THI students take excellent places in the German UPA Challenge on product innovations

Students from the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in User Experience Design at the Faculty of Computer Science at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI) have taken excellent places in the German UPA Challenge. The German UPA Challenge is organised by the professional association of German usability and user experience professionals. The German UPA association represents professionals in the field of user experience (UX) and software ergonomics (usability) in German-speaking countries.

Every year, the German UPA Challenge looks for product innovations. Students and young professionals from the fields of user experience and related disciplines can participate as individuals and as a team. This year, a new record was set with 44 videos submitted. A short video presenting a prototype for a product with an innovative user experience and its use had to be submitted.

Among the applicants, three THI participants made it into the top five.

3rd place: Bimalesh Sahoo, Mariia Novik and Ishan Gupta (UXD Master)

The award went to the app Privy, which gives users control over their data security. It was created as a short design in Practical Training Interaction Design. "We have various applications on our mobile phones that access our data. However, it is not obvious to most users which data this refers to in each case. Privy is an app that makes visible what data other installed apps are accessing and gives the possibility to intervene. Users can turn on/off access to certain areas of data, pictures and videos, contacts, locations and even the microphone if this seems unnecessary or irrelevant. An innovative display and interaction concept ensures that users have an uncomplicated, real-time view of which app is sharing data and can influence this directly," the students explain their project.

4th place: Pia Schurr (for her UXD Bachelor thesis).

The thesis is about the conception of a mobile application that is supposed to help people with insomniac complaints to improve their sleep quality and quantity. The app focuses on the independent treatment of the symptoms on the one hand and on the optimisation of the course of therapy for both the patient and the treating doctor on the other. With the help of the digitalisation of the treatment of insomnia, the treatment should be made possible for a larger number of the population.

5th place: Julia Reichl (for her UXD bachelor thesis)

As part of her bachelor thesis, she developed a concept and design for a digital platform based on the user-centred design process. This is intended to facilitate communication between institutions for people with disabilities and their relatives and thus not only save time for caregivers, but also give families more insight into the everyday life of their relatives. To ensure user-centred design, the entire elaboration and every step of the process was created in cooperation with the Hollerhaus Ingolstadt.

The videos of this year's winners can be seen at the following link:

https://germanupa.de/german-upa-events/ux-challenge-2022