The Graphical User Interface course tasked students with creating an interactive mobile application that shared knowledge and experiences gained through participation in the CIID. Over the course of three weeks, Chepe Gems was developed as an effort to improve the local experience of CIID students.

Chepe Gems is an interactive guide that will help future IDP cohorts, as well as visiting friends and faculty, to quickly identify the best food and entertainment offered by the surrounding neighborhoods of San Jose. The application comprises suggestions and reviews from current IDP students, ultimately forming a curated list of locations for users to explore. 

Upon first opening the app, the user is prompted to select a category of activities from the main menu. Selecting a category opens a sub-menu from which the user can find a list of relevant locations and an associated summary of each item. Choosing a specific location navigates to a “place profile,” which includes such information as dietary preference, affordability, location, and first-person commentary.

Lessons learned from this project include thinking intuitively about user interaction and information flow within an application. Low and high fidelity prototyping skills were acquired through the use of professional-level software such as Figma and Origami. Visual design played an important role in this project, employing such tools as font selection, color palettes, and diagrammatic representation; while interactive design tools included item looping, scroll functions, tap/swipe interactions, transitions, pop animations, switches, and time delays.