Press Release
Pal App by Drew Tozer Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design
The international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Drew Tozer for mobile technologies, applications and software design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Pal App by Drew Tozer has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design category. The result belongs to the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Pal App
Pal is a mobile application designed to reduce loneliness among young adults affected by social media dependency. The application uses blockchain and artificial intelligence to track personal health progress and to suggest tailored tips. Social features encourage users to meet others and to build friendships and healthy habits offline. The tools include a local event calendar, a routine builder, a chat with a professional and a personal progress tracker. A short questionnaire at sign-up identifies the skills each user can develop.
About Drew Tozer
Drew Tozer is a young designer from Halifax, Canada. She is a fourth year student at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and has studied in Germany as well. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, Germany, and Japan. Drew's drive and ambition as a student motivates her to share her findings through the hosting of workshops and lectures. Through design, she's passionate about exploring how systems can shift to be more sensitive and considerate of people, resources, and community.
Award Record
Drew Tozer is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design Award
The A' Mobile Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good design in mobile industry by leading designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to mobile designers, application developers, software engineers and user interface designers from all countries. Typical entries include smartphones, tablets, wearables, mobile applications, mobile games and mobile software. The awarded mobile designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/mobile
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/92264
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/92264
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!92264
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/243654
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://bit.ly/2OjUYiG
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Pal App
- Function
- App
- Category
- Mobile Technologies, Applications and Software Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Software and Electronics & Appliances
- Colors
- Khaki, Dim Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Linen and Gainsboro
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Drew Tozer
- Country
- Canada
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #92264
Credits
- Image Credits
- Creator IQUII Digital Company, iPhone X - Free Responsive Mockup, 2017.; Creator ANTHONY BOYD GRAPHICS, Clay iPhone X Mockup Vol.2, 2018. https://www.anthonyboyd.graphics/mockups/clay-iphone-x-mockup-vol-2/; Creator COBE, 8 Photorealistic iPhone 7 Mockups, 2016.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Pal is a blockchain and AI powered app to reduce loneliness in young adults who are suffering from social media dependencies. The app uses a variety of personal health widgets to track user progress and suggest helpful, personalized tips. The apps social widgets promote users to meetup and build meaningful friendships and habits offline. The widgets include a local event calendar, routine builder, chat with a professional, and a personal progress tracker.
- Inspiration
- Inspiration for Pal came from other mental health apps, such as Headspace, Youper, Calm, and Moodkit. The decision to approach loneliness as the main problem was inspired by user interviews, where many young adults identified their struggles with loneliness originating or worsening from an overuse of social media. My main objective was to create an accessible and friendly app that supports and encourages lonely young adults to make healthy transitions for their mental and physical health.
- Research
- Research began with journals on loneliness and social media usage, 13 interviews with the target demographic, and a survey. I learned that meaningful face-to-face connections and engagement with hobbies were the best way to reduce loneliness. Therefore, Pal was made with a routine builder to keep users on healthy schedules; a map that allows users to track their progress; a chat that hears their worries and responds helpfully; and an event planner that offers users opportunities to meet locals.
- Challenge
- The most challenging creative challenge was identifying how to promote spending less time on social media through an app. Pal had to become the "anti social media", which meant finding opportunities for users to get off the app and build meaningful connections, stronger physical and mental health. Every feature of Pal's has to work to promote less screen time.
- Realization and Technology
- The app was prototyped using Sketch for a user centred experience. All illustrations were created on Adobe Illustrator. The prototype is focused on a speculative user profile, Remy, who reflects a combination of users interviewed for this project.
- Operation and Interaction
- Users that create an account with Pal first fill out a brief questionnaire that helps the app to identify skills that the user can focus on to decrease loneliness. The home page will use a smart interface to prompt users to record certain physical health measures, and recommend helpful tips (such as drinking more water and eating more food). It will also notify users of upcoming events and provide friendly encouraging messages. From the homepage, users can access any of the features.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project started in January 2019 and was finished in April 2019 in Halifax, Canada at NSCAD University.
- Specifications
- The AI system will receive chronological data on events, progress in skills, and from other apps from pal’s integrated blockchain-run data collection. This way, it knows how to track progress and suggest tools and tips for growing progress in your specified skill groups. The data will also help to monitor your routine via logs on the blockchain. If the user permits pal access to their data from social media apps, it’ll use it to track time spent on the app, and provide gentle reminders when user’s overstep their goals for social media usage.
- Keywords
- UX, UI, User Centred, Mental Health, User Research, Design Thinking
