User Experience Design 2015 - Empty Nest

REBECCA ANSTEE

USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 2015 EMPTY NEST

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

WIREFRAME

SAFETY Bethany feels safe in her home as it is a second floor flat with no public access to her front door. The fact that it is located away from the main road and the addition of locks on the doors and window s increases her feeling of safety.

RESEARCH BETHANY PARSONS

Renting affects how safe she feels: “ You don’t know who has a key from previous tenancies ”

24, SOUTH LONDON, FRONT OF HOUSE MANAGER

DISLIKES

INTERESTS Enjoys exercise - specifially team sports

Slow walkers

Going for drinks with friends

Impatient people

Watching Formula 1 and rugby Finding new things to do in London

Rude people

Photography Traveling

SITUATION Bethany is currently renting a two bedroom flat in the area of South London, Balham. The area is popular with young families and young professionals like herself. She is fortunate enough to have great transport links into Central London and out into Surrey.

“ I live on a pedestiran street in a mews house, so no tra ffic and

TECHNOLOGY USE Owns an Apple iPhone and uses it throughout the day, at work and home.

Bethany mainly uses her phone to text and email when on the go, occasionally using Facetime and calling her family to more personally update them on how she is.

few people”

Bethany lives with one other person, a girl who she hadn’t met before she had to search for a new housemate:

TASK GOALS

“I found her through a friend ”

Bethany wants to remain in contact with her friends and family.

Bethany works as the front of house manager at a meeting and events space organisation in East London which means she is hardly ever away from home for long periods of time - just the odd night staying at friends.

“I often spend my evenings out at dinner ”

Bethany wants to feel as though her family care that she is safe in her home.

Bethany would like to know when her family or friends are available to talk to.

Bethany doesn’t want to feel as though she is being watched - she wants to remain independent.

To make her feel safer “new locks, and a stronger lock on the balcony doors ” would make a difference.

Bethany experienced a burglary at her previous house which is a situation where she felt unsafe: “After a burglar y you can never feel sa fe knowing someone has jammied open your door ”

COMFORT Bethany likes to play music or have the TV on to block out the quiet when her housemate isn’t at the flat: “I don’t like feeling like I’m alone in the flat.

Any little creak I hear freaks me out so I enjoy background noise” Bethany takes comfort from her two cats: “Lucky and Princess provide me with both entertainment and company if I am alone in the evenings”

EXPERIENCE GOALS Bethany wants to be able to quickly notify her loved ones when she is safe at home.

Bethany wants to reduce the feeling of loneliness in her flat when she is alone.

Bethany wants to feel more comfortable and safe in her home environment

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

PROTOTYPE

WIREFRAME

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

PROTOTYPE

WIREFRAME

PRODUCT CONCEPT 90%+ of young people who spend time away from home report feelings of missing their family home (Thurber & Walton, 2007) as moving to a new place involves fewer “anchor points” in one’s life to connect too. Everything that was once experienced every day seems so far away. (BBC, 2013) The concept will aim to improve the experience of the transition from living at home to living in shared rented accommodation for the first time as a young professional. To be achieved by connecting them with their loved ones to encourage a joint feeling of security, reassurance and comfort for both parties. Literally connecting homes; ‘better, connected’.

O2 will experience an expansion of the user market, connecting those in their 20's with 45-65 year olds and enhancing the brands philosophy of connecting through engagement.

REFERENCES http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22764986 http://www.acacamps.org/sites/default/files/images/research/ connect/documents/CARE%20Homesickness%26Separation.pdf

LOVED ONES

REASSURANCE

Megan Howard's desires to feel comfort and secure in rented housing and providing the freedom to socialise and enjoy living away from home will be accomplished through a portable lamp and app.

COMFORT

PEACE OF MIND

SUBTLE

Nick and Claire Howard will benefit from staying connected to Megan, reducing the fear of losing contact without intruding on her lifestyle and knowing that Megan is safe in her new location.

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

empty ne

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

WIREFRAME

SITE MAP

APP ICON

WELCOME SCREEN Register Login Create Personal Profile Home Screen

Notifications

Notifcations Page

Sync Device To Lamp

Check In

Favourites

Available Users Chat Location Edit Unavailable Users Quick message Edit

Edit Favourites

My Profile

Edit Profile

Emergency

Alert Favourites

General Settin gs

Lamp Proximity

Contact

Settings Chat

Security

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

PROTOTYPE

WIREFRAME

YOUNG PROFFESIONAL - SCENARIO ONE

Maddy waves goodbye to her parents after a weekend at home, to drive back up to Leeds where she is living.

Maddy promises to text her mum when she gets there.

TWO

When Maddy gets to her home, she gets a phonecall inviting her out to meet friends for a drink. Maddy forgets to text her mum.

FOUR

FIVE

Maddy, gets a taxi home by herself as its late and she is worried to walk home alone.

Maddy arrives home and sees that her boyfriend is home, so calls him from the empty nest app.

THREE

Maddy heads out alone to meet her friends at a new bar.

SIX

As Maddy is going to sleep she recieves a message in the app from here Mum, asking if she had a fun night and got home safely.

Maddy sleeps in the content that her loved ones knows she is safe.

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

PROTOTYPE

WIREFRAME

PARENTS - SCENARIO ONE

TWO

Sue and her huspand say godbye to their daughter Maddy, she is driving back to Leeds where she has started a new job, Sue asks Maddy to let her know when she arrives safely.

THREE

Maddy forgets to send a message but the lamp glows idicating that she is home safely.

Sue and her huspband relax and watch a sunday evening movie with a glass of wine, with peace of mind that their daughter is safe.

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

The lamp goes out at 9pm, Sue wonders what her daughter may be doing.

Sue wakes up in the night and sees that her lamp is glowing, she uses the app to message her daughter to ask if she got home safely.

MAX BROWN

KIRSTIE WILSON

REBECCA ANSTEE

Sue can go back to sleep with peace fo mind that her daughter is safe and in her own home.

BRYONY ROBERTS

ALEX NAUTH-MISIR

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

APP ICON/NOTIFICATION

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

WIREFRAME

LOGIN

HOME

NOTIFICATION

CONTACT

CHAT

HOME

CHECK IN

CONTACT

SCREENFLOW

INITIAL WIREFRAME Rough sketches of initial screen layouts for the app, empty nest, taking the user on one route through the app.

The route chosen, begins with showing the interaction after recieving a notification of a contact’s proximity to their home, viewing that notification within the app and identifying the location of their contact.

Since the contact is now within the 10km radius from their home, they are available for chat, so the user can communicate with them, knowing that they are nearly home and safe.

Finally, the user has the ability to check in with other contacts who may not be available for chat. By navigating to the check in button the user can send a quick message to let them know they are thinking of them.

LOCATION

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

WIREFRAME

POP APP

ITERATION Possible target users were approached to test the initial sketched wireframes. The purpose of this was to gain feedback on the screen layouts and the presentation of the app. This helped identify areas which may need attention to improve the overall experience of using the app.

The evaluation was carried out using ‘Pop App’ as a testing method - a smartphone application, whereby the sketched wireframes are photographed and links between pages added. This created a similation of the designed app, allowing the user to navigate through the chosen route as they would on an iPhone interface.

Three areas were identified that needed to be addressed, feedback was noted and redesigns were sketched.

LOGIN Don’t always want to have to type in email address and password - not necessary for this application as its personal use, not multiple users to one device.

Time consuming - need quick and easy access but still securely and privately.

HOME SCREEN Square boxes are too harsh and blocky Use commonly used icons rather than text to explain which east button is - if text needed, keep it small .

NOTIFICATION Messy, cluttered, confusing viewing Annoying to have a pop up on top of everything on the home screen Better to have a separate screen and click on notifaction from there taking to you to the relevant screen.

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

WIREFRAME

DESIGN This wire frame sequence demonstrates a single route through the app, emptynest. Each individual screen displays, step by step, the path taken by the user to complete this particular activity. The sequence depicts a journey from notication of location to communication to checking in on others and their whereabouts.

WIREFRAME

Global navigation throughout the app is achieved by the use of a back button in the top left and a consistent home button (using the logo’s nest) at the bottom middle of each screen.

These allow for quick and easy navigation through the app, accessing the main homepage at any point for the major features of the app.

User selection

empty nest now Megan is 3km from home

empty nest

The displays have been designed to be compatable with the Apple software iOS7, on an iPhone 5. iPhones are widely popular amongst both personas. Using flat, clear and simple user interface, the app is friendly and easily understandable. The pastel colours creates warmth and a sense of safety - a quailty the app concept echos. This results in an easy and enjoyable experience for the user.

notifications

welcome, claire

location

megan is 3km from home

nick is 5km from home

claire

jen sent you a message notifications

check in

my profile

favourites

settings

emergency

1

empty nest

register

1. APP ICON/NOTIFICATION

2. LOGIN

3. HOME

4. NOTIFICATIONS

5. LOCATION MAP

The user is notified via a banner that their loved one is nearly home. They can access the app either by tapping the banner or the app icon. The 1 also notifies the user there is a notification waiting for them.

The welcome screen allows the user to login to the app via a pattern password (previously set up) for safety and security.

The home screen shows all the major navigation features of the app. The egg on the notifications button glows green, showing the user which contact the notification has come from - the lamp in the house will glow this colour once the contact is safely home.

User is presented with a list of their notifications with the most recent one highlighed at the top. Notifying them how far away people are or when they have recieved a message. The page can be refreshed by clicking on the circular arrow. The global navigation buttons appear top left (back) and bottom middle (home).

A contact’s location can be viewed when they are within a 10km radius from their lamp at home. The phone and lamp uses GPS to do this. The green egg indicates their location and the blue house indicates where their house is.

CONNECTED HOMES RESEARCH

PERSONA

CONCEPT

SITE MAP

SCENARIO

User selection

WIREFRAME

chat

check in

How was your evening darling?

I’m glad you’re nearly safely home!

SCREEN FLOW

ITERATION

empty nest contact

available welcome, claire

Hi Mum! It was great thanks.

You free to chat when I get in?

megan

jen

quick message I’m thinking of you! xxx I’m bored!

What are you up to?

nick

I would love to! I wonder where Jen is tonight...

WIREFRAME

unavailable notifications

check in

jen location

mike my profile

favourites

quick message

suzie

settings

...

emergency

CHAT

HOME

CHECK IN

CONTACT

QUICK MESSAGE

The user can communicate with contacts who are within the 10km radius via an internal chat.

The back button is present so the user can return to the map to track their contact.

Navigating back to the home page - the notifications egg is now white as the notification has been read.

The user has the ability of checking in with any of their contacts at any given time.

However, those that either aren’t at home or in the 10km radius are unavailable to contact. Those available, the home lamp will glow the assigned colour.

The user is presented with their contact’s page once selected. The location and chat buttons are faded as they are unavailable at this time. But the user has the ability to send pre prepared quick messages instead.

From this page the user can also use the edit button to edit features for the contact.

A list of pre prepared quick messages are displayed, one is selected and sent to the contact.

The user can personalise their quick messages.

The sequence is complete and the user navigates back to their iPhone home.