Presentation for Starling, a twitter companion app.

1. Created for General Assembly by
Dave Riedy, Gary Henkle, Konstantin Ficklscherer
Discover events and surprises right as they happen.

2. 2
Executive
Summary
Twitter has a large user base. The related app Starling we’re creating leverages this
fact as a way to engage in a real-time conversation about events and news items that
are actionable and useful. This is an extension of Twitter’s current use and adding the
location-based contextual alerts is a step forward. Twitter has a global presence which
allows for the possibility of expanding this functionality into other cities/markets. NYC
is the perfect test case with a dense population and high technology engagement,
however, the market can be expanded to other cities throughout the world in the future.
Based on our user research, which included a user survey of 27 respondents, 10
user interviews, a total of 12 open and closed card sorts, and 10 user tests through 3
iterations of prototyping, we conclude:
There are two types of users
A) The Consumer, who likes aggregated information laid out in a simple interface, and
B) The Contributor, who likes to share their personal tastes or promote their
organization’s content.
Within these types, there are varying degrees of use ranging from the casual user to the
power user. Both of these types have agreed that Twitter’s user interface is extremely easy
and pleasant to use. We’ve designed Starling to appeal to and accommodate a wide spectrum
of users within this range.

3. 3
For the Contributor, we’ve created a user flow in our app that allows them to contribute content via text or
photo that will alert other users through a push notification of events and news items relevant to them.
For the Consumer, we’ve created a user flow that takes them right to the content relevant to them.
Time + Location = Helpfulness emerged from the development phase as a formula for success, so we
created features for Starling around real-time alerts to events happening in proximity to the user’s location.
The focus of our main page would be a map of the local area with pins identifying activity based on a
limited categories, including Events, Free, Sales, News, and NY Moments, a channel for New Yorkers to
broadcast surprising and delightful activity unique to New York City.
During the brainstorming phase, we considered a design in which users would only submit photos to
Starling’s feed. This idea was abandoned when we realized the activity users would broadcast through the
app would be restricted if there was no way to photograph it.
One important determination we had from the start was to include features from Twitter in our design that
would continue to appeal to users which were also relevant to our goals. These include the List function,
where our feed resembles the Twitter feed, and the familiar Home, Tweet and Settings icons on the footer.
If users can share and consume content easily based on time and place, then we have done our job.
Executive
Summary

4. Problem
Statement01

5. 5
Problem
Statement
New York City has so much going on it’s impossible to know about everything,
even if you wanted to. What is needed is an app that allows fellow NYers to share
information about things happening right now. Information they can use.

6. About
Twitter02

7. 7
Twitter
Overview
The following is a short synopsis of Twitter the brand and company.
+ Twitter is an online social networking service founded in 2006.
+ As of December 2014, Twitter has more than 500 million users, out of which more than
284 million are active users.
+ Some 23% of online adults currently use Twitter, a statistically significant increase
compared with the 18% who did so in August 2013. Twitter is particularly popular among
those under 50 and the college-educated. Compared with late 2013, the service has seen
significant increases among a number of demographic groups: men, whites, those ages 65
and older, those who live in households with an annual household income of $50,000 or
more, college graduates, and urbanites.
+ In the third quarter of 2014 Twitter generated 85 percent of its revenue from mobile
advertising. Twitter’s advertising revenue rose 109 percent compared to the year-ago
period, while its “data licensing and other revenue” category was up an even more
impressive 171 percent.

8. 8
Our
Opportunity
Twitter has a large user base. The related app we’re creating leverages this fact as
a way to engage in a real-time conversation about events and news items that are
actionable and useful. This is an extension of Twitter’s current use and adding the
location-based contextual alerts is a step forward. Twitter has a global presence which
allows for the possibility of expanding this functionality into other cities and markets.
NYC is the perfect test case with a dense population and high technology engagement.
Platform Selection
The idea is to enable people out on the streets of New York City to share information that is
immediately useful and requires mapping and camera functionality, hence a native phone
app is the most suitable platform. We are focussing on iOS as it has a large user base and
because its familiar interface and guidelines provide an ideal starting point.

9. 9
HOME
FIND PEOPLE
HOME
SEARCH
NOTIFICATIONS
TWEET
MESSAGES ME
SETTINGS
ADD ACCOUNTS
EDIT PROFILE
TWEETS
MEDIA
FAVORITES
TAILORED POPULAR
Nav Bar
Tab Bar
Twitter
Sitemap

10. 10
FULL NAME
TOPIC OPTIONS
PASSWORD
PHONE NUMBER
EMAIL ADDRESS
USERNAME
SUGGESTIONS
ENTER
SELECT
OPTIONS
CONTINUE
SIGN-UP
ENTER
USE
EMAIL
INSTEAD
SKIP
ENTER
SELECT CONTINUE
Initial
Sign-up
Flow
Content
Selection
Flow
Twitter
Sign-up
Flows

11. Competitive
Comparative Analysis03

12. 12
Competitive
Analysis
Takeaways
We looked at the apps Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, Snapchat and Vine.
Each app gave us insight into how users interact with the most popular apps
similar to Starling.
Two issues emerged:
1. The onboarding process for Foursquare is a bit of a cautionary tale. The user is asked a
series of incrementally intrusive questions in a never-ending series of screens. It allows for
a possibility of drop-off by the user that we definitely want to avoid.
2. Snapchat allows users to tell (and view) a story of their local experience through a series of
photo and video uploads, but this process is radically restricted and is hidden for all but its
most intense power users.
Armed with this information we proceeded to create an app prototype with a small barrier
to entry that is easy to use and understand.

13. 13
Nav Bar
Tab Bar
Facebook
Sitemap
HOME
SEARCHSTATUS
NEWS FEED
FRIENDSPHOTO
FRIEND REQUESTS
CHECK-INS
MESSENGER NOTIFICATIONS MORE
PROFILE
UPDATE INFO
NEARBY FRIENDS
EVENTS
NEARBY PLACES
FIND APPS
FIND FRIENDS
PAGES
CREATE PAGE
NEW GROUPS
CREATE GROUP
GROUPS
GAMES
ON THIS DAY
FRIENDS
PHOTOS
POKES
MOST RECENT
HELP CENTER
ACTIVITY LOG
PRIVACY SHORTCUTS
REPORT A PROBLEM
CODE GENERATOR
FEED PREFERENCES
SETTINGS
TERMS POLICIES
LOG OUT

14. 14
NavigationFoursquare
Sitemap
Onboarding MAIN SCREEN
SEARCH
Would like to use your
current location
Turn on notifications?
Foursquare wants
to send you push
notifications
MAIN SCREEN
Msg: can change
background location
in iPhone Settings
SEARCH
FOOD
SAVED
PLACES
MAP
SETTINGS
SEARCH
NIGHTLIFE
SEARCH
COFFEE
LISTS
CREATED
NOTIFICA-
TIONS
SEARCH
FUN
LISTS
SAVED
SEARCH
LOOKING
FOR
SEARCH
CREATE
NEW LIST
SAVED PLACES HISTORY
ME
SIGN-UP / TASTES /
PEOPLE
Onboarding

15. 15
NavigationInstagram
Sitemap
MAIN SCREEN
EDIT
PROFILE
INSTAGRAM
DIRECT
PROFILE
OPTIONS
SEARCH
PHOTOS
PEOPLE
OPTIONS
SUPPORT
OPTIONS
SETTINGS
OPTIONS
ACCOUNT
OPTIONS
ABOUT
FIND
CONTACTS
SELECT
FACEBOOK
FRIENDS
INVITE
FRIENDS
ACTIVITY
FOLLOWING
YOU
ADS
BLOG
PRIVACY
POLICY
TERMS
ABOUT THIS
VERSION
HELP
CENTER
REPORT A
PROBLEM
LINKED
ACCOUNTS
PUSH
SETTINGS
CELLULAR
DATA USE
SAVE ORIG.
PHOTOS
EDIT
PROFILE
CHANGE
PASSWORD
POSTS
YOU’VE
LIKED
PRIVATE
ACCOUNT

16. 16
NavigationSnapchat
Sitemap
HOME
STORIESMESSAGES
FLASH SELECTOR
DISCOVERMY ACCOUNT TAKE PHOTO/VIDEO
ADD CAPTION
SET FILTER
SEND TO FRIEND
REVERSE IMAGE

17. 17
Nav Bar
Tab Bar
HOME
FIND PEOPLE
FRIENDSVINE CONTACTS
HOME
MESSAGES
OTHERTWITTER CONTACTS TEXT/EMAIL INVITE
EXPLORE RECORD VIDEO ACTIVITY PROFILE
Vine
Sitemap

18. Technical Background
Research04

19. 19
Technical
Background
Research
Twitter Log-In Functionality
Starling users would sign in with their Twitter accounts. It would follow the framework laid
out by the Twitter Development Team, which follows below:

20. 20
Technical
Background
Research
Core Location Framework
Starling would utilize iOS’ Core Location Framework. The Core Location framework lets
you determine the current location or heading associated with a device. The framework
uses the available hardware to determine the user’s position and heading. You use the
classes and protocols in this framework to configure and schedule the delivery of location
and heading events. You can also use it to define geographic regions and monitor when the
user crosses the boundaries of those regions. In iOS, you can also define a region around a
Bluetooth beacon.
Geofencing
Geofencing is a another widely used term among design and technical professionals that
would be an essential component for Starling, allowing users to receive notifications in real-
time about events. “Programs that incorporate geo-fencing allow an administrator to set
up triggers so when a device enters (or exits) the boundaries defined by the administrator,
a text message or email alert is sent. Many geo-fencing applications incorporate Google
Earth, allowing administrators to define boundaries on top of a satellite view of a specific
geographical area. Other applications define boundaries by longitude and latitude or
through user-created and Web-based maps.”

21. 21
Technical
Background
Research
Limitations
Accuracy is not exact using the most common ways of implementing geofencing, such as
WiFi, GPS, and Cell ID. Some margin for error needs to accounted for. It’s possible that can
be explained to the user in the UI.
According to the iOS Human Interface Guidelines:
“To make smart decisions about what types of information to return, the geocoder server
uses all the information provided to it when processing the request. For example, if the user is
moving quickly along a highway, it might return the name of the overall region, and not the
name of a small park that the user is passing through.”
What functionality could be extended using third party services?
The functionality of geofencing can be extended using Personagraph, a mobile user
understanding platform that provides deep insights into who users are, what they like and
where they go, while allowing them to establish their own preferences and privacy boundaries.
This would prevent irrelevant notifications that would cause users to disable the app.
Loopt is another example of a third party service our app could use.
Design Standards
We will be using the iOS Human Interface Guidelines for our mobile app. They have already
helped us settle design issues, one example the use of texts to identify features on a page.

22. User
Research05

23. 23
User
Research
Summary
“The idea behind your project is a creative one and sounds like it is addressing
a real need!”— Evelyn
Project Statement Pin-Up Feedback
+ Comparative/competitive sites to look at
+ Technical research avenues to investigate
+ Questions about how our app would differ from Twitter.
Survey Interviews
+ Ten question survey to screen for respondents that had a familiarity with Twitter/other
social sharing apps (Facebook, Snapchat, Foursquare, etc.)
+ Also asked about finding and sharing information behaviors
+ 82 unique visitors took our survey.
+ 27 of those who took the survey left their contact information.
+ Of those 27 we interviewed ten of various ages and backgrounds.

24. 24
User
Research
Summary
Affinity Mapping Findings
Taking what we’d learned from our interviews, we did an affinity map, grouping notes about
behaviors into areas of overlap. What we found was:
+ People who share and people who don’t
+ More people consume than contribute (7 vs. 3)
+ People are constantly checking their phones when they are out
+ Twitter is easy to use, and Twitter’s simplicity of design is loved
+ Twitter’s feed can be overwhelming
+ Retweets and hashtags tend to clutter and confuse the feed

25. 25
User
Research
Summary
Card Sorts
Open Sorts
Created sixty different notification examples:
+ “Ferry accident at Pier 11.”
+ “Surprise sales event at Donna Reese in SoHo!”
+ “Somebody just set a Citibike on fire on 23rd and Broadway!”
+ “I didn’t realize there was a street fair on Broadway in the 70s today.”
+ “[A Picture of two cute dogs sitting next to each other outside an italian restaurant]”
Initial Takeaways
+ People wanted large general categories like “News” and “Events.”
+ Time was a common thread
+ People wanted to be able to determine if the information was “actionable.”
+ “Free” was a category that came up several times

26. 26
Card
Sorting
Closed Sorts
Categories:
+ Sales
+ Free
+ News
+ Events
+ “Only in New York” became “NY Moments”

27. 27
Interviews
Interviews were conducted in person, over the phone, or via a video service such as
Facetime. Interviewees were not compensated for their time.
Interviewees were questioned about their Twitter usage, features they liked or didn’t like
about Twitter and other social sharing apps. We also asked about how they use their
smartphones, how often they refer to them, what kinds of information they look up. We
also questioned if they had enabled push notifications and why or why not.

28. User
Personas06

29. 29
Personas
After sending out a screener and interviewing ten people, we created four personas
based on our findings to represent Starling’s different user types.
April Martin Tyler Cynthia
Consumers Contributers+

30. 30
Personas
April goes out nearly every night of the week. When not assisting Patrick Stewart at a film premiere, she’s
with colleagues or old college friends at an endless array of concerts, bars, karaoke clubs, bowling and
other types of excursions. She doesn’t organize these excursions, but goes along with the crowd. April
also loves fashion and shopping. She considers herself a “power shopper” and is always looking for good
deals and sales. On Twitter she follows some comedians and musicians. She mostly uses Twitter for fun,
but doesn’t tweet herself.
Wants
To know what’s going on so she can keep
up with the crowds. Good ways to learn
information about sales.
Needs
Simplicity. She doesn’t use Twitter mainly
because she finds the hashtags and retweets
confusing.
Potential Obstacles
April is more of a follower. Getting her to use
and share anything with her friends is difficult.
Potential Opportunities
Become an even more powerful “power
shopper” using Starling.
April
“The Casual Consumer”
25, Lives in Fort Greene
Works as a Talent Assistant at Spotlight PR Agency

31. 31
Personas
Martin’s a busy guy who works eight performances a week for one show and is in rehearsals for another.
When he goes out it’s usually during the day. He eats out a lot with friends and is always looking for the
perfect brunch. He also enjoys getting outside to the parks when it’s nice out, and he looks for fun (and
free) things to do during the day. He follows friends and theater professionals on his Twitter feed, as
well as sports updates. He also uses Twitter for news about New York City. He is an active texter with his
friends, but almost never tweets.
Wants
Technology that’s easy to use and can give him
the specific information he’s looking for. It’s
hard to meet up with friends during the day,
as they’re mostly all busy working, and so he’s
often looking for things to do on his own. An
app to help with that would be great.
Needs
Social connection and information aggregation
in a quick, easy, fun way.
Potential Obstacles
Finds Twitter hard to follow. Convincing
Martin to use a new Twitter-based app could
be a challenge.
Potential Opportunities
Open up New York City in a way Martin has
not experienced before through social sharing.
Martin
“The Targeted Consumer”
32, Lives in Astoria, NY
Broadway Stage Manager at “Fun Home”

32. 32
Personas
Tyler uses his phone for everything. He’s on it almost every moment he’s on the street, to the point where
he was almost been hit by a car because he was checking Facebook. He’s usually in the middle of two to
four text conversations and tweets everything he sees and does. It’s become part of his lifestyle. He goes
out a lot to dinner with his girlfriend, clubs and bars with his friends, concerts. Tyler is the plan-maker,
getting his groups of friends involved. He’s the guy who comes up with the ideas. And he documents
everything with photos, tweets, etc.
Wants
To know about every popular app that can help
him in his social life.
Needs
Functionality. Likes clean design, but he’s
mostly interested in features.
Potential Obstacles
Already uses many social apps.
Potential Opportunities
A new way to find more things to do that he
can share with his friends.
Tyler
“The Sharer”
34, Lives in UWS
Store Manager at Diesel

33. 33
Personas
Cynthia’s job is to promote events that are happening at the bar where she works. They do trivia nights,
singles nights, have live music, and show big sporting events (football, World Cup,etc.). The bar has
accounts on every social media platform available.
Wants
To be able to reach people who are returning
customers as well as new customers who would
be interested in what’s happening at the bar.
Needs
Something easy to use so she doesn’t spend
all day on social media (she has other
responsibilities as well).
Potential Obstacles
Thinks a new app might not be worth her time.
Potential Opportunities
Ability to reach people who’ve never heard of
the bar she works at.
Cynthia
“The Promoter”
31, Lives in Maspeth, Queens
Works for a bar in Manhattan

34. Feature
Creation07

35. 35
Feature
Brainstorm
After analyzing all of our research, we continued with a feature brainstorming session.

36. 36
Feature
Brainstorm
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Sharing
+ Location (map)
+ Feedback (rate, confirm/deny)
+ Camera (still, video)
+ Text
+ Channels/Categories/Tags
+ Access camera thru other apps
+ Curators
+ Camera Filters
General
+ Push Notification options
+ Archive
+ Time Limit (90 min/24 hour)
Consuming
+ Date Time
+ Alerts
+ Map
+ Browse
+ Save
+ Rate (users, events) or Confirm/Deny
+ Share (email, SMS, Twitter)
+ Follow Users
+ Delete
+ Set a “home” on Map
+ Connect to Calendar

37. Sketching
Wireframing08

38. 38
Intitial
Sketches

39. 39
Intitial
Wireframes

40. 40
Intitial
Wireframes

41. 41
NavigationStarling
Sitemap
MAIN SCREEN
LIST VIEW SETTINGS
ENTRY
VIEW
POPUP
PUSH
NOTIFI-
CATION
CHANNEL
VIEW
TAKE OR
SELECT
PHOTO
ADJUST
TIME
RADIUS
CONTRI-
BUTE
ENTRY
SCREEN
SELECT
CHANNELS

42. The
Prototype09

43. 43
The
Prototype
http://invis.io/RA2UZ3FW7

44. User
Testing10

45. 45
User
Testing
We conducted numerous paper and digital prototype tests.
Please consult the findings below.
Paper Prototypes
Main Page
+ People are clear about the categories
+ Confused about the Twitter button, they think it will take them to Twitter app
+ Everyone understands the Settings button
+ People think the plus/minus changes the map
+ People are confused about the Search button, what they can/cannot search
+ People get the List view button
+ Click on the radius to search a wider/smaller perimeter
The Pop Up Button
+ They were confused by the time
+ People weren’t sure about tapping it to get more information
List Page
+ ¾ of users were confused about confirm and deny
+ “View on map,” most people got that and thought it was a great idea

46. 46
User
Testing
Digital InVision Prototypes
The Contributor Flow
+ All users were able to understand our basic flow design, and understood that the colors on the
main page buttons corresponded with the colors of the pins on the map on the main page.
+ “That’s f--- nuts!” All users delighted with the NY Moments content submission process.
+ A few people were not sure at first what the top filter did, but understood it very soon after
exploring the app more.
+ One user did not at first understand that a checked pin meant it was a verified happening.
+ “There should be a label for the time slider.” 2 users were confused by our slider buttons
on the main page under the map. We made these buttons bigger and changed the copy to
“time range” based on the user feedback.
The Consumer Flow
+ A few people commented the design was clean. One user thought the push notification
was live and not part of the prototype. This was very encouraging.
+ The consistent feedback we received for this flow was that the description bubble hovering
over the pin was too far north on the map and caused confusion over where the activity
was located. To remedy this, we made the bubble larger and rectangular and hovered it at
the top of the screen. We also zoomed in on the map to make the locations more clear.

47. 47
User
Testing

48. Next
Steps11

49. 49
Next
Steps
Due to time-constraints not all features and feedback could be incorporated. Our next
steps for this project are as follows:
Settings
+ Ability to set search parameter increments (i.e. increase timeframe by 5 min, increase
radius by .25 miles)
+ Allow users to set push notifications/alerts
Accounts
+ Sign-in via Twitter
+ Allow users to create unique account
Visuals
+ Design needs further refinement
Testing Iterations
+ Following further feedback we would like to test our newest prototype and perform the
required subsequent iterations

50. Annotated
Wireframes12