The Stories of Lynn is an app that allows the user to access historical information about King’s Lynn in Norfolk.
Flo-culture has given me great insight into how much work goes into creating an app, or any kind of product. I will admit as one of many people who uses an IPhone, I often take apps for granted. Any kind whether it be Candy crush, Uber, or even Snapchat all had to begin somewhere. The Stories of Lynn app might be a lot smaller in comparison to those big names but the process to create the app is the same.
The week started with me observing the design and development meeting team at JUMP studios (JUMP are design/UX partners for the app). The meeting focused on the apps gaming appeal. This was useful as I was asked to create quiz questions and find images to use in The Stories of Lynn App for King’s Lynn. These questions had to be thought provoking for an older app user, yet still have a friendly tone for children. Using the information provided by Tim Crump, who is handling the historical content production for the app, I was able to complete this task. Finding images that will able to be used in the app was also interesting and a lot harder than I initially thought. From working on that task I have learnt a lot about managing work and how keeping a record of what you have done is beneficial to any project.
By doing these assignments, it helped me with the issue of decision making. Many places of work require you to show initiative. There is the awareness that you can ask for help, yet how often can you ask for help before you sound incompetent? At Flo-culture working alongside Katherine, it shows knowing you have a superior you can approach and ask questions makes a big difference in the workplace. It’s always worse to not ask and get a task completely wrong, than taking the time to ask for an explanation. In addition to this the importance of having a team you enjoy working with and can rely on is emphasised.
Doing this placement has allowed me to experience the complexities, and the amount of work that goes into designing a new app from its physical appearance to its software design. I have also learned a great deal about how any business is run. I am incredibly grateful to have been given the chance to work on The Stories of Lynn app with Flo-culture.
