Thesis Journal
Follow from start to end
From conception to the final prototype this journal describes in detail my process. Follow my weekly journal to see how Aftermarket took shape.
Thesis Journal
Approved
Committee Comments to the Student:
Thank you for your presentation, Arian.
Congratulations! Your project is approved and we feel you are ready to move on to Directed Study. Your concept was well developed, and your presentation was polished and professional.
Comments from the committee:
- “Is this for all levels of users? If so, how will you educate beginners?” Start with the core users, and then begin building bridges to secondary users.
- “Watch spelling and capitalization in slides…when all is so good otherwise, these kinds of details are distracting.”
- Broad topical knowledge, and good design thinking leading you to solutions.
- “Worried he might drown in the tech and forget he needs to design it as well.” Focus on interaction design. Don’t get distracted by making an awareness campaign (the posters) or building fully functional software. Remember you will be evaluated on the quality of the interaction design for your MFA in the final review.
- Are we in “peak sneaker”?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/fashion/peak-sneaker-fashion.html
- How do you quantify “hype”?
- Focus on community and the very specific habits of your resellers. Focus on an ethnographic approach.
List the habits, terms, and specifics of “hyper strikes”, “hype beasts”, “resellers”, etc.
- There are a lot of technical questions to answer but remember to focus on the interactions and results.
“What hinges on the database? What schema? What does support look like? Should the form auto-populate? What about Null results? Any predictive data? Are you trying to build a functional algorithm?”
We encourage you to refine based on this feedback, and then additionally use the resources available to you through the department. Please take advantage of the thesis workshops or make an appointment (in person or virtual, email newmedia@academyart.edu) to discuss your progress.
Thanks very much!
Colin Evoy Sebestyen
2/18/19
Week three:
•Lookup shoe news Websites With API will Twitter work? Can I pull from hyperbeast.com using parsings using regular expressions?
•Watch a tutorial on parallax websites and start making the website for the thesis final.
•Continue sketching the new “The Hub” design.
•Expand the thesis idea to include all aspects of the buying process( News, evaluation, buying, and chat).
•Play with name and logo ideas. “The Hub”, “The HUD” etc…
•First goal to create a sitemap.
I have started looking at data scrubbers and have found a Chrome plug-in called Data Miner Click Here It looks promising so I’ll try it.
It looks like I’ll have to make recipes to group the correct data. This will take some practice to get the correct data in the right place.
I have started to sketch layouts for a web-based hud. I have also sketched some ideas for the logo.
2/24/19
Coding:
I’ve had some good tests from scrubbing Stockx to create my, database using Data Miner which is a plug-in for Chrome. It only has the Name of the shoe, price, and image URL I’d like to add the description, High and low price, color, and size. I’ve also discovered that Stockx has an API and has requested a key. I’m not sure if I’ll be approved but if I do get it I can jump right into coding which would be great.
Update 5/7/19
Stockx has updated its website so scrubbing is not possible will have to generate my database.
Design:
I am almost done sketching all the windows for the “HUD” which is what I’m calling the website. I have completed a few pages for a prototype and will begin testing hopefully next week.
With the lack of internet at home at the Dorms, it's been a little tough but I’ve also started my parallax scrolling website. I’m thinking I might use a database so it will auto add from my journal using a form.
With help from Hamilton my journal parallax Web site is coming along nicely, but I now need to figure out how I will style it. I’m thinking I’ll try to use some outlines of shoes with paint being applied as my artistic styling. A play on shoes as an artistic motif.
3/6/19
Break down of the features of the design
The pitch
Before: My user would log on to Twitter and sees that Nike is dropping new shoes.
After: My Users log on to the hub and scroll the new release page.
Before: They wake up at 11:45 pm to buy shoes, they log-in to Bots program to get ready
After: My User logs on before bed to check to see if his favorite shoes are in the Favorite section of the HUB. All Shoes in the Favorite section will auto purchase during the release.
Before: Receive shoes, sellers have to keep track of sales on their own.
After: Input how much the shoes are sold for will keep track of net and gross Sales.
Before: log on to Slack to talk with the cook group to get news and updates.
After: Can talk with Cook Groups inside of Hub. Can share shoes, news, and favorites directly to other users.
Intro Cartoon:
Coding
I have glitched my journal website to the point where the images do not size correctly. The shoe images (3) do not line up the right way and I’m thinking about changing the menu. It's a bit too thick for me.
3/16/19
Design
Adding more of an intro to explain the need for my design is the response I’m receiving in class. So I have started a sympathy map, Elevator Pitch, and will make a storyboard for the buying process pre my design.
Elevator pitch
There is a subculture that exists right under our noses. People who buy and resale sneakers for a profit. Unfortunately, they spend hours a day and $1,000s of dollars on bots just to get the opportunity to buy the shoes they want. I want to help their process by taking all the tools they use and combining them into one. I hope to increase their revenue by upping their odds in buying shoes.
3/11/19
Coding
Working with Hamilton he noticed that I was missing a <! Doctype html> which caused the website to think it was a 5037px width. This caused the image issues I spoke of earlier. I will need to start thinking about how I will use navigation and what kind of art I want to create. But I’m pleased with the progress so far. Still, no word from Stockx It looks like I'll be creating my database. I have also Redesign the navigation to fit better with the overall theme of the site.
3/18/19
Coding
Midpoint review
At this point on my timeline for this semester, I wanted to have my Journal Website Close to done. Currently, I need some help getting the navigation to work the way I’d like. It does not work with the animation I have received from Hamilton. It seems to glitch and layer the text over the animation anytime you click a button. I also tried to add a smooth scroll to my site but was unable to get it to work as well. I tried a jquery and CSS function neither worked.
I have just been introduced to JSON Generator (https://json-generator.com) and my mind is blown! I will now use this instead of a Database I created from scraping the Stockx website. I will be able to create new shoe releases, sold shoe prices on the exchange page (where you track your sales), and create an evaluator.
What I can do:
By next week I'll have a login page with a functional create a member section using firebase. Update timeline.
I’ll need help:
I’ll need help converting the data into a page format. And fixing the bugs on my journal page so I don’t have a big animation glitch when you click a button.
Design
I have created a file that shows my thesis needs from my user's viewpoint click here.
4/26/18
User
User one: high investor
User two: low investor
User three: non-resaler
Task flow
First-time log-in ( User one, User two, and User three)
Log in
Add payment
Select favorite brands
Buying shoes ( User one, User two, and User three)
Log in
Select shoes from new release or search results
Add to My Favorites
Keeping track of shoe sales
Log in
Find shoe you sold on the purchased page
Add how many shoes sold at what price
Go to the Analysis page see the profit margin, sync with Stockx and/or eBay?
The product page how to:
Problems:
But multiple shoes with different sizes
Don’t sell all shoes at once
How to display so many shoes on one page
Task two:
