P6 - Final Design

HOMEPAGE

The homepage for my website will feature will be bright, colourful and enticing meaning that it draws the attention of the user. It will feature a task bar at the top of the page that is the main hub for the user and includes a home icon, search bar, profile editor and settings icon. The main page has a blue and white text theme with a colourful rainbow background that will be standard across all pages of the website to represent the "pride" theme. Advertising will be done in vertical downward banners that are located on either side of the page and feature all of the latest adverts and offers from different promoted companies. The main aim of the page is to entice people to use the website and create and account adding more users and user ship.

MEMBERS PAGE

The members page of the website will feature many different icons that the user can use to relocate to different parts of the website. The members page can be described as the central "hub" of the website it forms the backbone to every page and all of the information is located further down the page. The advertisement is along the top underneath the task-bar and the UI design is modern with simple and minimalist icons that help to keep a professional and modern design. The text is all sans serif font so that the overall informal but yet professional theme is kept throughout with a black and white, gender neutral colour theme

P5 Developing A New Social Media App

P5A - Purpose

I am planning to develop a new LGBTQ social media that is aiming to bring the LGBT community closer. The app will be designed as a chat app where users can make new friends, host chat rooms, post pictures about their daily life and special events and will have a strong support base fro individuals within the community who may need a bit of a helping hand. The app aims to bring people closer and allows for certain individuals to speak out in the comfort of the app. The community can often be frowned upon and discriminated against which means that some people can not express themselves properly on certain types of social media whereas this app will solve the problem by allowing people to just be themselves in the account that they make.

The app will be aimed at individuals within the community or people who are just interested and want to find out some more about it. This is because the app is gender neutral and supports all different types of genders that are supported within the LGBTQ community. Certain studies show that many people can still not express themselves fully on the likes of Facebook and Instagram due to the fear of negative discrimination or cyber bullying. This app will therefore take the place of others and has a complete privacy feel due to the sensitive nature of the subject and issues that are targeted.

P5B - Content

My app will include many unique features that will appeal to the target audience for example the app will be very colourful to appeal to the community and represent the many different flags that exist. The app will also be based around privacy due to the sensitive nature of the targeted topics and issues meaning that people can hide certain things on their account so that only they or they and their friends can see it. Every account will have a private option meaning that the content is not visible unless the user is a friend of the other. The option is available also so that the persons gender is visible on their account and this gives users the chance to filter in and out certain options so that finding friends to talk to is easier overall.

One of the very unique and original features to the app will be the "support centre" of the app. This is a completely professional part of the app that will be worked closely with trained professionals who volunteer some of their spare time throughout the week to speak and hold talks with individuals who need the support. This part of the app will also feature a forum that will be aimed at helping others by allowing for certain users to post openly at their own will about past experiences so that other users can anonymously comment on and receive support from other users.

The main focus will be on colour and a very casual laid back style. This will be achieved by having very vibrant base colours and sans serif fonts so that is does not represent anything formal. The support centre will be the only part of the app to have a serious and formal look to it but this is to keep the image very professional and supporting. The support centre will feature mainly serif fonts to give the professional feeling

P5C - Target User/Membership

My target user for the app will be anybody from the LGBTQ community. The app will appeal to all genders and not target a specific one but will have sections for different genders within the app itself. The age range will be targeting the younger ages from early teen to young adults as this is the majority of the community in the modern day and this is the age range that needs the most support or who are looking for ways to communicate with others like themselves. Marketing will also target the straight community who are willing to support or help others who are going through a difficult time. It was shown that the community is in need of a specific worldwide LGBT social app that can put the community in a positive light. The community is also ever growing day by day with more people joining and supporting the LGBT rights movement. Alot of the targeted membership and adverting will targeting at different Pride festivals around the world appealing to more and more people as the festivals run.

P5D -  production plan with launch date

The app will be released on the 2nd of June 2018 to celebrate "Pride Month" that runs throughout June as this is to commemorate the famous 1969 stonewall riots in New York. This is now therefore when most of the pride festivals take place and it is a very big month of the year for the community as it is all about gaining recognition for the movement of LGBT rights. Production will start on 2nd December 2017 and finishing in time for the of the start of pride month in June of 2018

P5E - Possible Revenue Streams

My social media app will feature advertising from certain companies either down the side of the screen or at the top of the screen. This will generate revenue and make the site money whilst allowing for companies to advertise on the site. We will also allow for people to have their accounts "boosted" for a certain price, this will allow for the selected person to have their account appear first in everyone's find friends list and so on turn will try and gain them more popularity. This will make the website money aswell.

Site Map

Site map from Rhys Spence-Robb

P4D - Mock Ups

P4 d – mock ups from Rhys Spence-Robb

P4 Social Media Ideas

Social Media Ideas LGBTQ Social App

 a)      The purpose of the app will be to connect the LGBTQ community together and allow for people to chat and speak about their problems or issues. It is a platform that allows for members of the community to speak to each other and share their experiences as well. It will be a safe and secure platform for people who are maybe shy or insecure about their personality or gender, the app allows for them to gain friends who are in a similar situation and chat with others who have had similar experiences. It will include different message platforms eg, messages and voice/video calls that are free and used from Wi-Fi or mobile data. It is a very diverse community and so the app stands as a way to bring different parts of the community together in an informal and relaxed manner.

b)      The app will be presented in a very colourful way, making use of bright and vibrant colours to make the overall appeal of the app happy and light hearted. It will also be laid out in a very informal way with casual fonts and bright colours but will maintain a professional look throughout so that it ensures the clean working of the app. The format will include different categories for each letter of the LGBTQ and will allow for people to say on their profile which letter they are, this allows for users to know who they are talking to and lets them speak to the right people. The app will include forums where mass discussions take place about relevant issues and news within the community, individual users can post topics about their choice for others to help out with or have a discussion about. There will also be a direct message service between users that includes group chats, private chats and voice/video calling that is free and works off WIFI.

c)      The target user and membership is anybody from the LGBTQ community or anybody who is interested in the community also. As the app will provide support discussions and support groups made by people with the same experiences as one another, the app will target people in the community who are scared, afraid or simply don’t know about their sexuality. It is often a delicate matter to discuss some of these issues which is why the app is 100% confidential and private with private chats and discussions that only certain people can see. There will also be different sections depending on the age of some users that makes it easier to chat to somebody who is the same or similar age as yourself.

 2^nd Idea LGBTQ dating app

a)      The purpose of this app will be to get the LGBTQ community closer, not many dating apps support some of the different letters within the LGBTQ. Some people may find it difficult to use these apps as there is a clear “gay” section but not for the whole community. This means that some of the community are scared to date on these apps and would benefit from an app that supported the entirety of the community. The app will feature different genders and sexualities and the app will be completely private for the users with information that can be hidden from others if the user chooses. It will have a very laid back approach with an emphasis on privacy and sensitivity.

b)      The app will have a very laid back approach with vibrant and bright colours to create a happy and relaxed feel. It will follow the aim of the app and use a very subtle colour palette making the colours flow with one another creating the feeling that the app is none different from the rest. It will also be produced in a sans-serif font that creates an informal atmosphere and a friendly environment compared to a serif font that would give a more formal and serious look. The app will also be easy to navigate but will have a lot of different sections to it that can only be accessed once an account has been logged into. None of the features can be accessed unless there is an active login on that device which makes the app more secure.

c)      My target audience and users are the LGBTQ community. There is not enough in terms of dating apps for some letter of the community and so the app will be targeting all the letters and allowing for people who may not want to use a conventional “gay” dating app they can feel more comfortable here and speak to people who they feel comfortable with.

P3C - Product/Service Reviews

P3C – Product/Service Reviews

User reviews have a big impact on whether people purchase products in the modern day. There are entire websites set up nowadays that specifically focus on user reviews of products and services. Many people will also use social media to give their opionon and review on a specific experience or company. This can really affect everything and everyone as it can become viral overnight.

Reviews can have a big impact as one negative review can spark a network of others. It can then lead to other users becoming influenced by these reviews and ultimately the company or site can lose out. On the other hand, the social media sites can be the beginning of a viral boycott or bad publicity for a company as most people will go to a social media site to complain or write about a bad experience or review. This can be the other way around however with social media sites having a positive impact on society and a particular event or review as these reviews have the potential to be viewed by millions within minutes

P3B - Viral Marketing

Many different social media sites have different ways to market virally. Many social media sites use their partners and sister companies to market through. This is a good way to gain recognition as many different social media companies are working together or are jointly part of the same overall company.

Another method to market virally is to advertise free games on the sites. Facebook has a lot of built in free games to the site that users can play at any time. Advertising these games can have a big impact positively on the site and can lead to more users and more overall use of the site.

Advertising products, services and local news is also a good thing to do as the likes of twitter has many different links as soon as the user clicks onto the site to many different news stories and gives the user a good insight into the news

P3A - Advertising

Facebook

Facebook uses a few different advertising techniques. The main one being sponsored adverts that appear in the feed of the user. This is a very effective system as it means the user must scroll past the adverts to get to the next part and hence prompting them to click on it. Another method that Facebook uses to advertise is to have notifications and events for certain companies that can be promoted for a certain amount of time at any given time.

Instagram

Instagram also uses similar methods to advertise as Facebook in that it has many different sponsored posts from different companies and people and has business accounts that are dedicated to certain people and companies that want to advertise. Instagram also includes different sponsored pages that appear first in the users feed enticing them to click the link.

Twitter

Twitter creates and sells promoted tweets to marketers. These then appear in users feeds and the company creates tailored advertising opportunities by using an algorithm to make sure promoted tweets make it into the right user’s timelines. Promoted accounts are those paid for by an advertiser that Twitter places in targeted users' "Who to Follow" list.