What You Didn't Know

TextSafe is a mobile app, which provides users the ability to store/archive text messages and share this text history. This allows for important data to be safely backed up and easily restored. In addition, TextSafe provides user-friendly functions for handling the users’ text message history, such as: search, sort and filter their archive; manage favorites list; set-up automatic scheduled backup; manually upload/store selected messages; share text messages on social media platforms, such as via email, facebook, twitter, and thumblr; and finally, the app includes a module to manage storage with the option to purchase additional backup space as needed.

Many people rely heavily on information obtained through text messages. They store history of text messages as a valuable resource of information. Whether it’s for legal, personal or business reasons, today's smartphone user will at some point utilize not only their texts, but also the history related to them. According to a recent study by CTIA in 2010, the volume of global SMS has grown every year and was forecasted to reach about 3,700 billion in 2012. Text messages not only include a direct link to people’s history and daily events, but may also serve as proof of certain business conducts.

Unfortunately, when the mobile device needs repair and requires a fresh installation of the operating system, the text message history cannot be recovered and stored. The only history the user is able to recover at this point is from whatever their local phone company has stored on their servers. In most cases this is only 2-4 weeks worth of data. Consequently, the history of text messages in the users device is lost along with critical information, which is highly important to the mobile device owner. Reports from iPhone technical support at Apple, for example, demonstrates the high amount of clients’ requests to recover their lost text messages. Unfortunately, no resolution is yet to be found.

Our target range is a young adult to early 50's. Our application can be used for any important business messages, archiving cute texts from your ex (even though you shouldn't) and even saving those funny conversations to show off on date when you have nothing to talk about. For the moments when text messages are needed during legal issues, the messages can be archived and shared showing both time/date stamps as well as attendants in the conversation.

When thinking about building this app research became integral to the need and design. We gathered data from actual Apple retail employees on the percentage of iphone customers who use their text messages. Of those, we gathered data on those who store data in their texts and who would benefit from our application. In a two-week period, we found 98% of customers used their text messaging on their devices. Of those, 87 customers (roughly 35%) found their text messages invaluable and could not lose them during a restore or triage process.

When this occurs, the only option available to them is to do screen shots, or copy and paste the data to an email and send it to their own phone. Both of these options however, lose the time/date stamp as well as the contextual history of the messages. Then we interviewed users of mobile phones and discussed the premise of our application. Over 50 users were asked about the concept and its viability. When asked what they would need in order for the application to be beneficial to them, they were very helpful. While we had already included some items that were universally needed (i.e. upload and archive), customers and interviewees added additional features like favorites, search functionality, additional storage options and the ability to share messages to social media and external storage options (i.e. dropbox).

We also found another aspect to research for this project. We took time to research the current coding technologies to see if what we designed can be feasibly built. We designed an app for the iphone 5. During research, we discovered the screen size for design is set to 320 X 568px. As such, you will find all of our pages fit these dimensions. We also researched other popular apps like Facebook, Dropbox and Instagram to see best practices and what users would look for in UI and design concepts. The article from smashing magazine was key in thinking about layout and design for this project (http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2013/03/28/mastering-real-world-constraints/). It’s a great case study and help with research questions when designing for mobile usage. Many companies think their sites or apps are universal, but they are not.

To use TextSafe, the user is required to register and create an account; the account establishes a secured handling of the user’s data as the user must provide username and password to access and manage their data. Once launching the app, a login page appears asking for the user’s credentials. For new users, an option to sign-up and register is immediately accessible from the login page. A quick registration process will collect some basic user’s data, register their credentials, and confirm their registration and the activation of their account. In case, a user has forgotten their password, a link to securely retrieve the password is provided as well.

Once the user is logged into the app, they are taken to the main homepage, or dashboard. From here they have full access to the various options, functions, and tasks that the app provides. These options includes, browsing through their text-messages history, uploading/storing selected messages; managing and browsing their favorites text-message list, and accessing the settings section for managing auto-upload, storage status, and turning on or off sounds and notifications. In addition, the user is provided with an option to securely logout from the app.

The Text-History section provides a quick access for viewing text-message history that the user uploaded/backed-up, along with useful functions for sorting through and managing their archive. TextSafe provides the user the option to search and sort the archive by name (sender) or by date; delete unwanted messages; select favorites ones and add them to a dedicated favorites list; and even share text-messages from the archive with friends by submitting them to social media platforms, such as facebook, thumblr, and twitter, and/or simply, send them as an email message.

The Favorites section is a module in the app that gathers all the text messages that the user marked as favorites. This module provides quick access to favorite messages and includes the same filtering and sharing options that exist in the Text-History section, i.e. sort by name, by date, share on facebook, thumblr, twitter, and email.

The Upload module is designed to allow the user with a quick manual backup if and when needed. The user is provided with several options: they can select to back up their entire messages, select text messages of specific contacts, select specific dates, or select individual messages. By providing the user with the manual option for uploading, or backing up, their text-messages, the user has more control on the backup process, as they are not entirely dependent on the schedule backup process, which could be turned on or off as needed.

The settings section provides the user with important options that are crucial to the behavior of the app. As part of the settings, the user can configure the auto-upload (backup) option, they can choose whether they want it active or not by turning it on or off, and set a schedule for the auto backup process. Furthermore, they can set up filtering rules for the backup, such as uploading all messages, or uploading only messages from specific contacts.

Another important feature in the settings section is the option to monitor the status of their storage space. Overtime, the storage space tends to get full, therefore, the user can check and see their usage status and make crucial decisions such as whether they should delete some old data, or purchase addition storage. A secure payment method is managed directly from the app, and a payment history is provided as well so the user could track their payments. The settings section also provides the user with the option to control the sound and notifications of the app simply by turning options on or off. While some users are accustomed to and need an audio feedback, such as for completion of tasks, other may prefer a quiet mode. The app, therefore, is designed with the flexibility to fit the user needs while providing important features for managing and handling common tasks.

The design of this application was based on a few things: simplicity, familiarity and convenience. We chose the colors, light blue, green-yellow and whitish grey because most iphone users are used to seeing those colors when they text message. That feeling of familiarity is something that we wanted to evoke in the user. By doing so, the user can feel a connection towards the application and reuse it. This color scheme also is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Since this application is open to iphone users and android users of a spectrum of ages, we wanted to choose colors that are almost timeless.

The design we chose was to be simple. Seeing that this is an archive of information, we wanted to place things on the application so that it wouldn’t be hard to find. We designed it so that the user has full control over what he/she is clicking on, where to go next and how to check for their history, as well as share and sort it. We looked at the design of gmail, which is also a form of an archive and really liked the idea of having a check box next to the messages. That way a user can know where to click in order to delete or sort their files.

Our choice of a logo was a lock. We wanted to convey the message of safety. By using this symbol there will be a sense of security and warmness with the colors that we chose. The safe will be on most of the pages, one way or another and that is to assure the user that they will be protected and that they will never lose their text history again. We also wanted to make the person using the app feel like the design is always conversing with them.

Last but not least we wanted to design our application to be uniform throughout the experience. We wanted to see this uniform look as you maneuvered through the pages, having the same colors, same placement, and same function throughout. And if you wanted to go back, you would be able to do that with a click of a button. We also wanted to have an option, which you would always know how much space you have because the application would remind you periodically. That was a huge factor for our application.

Kevin Pena

FAO Schwarz is quite possibly one of the hardest stores to maneuver through. The first floor isn’t too bad. First, you have the entrance with a ton of plush dolls, all kinds! Here you can find a lot of parents and their children and people taking pictures next to the elaborate towers. The thing that confused me was the cashier. It was placed on the far left, where it wasn’t really seen. I didn’t even know it was there until someone pointed it out to me. Following the same floor, if you continue forward, you can find the candy section. There was candy of all kinds, even some from the Harry Potter series. I noticed that the candy, the closer it got to the cashier, the more “adult like” it became. It had more calories, bigger in size, things that children wouldn’t so much eat.

At the end of this candy wonderland was a café geared more towards adults. So as children were getting candy, they could get in line and buy a cupcake. I noticed the people on the lines were mostly adults. Although, there was another exit right by the café and I didn’t really know which one was the entrance or exit. In the middle of the candy area was another cashier but this one was more in your face. The colors here were lighter, pinker, much more happier. The odd thing is, at the end of all of this was a downstairs area for babies. They had more plushies and clothes for little babies. They used a lot of neutral colors down on this floor.

After going through ALLLLLL of this I went ALL the way back just to go on the escalators to get to the second floor. And from the entrance in the candy store, this design would make more sense but from the entrance next to the apple store, it’s just a lot of back and forth. The second floor is where it got confusing. It starts of seeming like it’s for teenagers/and older crowd. There are the Midtown comics and I even saw a Spiderman look a like. This was definitely for the older kids who are close to being teenagers but are not kids anymore. At this point I started to feel as if the age range increased with every floor. The basement was for babies, the first floor was for kids and the last floor was for older kids.

This last floor really took me for a spin. Fist off, there are 3 ways you could walk through when you first get to the second floor. You can go right, towards the dolls, left towards the animal section and then through the middle to another area. I started off with going to the right. Past the midtown comics was the doll area. You could make a doll, buy a doll, look at them, etc. It was clearly more for younger to teenage girls. I even saw a Katniss doll from Hunger Games. Past this is the hello Kitty section. What I found interesting about this section was the fact that they have bags for older women right next to the cashier. I even saw a woman eyeing these pieces as her daughter was looking at the hello kitty stuff.

There was even a spot for “Tween Skin” which was all about preparing your child’s skin from their teenage years. They had acne products, moisturizers, etc. It was like this section gradually became older as it went on. When you take a left at the next area, it turns ALL in the boy’s toys. As if the sections were segregated. Here were more darker, intense colors such as red and blue as opposed to all of the beige and pink you came from. But it was even more frustrating because then you could take another left or continue further. It was quite the maze. I continued further forward towards the other toys. It was lego’s and the grand piano. I couldn’t figure out why legos were so far deep into this place. I really had no idea because this was something that should grab a lot of attention. But after leaving this place a little later, if you’re walking down Park Ave you can see Legos from the window display. Which might get people to come in. Either way, a lot of people were on the piano, having fun and taking photos. Leaving this area, there are more toys for young boys (with very little toys for younger girls). The next section was education based. There was a lot about museums and books and evolution. There was even a gallery to buy paintings from. Although, I think this was more so for older people because I don’t think that kids would want paintings as opposed to toys. A lot of these paintings were also over sexualized.

You can pass all of these books and enter this narrow hall where you can see animal stuffed dolls. And you’re back where you started. BUT I forgot all about the middle section at this point because I went in a circle. So I went to the middle and saw a Dip N’ Dots. You do not know how tempted I was to buy some because of how tired I was. All of these sections merged into this middle section. It was almost as if this place forced you to walk through all of this. On the left side of dip N’ Dots there was an area for “The Beatles” and sweaters you could buy in front of these mirrors. Barely any kids know who The Beatles are so I’m guessing this was mostly for older people. It was conveniently located near the Dip N’ Dots.

It’s hard to pinpoint a strategy for this place. It’s really a headache for me. But I’m guessing since this is such a tourist spot and a place where Parents love to bring their children, FAO Schwarz designed this place to make it so they had to walk everywhere. They segregated the boys and girls section so if the parents had a boy and a girl, they would have to walk throughout this whole place/maze to get through this all. There are barely any signs pointing you in any direction to the exit, so they want for someone to not know where they’re going or how big this place actually is. And in the end, once the parents are tired and the kids are hungry, they have a café, a Dip N’ Dots and a Whole candy section near the exit to replenish lost energy. A lot of the sections are lost because of how these areas are made, especially on the second floor.