Hi, you have a system upgrade !
It all started when I noticed myself getting frequently frustrated while using some digital platforms, when a particular button was too small or I couldn't find one at all !! All I could think at that moment was, “ohh, just forget it”. Now as a designer, having my users experience this would be my worst nightmare !! This makes me even more passionate to provide users with an effortless journey to attain the kind of information they need.
This journey is further simplified with an intuitive interface, which I thoroughly enjoy working on. The process of selecting correct visual elements by empathising with users, is nothing but pure contemplation for me.
Having an online presence is pretty conventional these days. But the type of online presence which makes a user's life easy is integral. As a Ui- Ux professional I am devoted to be a part of this digital revolution.
Positivewind
Creating a content based app to make users day positive by viewing and sharing feel-good posts.
Problem Definition
Addictive social media platforms can make users depressed and excessively competitive creating stress and discontent. How might we create a platform for users between the age of 18 to 28, where they can feel hopeful about their life by scrolling through a personalised feel good feed, which will satisfy their need to scroll and encourage them to share posts with their contacts.
Research
1. Interviews & Surveys
We started by conducting surveys with a wider target audience. The goal of this survey was to get feedback on the project concept and to check if users were actually facing the problem we had decided to solve.
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Most respondents feel that social media affects their mood
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Almost all respondents want customised content and features
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After listening to the concept, respondents feel words like easy, therapeutic, customisation, news/info, feature
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Respondents want apps to be more flexible
2. Persona & Affinity Mapping
Through some personal interviews, we got to know more information about our ideal user like their social media scrolling habits, their experiences and their views about social media. We got 3 respondents and asked them 10 questions. Through which we were able to create 2 personas and carved their choices and habits in an affinity map.
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3. UX Theme
Keeping our users in mind, we created a Ux theme, which includes some key points to be followed throughout the project. This theme helped us to not differ from our original ideas and maintain a synergy throughout the project.
Design
1. Low fidility wireframe
Many iterations were made in this phase. After doing ample research and analysis, we started off with a simple wireframe of what the main screens could look like. These screens just represented the basic idea/ solution we were willing to give our users.
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2. High Fedility Wireframe
At this stage, most elements of the app where working well for testers. Basic functions of the app where under attention while making wireframes. Results we got from affinity maping and other research were formulated and designed in this phase.
3. Visual Elements
It was important for us to choose visual elements of the app which provided users with a happy feel. We took inspiration for colours through natural elements if nature (sunshine).
Testing
Heuristic evaluation
1) Visibility of system status: adding how long the quiz is going to take to inform users of what to expect (e.g. Quiz will take approximately 30 seconds). This may incline users to take it.
- adding a screen to show a post sent to friends was successful
2) Match between system and the real world: Some of the phrases such as “Rust or bust” are not commonly used
3) User control and freedom: Would people who skipped still have the option to take this quiz once in the app?
4)Error prevention: Users are given a warning message about skipping the quiz, and are asked for confirmation to skip or take the quiz again.
For this evaluation, every element of the app was evaluated while keeping heuristics in mind. This step was necessary to check the usability and visual elements included in the app.
Final Result
Main features of Positivewind :
- Highly personalised content based on user quiz and in-feed category selection
- Interactive feed interface which gives a unique user experience of scrolling
- Users get happiness coins whenever they interact within the app, to give them a rewarding experience
- Access to dashboard which gives users insights of their time and happiness coins on the app.
Take Aways
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Its challenging to solve a problem which is so huge and has been out there since many years. But understanding users and their pain point will only point us to the right direction (not our judgement).
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The problem we start with, may not be entirely a problem. While user researching, problems can be altered too.
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Iteration is not your enemy. Changes in the course of research will only get us closer to an effective solution. So attaching to one idea/ solution may not be the best thing to do as a Ux designer.