Re'Seed is an app that acts as a digital receipt bank with the aim to help users with visual impairment read receipts and inform them about their recent purchases.
This project was split into three iterations during the 4-month term, in which each team member would take on a different role.
About Re’Seed
THE GOAL was to create a product that addressed and reduced inequalities in the world. Our team took this prompt and chose to create an application that would help visually impaired individuals read receipts while also giving them a place to safe-keep their receipts for their tax needs.
THE PROBLEM with traditional printed receipts is that the thermal ink used is hard to read, even for someone with good eyesight. Our research found that 2.4 million Canadians aged 15 and over have a print disability. In addition to that, according to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), there are an estimated 500,000 Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Though our target market was niche, it still had the possibility to help many people.
Re'Seed includes a receipt scanning function with an integrated screen reader, as well as text-to-speech functionality all throughout the app to help visually impaired individuals.
IN RETROSPECT, I learned many valuable lessons during this project, especially when switching roles from business, visual design, and project manager. This was the first time I got to act as a project manager, and the experience really allowed me to hone my skills in leadership, team management, and collaboration.
ITERATION 1 ROLE
Business team member
TOOLS
Google Docs
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Teams
ITERATION 2 ROLE
Visual Design team member
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator
Figma
As a business team member during the first iteration of this project, I assisted with the initial research that would go into the nitty gritty details of Re’Seed as a product and as a business. We analyzed how Re’Seed would be sustainable as a business and worked on creating a business model. I was also responsible for writing the mission statement and value proposition for the business report.
As a visual design team member during the second iteration of this project, I made our initial logo, put together our design system, and lead the visual design team meetings. We split up the screen designs to work more effectively. Although the final design of Re’Seed does not reflect my initial designs, I think that my work laid out a good foundation to be improved upon for the refined final design.
ITERATION 3 ROLE
Project Manager
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Figma
Microsoft Teams
Google Docs + Slides
As the project manager during the second iteration of this project, I made a roadmap for the iteration and set a timeline for us to work effectively. I scheduled meetings based on the time everyone was most available and ensured that everyone was on track with their tasks. I set deadlines for each deliverable, as well as a soft deadline in order to have all the content ready for our final report.
In the meantime, I was putting together the report and the presentation slide deck. I planned out the report layout in Illustrator and refined all the alignment and margins within InDesign. I did my best to check in with each team member and ensure that everyone was working well. I think I did well with leading the team for the most part, and we did not fall behind on any deadlines that we had set.
I challenged myself to be in a leadership position as I had not done so in any other group project before. I learned the qualities of a good leader and I learned how to work as a team while also holding some authority. The only thing I regret is not enforcing more open communication with the team as many calls felt awkward if I did not guide the meetings. I slowly learned how to guide our meetings better and to get more team members to talk in meetings, but I think I could definitely improve in this aspect.
Try our final prototype here:
Watch our final presentation here: