Lumino

Let there always be light and warmth on your way home.

Lumino aims to help users avoid uncomfortable and threatening encounters with strangers while providing a sense of security and companionship.

TEAM

Mary Butler
Yumeng Fan
Amanda Jiang
(Co-designer
and user)

CONTEXT

Course app design project with the theme “travel.”

CONTRIBUTION

UX Researcher

UX Designer

UI Designer

- User research and analysis, competitive analysis
- Experience design
- Prototyping
- Usability testing

DESIGN PROCESS

How applicable can a product designed for a singular user be for a wider audience?

Exploration: To leverage limitations from the pandemic and remote learning, we decided to take this project as an opportunity to investigate the possibilities of “limited research” in UX design.

IDENTIFY

Adopting a generative approach, we researched with our VIP user Amanda through an interview and video journal to examine the challenges that she faces during her commute.

Interview

Generative and open-ended questions
Synchronous and assynchronous

Video Journal

Non-moderated recording using a portable device.

VIP USER PROFILE

USER JOURNEY MAP

The journey map that we created illustrates actions taken by Amanda throughout her commute, her interactions with a stranger, her frustrations, and the pain point identify at each stage.

KEY INSIGHTS

Amanda tended to be approached by strangers when she appeared to be alone.

Amanda had avoided such encounters by asking her friends to call her, but this method did not guarantee success when none of her contacts responded.

The feeling of solitariness prevents Amanda from staying calm.

If Amanda faces danger, she does not always have someone to check on her safety or to request help on her behalf.

CO-DESIGN

We applied co-designing principles by inviting our VIP user to ideation meetings. Doing so allowed us to base our design on existing solutions as well as her immediate feedback.

Adaption and Improvement

Users may already have solutions. They just need to be more effective.

Immediate Feedback

Fail early and fail fast.
It is an iterative process.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Mock Phone Call

CHALLENGES ADDRESSING

1. Being alone subjects Amanda to strangers’ approach.
3. Amanda’s contacts are not always available to help and check on her.

Live Chat

CHALLENGES ADDRESSING

2. The feeling of solitariness prevents Amanda from staying calm.

Emergency Alert

CHALLENGES ADDRESSING

1. Being alone subjects Amanda to strangers’ approach.
3. Amanda’s contacts are not always available to help and check on her.

REFINING SOLUTIONS

Competitive Analysis

Realizing that we were integrating and adapting existing solutions to more effectively address Amanda’s problems, I proposed that we conduct a competitive analysis to identify areas for further improvement. In total, we carefully examined 14 apps with the following features: mock phone calls, chat matching, GPS & location sharing, and emergency alarms.

Problems

Competitive Advantage

Mock Phone Calls

- Unrealistic simulations;
- Disabled on locked screens or when users switches app;
- No actual audio played as users “pick up.”

- Simplistic interface intuitive for use;
- Personalizable caller profiles;
- Users allowed to schedule a time to receive a mock phone call.

Live Chat & Dating

- Harassment;
- Disclosure of personal information;
- The pursue of certain types of attachment;

A selection progress/ algorithms;
- Mutual Agreement to chat;
- Establishing connection through shared experiences and interests.

Location Share

- Concerns about location disclosure;
- Causes toxic relationships;
- Lags in location updates;
- The risk of accidental false alarms;

- Allows friends and families to see real-time locations and directions;
- Private chat channel with people in users’ contact list;
- Check movement histories and receive alerts.

Emergency Alarm

- Risks of triggering false alarms;
- Need better interaction design for instantly setting off an alarm;
- Need more intuitive but secure ways of cancelling an alarm.

- Auto share of location with people of contact or the police;
- Collaboration with existing social media platforms and dating apps.
- Provide comfort and act as a placebo that generates sense of security.

With the following "how might we?" questions in mind, we reconsidered our proposed solutions according to our competitive analysis results. Each feature was then honed to more effectively address Amanda's needs.

MOCK PHONE CALL - A

How might we make mock phone calls more authentic to the strangers?

- “Music player” interface
- Make caller information display personalizable.
- Enable scheduling a time to receive the mock phone call.

MOCK PHONE CALL - B

How might we make mock phone calls more authentic for Amanda to act naturally?

- Pre-recorded phone call soundtracks
- Soundtrack transcript and controllable play speed.
- Replicate the procedure and user journey of receiving a real phone call.

LIVE CHAT

How might we empower users to acquire companionship from new contacts?

- Establish empathy based on shared experiences (commute time, duration, etc.).
- Conceal personal information.
- Prevent harassment from strangers online by timing the chats, matching by ratings, and allowing users to block their matches.

EMERGENCY ALERT

How might we prevent false emergency alarms?

- Rearrange the information hierarchy to ensure balance in steps to access and convenience.
- Apply countdowns to setting off the alarm upon activation.
- Allow free cancellation by the user.

PROTOTYPE

To translate our co-design ideations and concepts into prototypes, we first constructed a user flow chart to demonstrate the high-level information architecture and workflows. We then created mid-fidelity wireframes with Amanda's constant input, review and feedback.

As individual input, I created a branding system themed "The app that lights up your way home", and upgraded our prototypes into high-fidelity mock-ups. Considering that the most common usage scenario is at night, I adopted the dark mode for the high-fi demonstration.

USER FLOW CHART

WIREFRAMES

Mid-fidelity prototype was created with Amanda's active feedback throughout the prototyping process.

BRANDING

The app that lights up your way home.

EVALUATE

Remember our initial objective of designing for a singular user? Aiming to validate the adaptiveness of Lumino for other audiences, I conducted 3 usability tests with potential users who have expressed similar challenges to those of Amanda.

How applicable can a product designed for a singular user be for a wider audience?

APPROACH

Usability Test

Interview

EVALUATION RESULTS

Approved Features

Mock Phone Call

Call Soundtrack

Customize Call

Emergency Alert

Concerns

1. Unwillingness to chat with strangers in vulnerable situations.
2. Usefulness of emergency alert in real-life situations?
3. Concerned about not being able to trigger a mock phone call using other devices.

Opportunities

An app for mock phone calls only?

Room for consumer-generated content?

A program embedded in existing social media?

Mock phone call for users using a headphone or a smartwatch?

KEY LESSONS LEARNED

LIMITED USER RESEARCH

Users have shared pain points: But personality and context affect what works best for each user.
‍
Persona: A technique we often use in UX design, but it might produce similar types of biases.
‍
There is no “the best solution for all users.”

CO-DESIGN +&-

Benefits: Fosters user engagement and investment in the product design and therefore means more feedback and buy-ins.
Allows the leveraging of existing solutions.
‍
Shortcomings: Solutions may apply to only part of the target user population. Further user research is crucial for validation.

USER RESEARCH DURING COVID-19

Video journal instead of observational studies: Video journals effectively provide qualitative data, but they can be expensive and risky due to technical difficulties.
‍
asynchronous interviews: Allows users to think about the answers and provides more info.

SCROLL TO VIEW

MENG FAN