It's 5pm App

Challenge

Playing on the phrase “it’s five o’clock somewhere,” the 5pm app is a silly project for the startup DAFapps, which tells people looking for an excuse to start a happy hour event, where in the world it’s 5pm at any given time. Challenges included, on the one hand the question of how to programmatically address the many conflicts between varying time zone offset, inconsistencies in the application of daylight savings, land versus nautical time zones and other irregularities in global time standards; on the other hand, the massive amount of graphic assets that needed to be created, and, lastly, to a minor degree, how to deal with scalable vector graphics to render truly responsive adaptions of the background screens.

Approach

I partnered with an extremely talented and experienced developer to brainstorm how we could go about producing this, and we decided on building a screen-sharing app inspired on the look of vintage travel posters from the turn of the XX century. The concept took quite a bit of brainstorming, and we iterated and pivoted a lot based on challenged assumptions and feedback we obtained from testing a few prototypes with actual, would-be users. The decision was made to opt for HTML5 instead of the costly native app approach, for budgetary reasons as well as for speed to market.

Results

Production was interrupted due to some issues outside of our control as the startup itself reevaluated their charter and business focus. DAFapps does retain the rights to the concept and derivative works so we remain on hold hoping we may be provided the opportunity to finish the project some day. In the mean time, DAFapps has graciously granted us a license to showcase the work, of which we’re very proud, as part of our career portfolios, and perhaps we may resume operations soon.

WHAT
Mobile App
(sole UX & visual resource + vector illustrator)

WHO
DAFapps

WHEN
2011-2014

so many screens…

One of the most involved parts of this project, but also one of the most enjoyable, was the research and illustration work that went into building the “travel posters” for all of the locations. There were too many to try to fit in here, but here’s a good sample.

Testimonials from Happy Customers

Alfonso excels at growing design teams - he is able to find talented people and has the knowledge and care to help build their skills.
Brandon Anderson Director of Proudct. eCommerce at Bluestem Brands
Smart designer, great attention to detail, great member of our team.
Aaron Kirscht Senior Copywriter at Target
Alfonso is creative, smart & extremely talented. On numerous occasions he brought ideas to the table that no one had considered. He thinks beyond just what looks right, or what works right. He’s excellent at seeing the big picture.
Tim Pekarna Lead Product Owner at Target.com
Alfonso is one of the best designers I’ve ever met. He’s got a knack for creating something that looks great, and meets the business objectives.
Jason Grey CTO
I had the pleasure of placing Alfonso at Martin Williams. His energy, passion for interactive, sense of humor and dedication to his work is outstanding. I would highly recommend Alfonso for other interactive positions and would entertain the opportunity to work with him again.
Jessie Novey, PHR Sr. HR Business Partner at C. H. Robinson
Alfonso is an amazingly talented and conscientious lead designer who has always brought a high degree of excellence and introspect towards his work. Alfonso's design leadership and attention to detail was a linchpin for the many successes we had with the Target corporate experience and its ability to elevate the brand overall.
Leo Padron Product Designer, Entrepeneur
Alfonso’s design sensibility, creative energy and social finesse lend him to be an industry leader/innovator.
Alfonso’s design expertise is well seasoned and mature. Truly a keystone creative.
James Schneider Jr. Was Creative Director at Target
Alfonso has some of the most innovative and technically sound interactive creative work I have seen to date. He is passionate and sincere about design. His work is thoughtful, highly creative and he makes the most appropriate use of emerging technology. He is a loyal and humble employee.
Kathryn Duncan Managing Partner at CLICK Talent
Alfonso joined my team as a freelancer to help us in time crunch. His even, calm demeanor was perfect for the time crunched project and the creative work was top notch. He’s got a very fresh design sensibility, very international in flavor; and he’s a skilled animator. I’d gladly hire him again if I had the opportunity.
Lance Thornswood VP, Omnichannel & UX at US Bank