I’ve been taking a four-course UI/UX design certification through California Institute of the Arts. I’ve just wrapped up the second class in the series, UX Design Fundamentals. We’re currently sheltering in place due to the COVID pandemic, and having moved through the “Baking Bread” and “Playing Animal Crossing and Minecraft” phases of the pandemic, my family is now in the “Setting Up a Fancy Goldfish Aquarium” phase (specifically, Ranchu goldfish, if you were curious: they’re super cute). So for this class, it seemed only appropriate to focus on my new hobby by designing an accessible aquarium water test reader app.

This course went into more depth, focusing on planning, testing, researching, and mapping our apps. We were to choose a concept that solved a real-life problem for its users. While we developed the logic of our apps, we also developed the visual look and feel. Finally, we created clickable prototypes using XD.

Here’s the premise for my app, AquaSee.

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AquaSee is an accessible aquarium water test reader.

Weekly water tests keep home fish tanks healthy by detecting changes in conditions so they might be fixed promptly. AquaSee is an app for the color blind, vision impaired, or those new to aquarium keeping, that uses a phone’s camera to match the color of water tests for pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, to their resulting reading. Having trouble seeing subtle differences in test water color shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Test your fish tank’s water with confidence, and keep your fish healthy.

—Scan freshwater or saltwater test kit results for pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates

—Indicate the test result based on the water color in the sample

—Keep a record of your tank’s readings over time and allow users to log water changes, introduction of plants, fish, and other notes

—Make recommendations for action based on water conditions, the size of your tank, and other variables

—Political: Make pet fish care accessible to all (vision impaired, new to the hobby)

—Beneficial: Keep pet fish healthy

—Educational: Educate fish owners about how to care for their fish’s environment

—Functional: Make weekly pet fish chores easier and fun

—Tetra My Aquarium—Build your own tank by species type or water type. App provides water care, diagnosis and solutions for tank water.

—Spark Water—Water Test Strip Reader. Automatically reads the test strip and delivers hassle-free and instant results to your phone screen.

—My Fish Pal—No More Soggy Notebooks. Replace pen and paper aquarium logs with an advanced app.

—Red-green color-blind goldfish hobbyist dad in his 30s who loves his fish and wants them healthy

—Vision-impaired, lifelong saltwater fish owner in her 60s, who wants to be confident that her readings are accurate

—Teen-aged girl who is new to keeping fish and learning the ropes of tank care for her guppies and tetras

—Middle-aged yellow-blue colorblind dad who needs accurate water readings for his family’s beautiful living room showcase tank, now that his kids have gone to college and can’t help interpret the readings

—Hal is a 35-year-old home goldfish tank enthusiast, finding them fun and soothing to watch. His kids enjoy them too.

—He has 2 Pearlscale goldfish and a few Mystery snails in a 30 gallon tank, which needs weekly maintenance.

—He is red-green colorblind, making reading his weekly water tests challenging unless a family member can help read the results.

—He cares about keeping the fish healthy and wants to track and catch water issues early so his fish have the best chance of living many years.