Client:
CLEAN AIR Force of Central Texas
City of Austin
Travis County
Team:
1 Representative Stakeholder
1 UX Designer
1 Graphic Designer
3 Software Developers
Role:
UX Researcher & Designer
De Facto Project Manager
Timeline:
3 months
Methods & Skills:
Research Planning
Subject Matter Research
Survey Writing
Affinity Diagram
Persona Creation
Market Research
Competitive Analysis
Information Architecture
Tree Testing
Sketching
Wireframing
Visual Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Tools:
Draw.io
InVision
Optimal Workshop
Pen, Paper, & Post-Its
SurveyMonkey
Sketch
Word
Deliverables:
Survey Results Summary
Prototype
Overview:
CenTexAIR is a mobile app I designed to educate and engage the public on the regional air quality. It features an air quality forecast, tips for protecting your health, and suggestions for reducing your carbon footprint.
Challenge:
Austin, Texas has experienced tremendous growth in recent years – an estimated 150 people move to the metro area daily – but this growth has negatively impacted the traffic patterns and commuting time… as well as the region’s air quality. This galvanized Austin city officials and other environmental organizations to discuss air quality and seek ways to protect and improve public health. To help combat this issue, I was tasked with creating a free, smartphone app to educate and engage the public on the topic of air quality.
Process:
Since this project had broad goals and a limited budget, I started by writing a research and design plan document to account for the anticipated timeline and expenses. With a schedule in mind, I conducted subject matter research before arranging a stakeholder meeting. The representative stakeholder discussed the profile of their current online air-service users. To validate this information, I created and conducted a survey with quantitative and qualitative components and then used the results to construct a persona.
In addition to the updated user profile, survey results revealed that users wanted more than just air quality information in an app. They suggested adding other health/environment-related information, such as the pollen count. This insight fundamentally shifted the concept of the app, so I read market research and conducted a competitive analysis of multi-use air quality apps already on the market. I considered the information architecture of comparable apps and then developed a user flow depicting how to access current and forecast conditions.
Although I was confident in the app flow, I struggled with where to place certain informational elements when sitemapping. To resolve my uncertainty, I conducted a tree test to get user feedback and more accurately organize informational elements according to my user’s pre-existing mind maps.
Once the structure was validated and improvements were made, I started iterating on potential solutions by hand-drawing low-fidelity sketches. As I chose a promising concept and refined the visual design, I created medium-fidelity wireframes and a prototype. At this point, I met with the representative stakeholder to provide a status update and gather feedback. The stakeholder also added a graphic designer to the team to create the wordmark and consistent iconography across the app. I described the design aesthetic I wanted from the icons and worked collaboratively with the graphic designer to create the wordmark and iconography. Finally, I added subject matter text, applied a visual design emphasizing the brand color palette, and incorporated some delighter elements to create the high-fidelity version of CenTexAIR!
I was ready to bring my solution back to the people. Usability testing revealed that my users liked the multi-use functionality of the app and the air quality forecast, however they wanted to enlarge and/or bold the font for readability. Considering this feedback, I implemented improvements to visual design. I also wrote a design and style guide for the development phase.
OUTCOME:
The representative stakeholder was thrilled with the results and wanted to start development, so I assembled a small team of software developers. I scheduled a meeting and shared the design and style guide and prototype. I also created and managed the project on Github and facilitated communication between the developers and the representative stakeholder.
Development of CenTexAIR is in progress. The platform will be designed for iPhones and is slated for public release next spring.
“After years of hoping for [this] app, you have made it a reality for us. I cannot thank you enough.”
Lesson:
Make It Valuable!
User research revealed early on that people wanted more functionality from this app than just the air quality. They wanted the pollen count, the weather report, AND a future forecast. They wanted one app that easily and efficiently provided them with a better experience than the competitors. Ultimately, they wanted more value than the original concept offered.
This speaks to a larger issue: just because a product or service is useful, does not make it valuable. Value is established when a solution is useful, usable, findable, credible, accessible, and desirable (from Peter Morville’s user experience honeycomb). It is our job as designers to incorporate all of these elements while solving for the pain points our users experience.