Catie Jo Pidel

iDeate is an app that allows for mobile brainstorming between multiple devices. Ideas are drawn on a blank canvas, then synced to a Google Drive folder shared between all participants. There main application of this project will be in brainstorming research. I am working with a professor of Product Design at the University of Minnesota, who contributes a lot of research in this field. Unfortunately, Short of video taping a session and manually transcribing it, there are few good ways to track a brainstorming session. Therefore, iDeate is designed not only to allow for paperless brainstorming, but to then display metrics of a brainstorming session in an convenient dashboard. I started by creating a prototype in Adobe Illustrator, then prototyping it using Marvel. The design has since changed considerably, but you can view this initial prototype at https://marvelapp.com/4ca4e96.

After considering different technology choices, I opted to go with an HTML5 web application. This will allow iDeate to run on any device (computer, tablet, mobile), and allowed me to strengthen my web development skill set. Currently, I have an app that will draw on a blank canvas, then save that image to a folder of your choosing in Google Drive. This prototype was made using Polymer, html/CSS/JavaScript, and the Google Drive REST API. I created the pencil icons myself in Adobe Illustrator, and used Google's material design icons everywhere else.

Future work will involve creating a way to display images in a folder (similar to viewing post-it notes on a wall), allowing users to name their ideas (for better searchability), and writing scripts to analyze brainstorming metrics for a given session (such as ideas per minute over the course of the brainstorming session).