Week 02

Skin Degree!!!

After going back and forth from my presentation last semester I have decided to change my degree project. I do think over population is a serious topic but found myself not emerging myself into this subject as much as I thought I would. Last semester I went back and forth between two topics: overpopulation vs skin. I thought at the time to choose skin as an option for my degree project would just be something that I would like. For some time now I have had an obsession around skin, over the years I have dug deeper into knowing more and more about the tissue that can heal itself is marvelous to me. Based on some of my previous projects I find myself liking to research topics, find solutions and show a visual way of an answer. Last semester, when I thought of this idea, I thought I would be the only person who would really enjoy to learn more about skin. However, during break I visited with an Esthetician who was also in med-school, about the myths and ways to treat your skin. I mentioned how I wanted to create an app about skin and how to treat one's skin to the very best, but thought it was too dorky and no one would be interested. She disagreed with me, saying it would be nice if my clients had a good understand about the foundation of their OWN skin, and be able to understand what it takes to have healthy skin. She also mentioned, it would be helpful for as a professional to know what their medical/family history is before they walk in the door. After two weeks in studio and reading articles, looking for visual references about overpopulation, I kept thinking back to that conversation. So before it was too late I decided to go with my instinct and change my topic.

The complexion of someone can be a very sore subject to people. Just by walking past any newspaper stand with the latest on Kim Kardasian, could make anyone feel insecure. We are literally injecting our faces with fat cells, whatever is in Botox, and stretching out our skin so tight up around our ear we might as well be elephants. After years of teenage popping dreams, I have read every cosmopolitain and how to improve and be healthy to your skin. Because lets face it (no pun intended) its probably one of the first attributes we look into when we meet someone. With this app I want the audience to reach a healthy balance within their own skin. This is my main objective, but there are much more sever skin deceases/ disorders that people deal with every day. Most of the time it is not even on their face.

(Personal Story) Almost 6 years ago I did not my 14-day Amoxicillin because I was young and it seemed my strep throat had disappeared within around day 9. What I did not know at the time is that since I had not finished my medicine for my internal body, I broke out in circular red rashes. After seeing a dermatologist he diagnosed me with Psoriasis, saying strep can come out in many forms. Embarrassing, as it was, I has no idea what this even in tailed. After googling and searching for how long it could last I had no direct answers. Every website gave a different explanation, and it just confused me. Although this was before the iPhone or iPad it would have been nice to have an informational source to answer all of my questions. Now that we have WebMD, Wikipedia, and Google has advanced the topic of skin is still not user friendly yet. I researched different skin applications, and there are acne-popping games, image capturing of a suspicious rash/mole but nothing that helps to inform the user of what their condition might be. There are many different aspects that are to look at when taking proper care of your skin. Yet, only Neutrogena's website, and another app that allows the user to custom make a skin routine for yourself.

This is what I am proposing as an end result to my degree project. I want to know how Graphic Design can help improve the quality in someones skin? We put creams and scrub our faces blindness in hoping it will reveal a baby's bottom. I am not promising this flawless outcome to the user. However, I want to provide information on skin in detail that answers questions teenagers can feel, someone battling burn scares, or questionable moles. In that respect, to narrow down my audience will be a little more difficult. To solve this problem, and a healthy outcome for this project I want to create 3 personas. With these personas they can be diverse by age/ race/ gender/ medical history/ profession/ where they live. When creating my scenarios; each one will represent a different persona. As of now my objective is to create problems for 3 different people and with the app find 3 different solutions all ending with how to improve the quality of ones skin. So it is hard to imagine a specific audience type, all I know right now is they will have different skin issues but will be able to find solutions.

I have thought about how these solutions can be categorized. One communication that I want to improve is doctor and patient. Everyone has had the moment when a doctor asks you a silly/ simple question and you are out of words.

Like Ma’am, what vitamins do you take?

Flintstones...? Oh yes and flaxseed and vitamin c, etc.

One of the solutions that I want to create is to keep track of someone's diet. This includes any medications, bad fatty foods, good fatty goods, fruits, and veggies. You name it. Many hair nail skin ad's are promoting how their product includes avocado oil. Otherwise known as vitamin E, this is an excellent source for your skin. It helps to nourish and moisturizes skin from the inside out (if eaten or taken as a supplement). There are many good vitamins that can be found in food that help to release toxins but can also prevent cancers, anti-aging, and boost your immune system like Vitamin C can. It is amazing how someone's diet can determine so many aspects of their life. With acknowledging what is in the user's diet, good and bad, it will help to determine if their are giving their body the proper nutrition. One of the amazing aspects of how the skin works is because it is a reflection of how you are taking care of your body on the inside.

A branch from one's diet is the climate they live in. This may sound odd, but where you live has a big portion to do with how healthy your skin is. This is because of sun exposure, climate control, and water sources. Depending on the season sun exposure can be very damaging to your skin, even when skiing or in the middle of winter with snow on the ground. With too much sun exposure you can easily burn your skin, peeling off layers making your skin even more vulnerable to damage. This can lead to aging quickly, leather face, and cancer. What environment you are at can play a determining factor in how healthy your skin is. Depending on the skin type, oily, dry, normal, combination. The climate can influence your skin to react in a positive or negative way. Drier/ cooler climates can be harsh on skin, allowing to not having enough moisture that it can crack and bleed. An easy way to tell is how in the wintertime after being outside for a view hours your lips can produce an extra layer or skin to prevent from cracking. The last climate indicator would be the source of water. Water is one of the major factors in taking proper care of your skin. Depending on where you live and what the cities purifying system is, this could affect the look and health of your skin. The old wives tale says to drink almost a gallon of water a day. Depending on your caffeine/alcohol intake, this is probably true. For happy skin is to hydrate it very well, working from the inside out. Also, the user is showering in water. Letting usually steam to open up pores and release toxins. If the water may have minerals that have not been purified through that user is drinking them as well as. (SIDE NOTE: Some of us know her as Julia Roberts who won that Oscar, but Erin Brockovich's story was true. Now since that Hinkley insolent happened, the U.S has put a tight rope around the purifying water. But one can understand how the importance of water could certainly influence ones health, let alone their skin).

So before I ramble on more about what the solutions can be from my research, there are more answers that I would like to address within making my app. As of right now I can picture many different ways to answer my personas questions about the health of their skin. Through info graphs on diagrams of the skin, I thought would be beneficial. What is the different between a black head and white head. Where are on the user's body are they having issues with their skin. As of today I believe the more visuals I can show to explain the solutions to their problems would be the best. As well as the diagrams that I can support, I would like the user to input their own aspect. For example a feature I would like to explore would be if they were to take a picture of the issue and the app would help to identify what it is, as well as if this is something that they should seek medical attention about. As well as "feed" board that the user can tag different skin problems they would like to be aware of if new studies come in. What they want to learn, what products are best for their skin as well as treatments that might need to handle by a medical profession.

As I stated before, where the user is will be a significant portion of their profile. As well as informing them to hydrate more or put more sunscreen on, it would be nice if the app would supply them with medical professions that specialize in the users needs. Rather than going through the yellow pages, or Google to find a specialist, this app could have ratings based on what the doctor might specialize in. As well as connect the user to the doctor as well as address, directions and whom to speak with. My very very very out their dream would be that once they have contacted the doctor, they would be able to send in the data from the app to the doctor. He/she can review the user's history, medications, daily skin routines, and be that more personal to the patient. I believe that if I were to get to this point and really flush out how to improve communication between M.D's and patients, it would help to push even further of what we originally thought apps could do. I'm still debating if I would like to pursue the iPad, iPhone, or with all of this information does it need to come back to an original home; a website. As of the schedule I made, I am working just towards an app, however there are 3 scenarios, perhaps 2 could be one device and they could link back to the website.