Overview
My team and I developed an app that explores the intersection of safety with personal commutes in addition and that considers how people interact with their environment.
How might we?
How might we enable pedestrians to better make informed decisions during their commute and enable them to feel confident through their journey?
SKills/Tools
Figma, Miro, Design Thinking, User Research, User Interviews, Iterative Design, User Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping
Research
We conducted a competitive analysis to see how other navigation services compare with providing non-vehicle commuters the necessary tools for a safe experience. We used Google Maps and Waze as the primary product competitors.
We conducted our user interviews with eight volunteers of varying demographics and backgrounds. We interviewed these users to determine their primary mode(s) of transportation and how they interacted with these modes of transportation, in addition to how they perceive the relative safety of their environments.
Some of these subjects currently live in high-density metropolitan areas where high-volume public transit is available; some live in high-density cities where public transit is available but is inferior, some in small cities, and some in relatively smaller city-towns.
Our team created two personas and unique scenarios to evaluate the use of our app with. The first persona is Alex and the second is Michelle. See their stories below. Each persona is accompanied by a scenario.
Using Miro, we created the user flow from three main features of the app: Report, Navigation, and My profile.
Design
We then created a paper prototype of our app to demonstrate the user flow and identify any potential gaps in interaction design.
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Using Figma, we designed the following wireframes, shown below, which helped us refine features of the app and identify any changes that needed to be made.*
*click through frames below
Usability Testing
We ran usability testing on a few of our peers to evaluate interface interactions and to help identify areas that require improvement. The table below summarizes our findings and possible mitigation solutions based on the following six tasks:
1. Create an account
2. Select Obstacles to avoid during commute
3. Navigate to north quad
4. What happens if construction is encountered?
5. What happens if there is a wild animal on the loose?
6. Spend some earned points and acquire a crown for your profile!
Final Prototype Design!
Provides users with high-level up-to-date information about hazards in their environment.
Allows users to make informed and flexible decisions about their walking commutes.
Users can make self-reports about hazards or obstacles along their journey.
Offers gamified approach to pedestrian navigation!
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What's next for Amble?
Given more time, our team we would like to further the opportunity for community engagement through the gamified profile feature. Additionally, one of the social impacts of the app is that it creates a database through which communities can access information about underserved areas. We'd like to spend more time on this element because it could help local stakeholders identify areas of potential redevelopment opportunity.