Declining Engagement Due to Habituation*
According to 'Global Status Report', over 70% of local commuters have experienced or are aware of safety issues on their routes.
Although numerous safety tools are available, their usage often declines over time. This is because emergencies are not a daily occurrence, as users become familiar with their routines, they tend to forget or stop using these tools.
*When a stimulus is repeated, the brain filters out information that's not important and focuses on what's new or different. This can lead to a complete loss of response to the stimulus.
To design a safety tool that ensure consistent engagement and quick accessibility in emergencies, even as users grow accustomed to their surroundings.
Solution
A mobile app that learns user habits to automatically guard and provide timely information.
Feature 1
Navigate Safely with Real-Time Alerts on Your Map
Stay informed of incidents happening around you, including the time, location, and type of each event with clear visual indication. This feature helps you swiftly identify and avoid potential traffic hazards.
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Feature 2
Report Incidents Occurring Near You
Your contributions benefit not only you but also your entire network, ensuring everyone stays safer through shared awareness.
Feature 3
Choose Safe Routes to Bypass Hazards and Stay on Narrow Alleys
We will you to bypass hazards and avoid narrow alleys, ensuring a safer and smoother journey.
Feature 4
Check-ins and SOS
Use the Check-In and SOS functions to confirm your safe arrival with friends, ensuring they are informed and reassured about your safety.
Surveys to understand the status quo
Before delving into detailed qualitative study, I chose to conduct a survey to identify general usage patterns, user profiles, and key experiential challenges.
of all female express some degree of safety concern
explored various safety tools to enhance their travel safety
of the participants continue to actively use the safety tools they have adopted.
report higher safety concerns compared to their daytime counterparts.
Interviews as key to informing opportunities for design
I accompanied three of them on their nighttime walks home and conducted interviews to gather firsthand insights.
In the process of walking, I found that there are many elements that let participants feel threatened on way home, not only the environment, but also the people and their behavior.
User persona
Based on survey data and interviews, I developed personas to serve as foundational elements for the design intervention.
Storyboards
Insights
Observing disorderly behaviors such as fights, drunkenness, or marijuana use—even without direct involvement—can still make individuals feel threatened.
When people need help, most of them will not choose men, or even the police, they prefer keep contact with relatives, women, friends, and places where they feel safe.
Even when people are prepared for the danger, they still feel stuck about what to do and how to find help, especially for the people who are new to the city.
When faced with potential danger, they tend to seek out large public areas, such as busy streets or open venues, rather than speeding up to reach home.
Despite a pervasive worry about safety, particularly at night, many commuters hold on to a mistaken belief that misfortune will bypass them. This optimism, while comforting, often leads to a lapse in vigilance and underutilization of available safety measures.
Many commuters disregard safety apps, as these tools often activate protective features only during navigation. For those familiar with their routes, the need for turn-by-turn directions is minimal, leading to a reduced usage of these safety features.
Feature explorations
With the interview insights in hands, I brainstormed over ten features to meet commuter needs. I experimented with various ideas, employing a 2x2 prioritization matrix to refine the selection of features for integration.
Solving the core problem
The insights reveal that the primary barrier to sustained app usage is often user inertia.
The answer is "Embracing Laziness".
Recognizing this, a more logical approach to design would be to automate tasks traditionally performed by users.
After consulting with machine learning experts on the feasibility of developing algorithms to analyze user behavior and automate protective actions, I received affirmative responses.
Notification
The system automatically activates protection around the user's set routine times, detecting nearby incidents. When entering high-risk areas, the protection feature is triggered automatically, ensuring continuous safety without requiring user intervention.
Notifications can be overlooked or silenced when 'Do Not Disturb' settings are active. Furthermore, it is difficult to bypass users' privacy and control preferences without their explicit consent in iOS.
iOS developer guidelines advise using notifications for quick glances rather than for initiating actions that require significant user interaction. They also discourage repetitive notifications for the same event and recommend against using notifications to compel users to perform complex tasks or open the app.
Voice
Enable safety features anytime via voice commands on smartphones or even the smart wearable devices.
Yes, we can do it through integrating SiriKit into the App
When emergencies occur, individuals often find themselves unable to move due to intense stress, a phenomenon known as tonic immobility. Moreover, the speech system is likely the systems that fails first, which we need to reconsider whether to rely on voice commands.
Live activities
Live activities utilize predefined settings such as daily geographic locations, city, and time to automatically enable protection mode. This mode deactivates upon arrival, effectively reducing the user's burden.
Utilizing live activities aligns with Apple’s guidelines for streamlined interactions, automating safety features to improve efficiency and minimize user effort, thus enhancing overall app usability.
Live activities are psychologically attuned to users' limited capacity to manually engage with safety features during stress. Now, we can reduce cognitive load, ensuring ongoing protection crucial in high-stress scenarios without needing user intervention.
Summative usability testings on core App experience
After adding the automation to the safety features, I refined my approach of my core App experience by conducting unmoderated usability tests with three participants from usertesting.com. I compiled the results into a usability testing report, summarizing the findings and identifying key areas for improvement.
Navigate Safely with Real-Time Alerts on Your Map
Stay informed of incidents happening around you, including the time, location, and type of each event with clear visual indication. This feature helps you swiftly identify and avoid potential traffic hazards.
Report Incidents Occurring Near You
Your contributions benefit not only you but also your entire network, ensuring everyone stays safer through shared awareness.
Choose Safe Routes to Bypass Hazards and Stay on Narrow Alleys
We will you to bypass hazards and avoid narrow alleys, ensuring a safer and smoother journey.
Reflection
If I have more time and resource...
📳 Micro-interactions
I would explore more extensively the potential of micro-interactions within the app. Safety applications can significantly benefit from nuanced elements such as vibrations, color transitions, and sound alerts. Hence, I would like to spend more time on this explorations.
👮 Expanding User Research for Comprehensive Safety Insights
In the design process of my app, user testing was initially conducted solely with primary users. Given more time, I would expand our research to include interviews with local law enforcement and homeless individuals. This would provide a broader perspective on safety concerns and the diverse needs of all community members.
Thank you!
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