Surgeon X App Design

Background

The SurgeonX app is a new digital version of  the new comic title – SurgeonX,  commissioned by the Wellcome Trust. The spotlights the  growing issue of the overuse of antibiotics.  Using comics and a graphic novel was a way of reaching groups that might not necessarily see these issues elsewhere. The project stakeholders decided to take this is objective a step further by taking care of the app design.

Function

The app  showcases the comic and the multiple types of content that was created to support it (see here for a quick run through). These included exclusive interviews with members of the UK medical community, original music, audio & video documentaries, posters, character bios, photographs for graphic comparisons. All of the additional content meant that I needed to create an app design that would be able to showcase video, image and audio content.

Process

I created the initial wireframe of the app, and developed a registration process that allowed the delivery of free content after the initial download. This system included a delayed registration process that would work for both iOS and Android apps platforms. As a graphic novel and comic reader myself I also sought to develop an intuitive gesture control method for flicking through pages, accessing individual panels as well as accessing content via an index or within a page element. User guides, store & library listing and setting options were also included in the design along with features that we’re designed to enhance the user experience. These additional features included panel by panel viewing, inks or full colour and a ‘one handed’ reading mode. Finally I combined all of this together with a simple method for managing a users’ library, registration and store content).

I created the initial wireframe workflow with Visio and built the graphical interface mockup with Illustrator and Photoshop.

The app needed screenshot and device use examples for the Appstore and Google Play platforms. These graphics were all created in Illustrator and Photoshop. Fortunately the comic includes some incredible artwork and I was able to access all of it and use it as a base for the required graphics.

Conclusion

The app interface and the inclusion of enhanced content was extremely useful and informative for readers of the comic. According to the received feedback the enhanced content enhanced the reading experience. The comic creators also received some excellent feedback on the UI, you can find out more about it here.

Update 24/07/2016 : Vuniiun recently won the Worldwide Business Review award for Most Innovative Digital Content Agency – Greater London. The WOWvu app work was one of the main reasons for the award! Read here to find out more.