Rocky

the Prismatext mobile app for iOS & Android

Background

The earliest Prismatext books were literally emailed to customers as EPUBs and MOBIs, which they then had to side-mount onto their chosen e-reader. This was a cumbersome process, and it was clear that a more streamlined solution was needed.

Process

My first responsibility was to write a requirements document to describe in great detail what Rocky would do and how it would interact with Bullwinkle. I then performed teardowns on existing e-reader apps, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses against the criteria outlined in the specification document. With these two complete, I was able to quickly create wireframes to illustrate various workflows and states of the mobile application. With the user journeys mapped out, I then focused on finalizing the look & feel of the app, creating robust components and taking care to document certain design considerations for incoming designers.

Takeaway

Because of my specialization in Product Design, the temptation was strong for me to jump into every screen and interaction and work to perfection—but as a cofounder of the company, the hats I wore are myriad, so I had to learn to take a step back from pushing pixels and focus on the bigger picture. I learned to trust my team to execute on the vision I had laid out, and I learned to communicate that vision in a way that was clear and actionable.