user is sent to the cancellation page of the selected subscription and then brought back into the app.
(fig 21 & 22)
Fig 21 shows the overall calendar where the user can once again view all the upcoming payment dates on the calendar as a monthly view. The user is able to side-scroll through different months and see when certain payment dates are. At the lower section of this screen, this section goes deeper into which subscriptions are needing payment and shows the total of the upcoming payment amount of a specific date. Lastly, in Fig 22, the search screen allows users to search for any app that they are subscribed to or any alert/notification that results from that search.
For the test plan, we decided to show it to an older person and a younger one in order to have their respective point of view of the app. We came up with 6 questions that tackle the prototype at its core. These questions were chosen in order to keep the focus on what the app is meant for and if it is conveying the purpose without speaking.
*Based on the experience of both of our testers, the app is simple as well as the aesthetics.
*No one found the app to be overly complicated and felt normal to navigate the app.
*As for the complaint of the current prototype, both testers found the recommendation and search pretty useless. However, the younger user tester mentioned that it would be helpful to be able to search if a subscription has been paid or not. Doing so would make the search function more useful and relevant.
*No one found the app to be overly complicated and felt normal to navigate the app.
*As for the complaint of the current prototype, both testers found the recommendation and search pretty useless. However, the younger user tester mentioned that it would be helpful to be able to search if a subscription has been paid or not. Doing so would make the search function more useful and relevant.