INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
Corratti
Although we are quarantined, we are not alone.
BACKGROUND
During my voluntery work in the community during the pandemic, I found that camparing with the physical health, hotel quarantined people's mental issues were normally ignored. My effort was to design an app to relieve their mental suffering.
OUTCOME
The app I designed got mostly positive feedback that hotel quarantined people feel it could help them increase sense of belonging and find a more exciting way to live during unnormal life.
DURATION
2 Months
MY ROLE
Sole UX Researcher / UX Designer
TOOL
Figma
- OVERVIEW -
What is hotel quarantine
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Chinese government has introduced the policy that people from the middle and high risk regions to low risk regions need to be quarantined in appointed hotels for 7 or 14 days. During this period, people are not allowed to go out of their rooms, all things they need, including meals will be sent to their doors.
Hotel disinfection
Send quarantined food
nucleic acid testing
Problems
From my observation 👀
Quarantined people tend to be harder to get accepted by the society, this will cause not only their physical isolation but also in a psychological way.
From academic research 📖
In the nationwide survey study, 34.1% of participants with an experience of quarantine during the COVID-19 reported having psychological symptoms which generally shown as boredom and loneliness, negatively influencing their mental health.
So...What about hotel quarantine? 🤔
People quarantined in hotels might also struggle with mental issues caused by boredom and loneliness. Not like those who are quarantined at home, this group might suffer more in a situation that stay alone in an unfamiliar narrow space.
Assumption: Loneliness and Boredom is the problem for hotel-quarantined people.
- FINAL SOLUTION -
Home - Forum
"quarantine policy updates are helpful, I feel a sense of belonging by finding so many people's posts with similar situation and interests. "
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Users could use a positioning system to locate themselves, which could help them to find quarantined people in the same place
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Users could check different quarantined regulations nationwide, in the same city, and same hotel. The same as the posts.
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Users could check the posts they are interested in different tags.
Home - Chatting room
"I could always find people to talk about my interested topics, I'm not lonely"
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Users could choose to match others to chat and chat with their friends.
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Before matching, users need to choose three topics they like and pick somebody who chooses the same topic from the list.
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Users could swipe right to the next chat (the topic will be from the ones they chose at first) if they have nothing to say, and the prompt will occur after 10 minutes of silence.
Challenge - Video
"It is exciting to find new challenges every day! I could participate in different hot challenges and interact with other quarantined people."
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Users could check the challenges and achievements they got.
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Users could check all the challenges their friends took, as well as the specific challenges.
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Users could participate in the game challenges and fitness challenges and upload videos.
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They could invite friends under the chosen challenge.
Challenge - PK system
" This game adds spice to the challenge, compete with other quarantined people and get hornor are appealing."
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Users could choose a specific challenge and compete with others.
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Users could match other people randomly or nearby. They also could match their friends.
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Users can view the leaderboard for the challenge competition and can send challenge invitations to others, specifying a time frame (with a duration of one week) for competing against them.
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Users would also receive letters of challenge from others and they could accept the ones they want to compete with.
Letter in a bottle
" Everyday randomly get multiple respone from different places is heartwarming and exiciting"
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Users could check the responses to their letters on different dates.
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Users could write letters randomly, to the same city, and the same hotel. Also, they could set their mood.
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Users could reply to a letter from a random place, the same city, and the same hotel.
My profile
"I could always find people to talk about my interested topics, I'm not lonely"
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Users could see the overall likes and followers they got in the profile.
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Users could edit their profile about their self-introduction and interests.
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Users could check the medals they got and their posts.
How did I get there?
Find pain points from user research
The assumed problem I got from my observation and academic research needs to be further verified by user research in specific cases.
Limitation and criteria
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Due to the duration of this project is limited to two months, I prioritized the most common problems to solve
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Due to users can cooperate to a limited extent, I finally found six users to conduct in-depth remote interviews
Age: 20-35 years old
Identity: Oversea students/ people on a business trip
Situation: People who were quarantined in hotels
Research goal:
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Make it clear what mental issues the quarantined people are suffering from
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Find out the reasons behind these mental problems
P1, P2, P4, P6 felt lonely and bored during quarantine, therefore, the problem exists and is worth working on.
need long-time company and a sense of belonging
Talking with family and friends at set times sometimes leaves me feeling lonelier afterward, as I go back to being alone. I also feel they don't fully grasp my quarantine experience. I'd prefer connecting with others who are also in quarantine to share information and find empathy and a sense of belonging with those in similar circumstances.
need healthy lifestyle and entertainment
I usually entertain myself by playing video games in bed with my cellphone, but it often leaves me feeling tired and unhealthy. Exercising during quarantine seemed crucial to avoid feeling sluggish. Initially, daily workouts were refreshing and enjoyable, but over time, maintaining this routine became challenging due to the absence of a gym-like atmosphere and workout partners.
plan might help fulfill life
I didn’t feel bored or lonely because I have a lot of work to do. Except for my own work, I also get used to set plans for myself. For example, I will set a goal of reading two chapters of the book and write an article every day. My life is very regular and fulfilling even if I was in quarantine.
Get used to interactive social media
I enjoy watching videos on Bilibili for the group interaction experience, playing online games, and reading interesting posts on forums. Sharing my quarantine meals and drawings with friends online is also a favorite activity. I find the various challenges people do and share in videos interesting and would love to participate if given the chance.
- PERSONA -
I concluded two target groups based on findings above
Break down the problem: quarantined people feel lonely and bored are largely due to lack of belonging and loss of a normal lifestyle.
Project Goals
MAIN GOALS:
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Strengthen the sense of belonging of quarantined people
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make their abnormal lifestyle more interesting and fulfilled
IDEAL POTENTIAL EFFECT:
Help quarantined people not to be afraid of being quarantined and introduce their life to the society to decrease the panic of society towards this group of people and influence the society to better accept them.
Brainstorm to find design chances
Based on the pain points and inspirations concluded from personas, I brainstormed and draw different wireframes to find as many as possible design solutions.
- Brainstorm -
I explored various physical and digital methods, but since those requiring hotel cooperation weren't feasible, I ultimately chose to concentrate on the most effective approach - developing an app.
- WIREFRAMES -
At this stage, I sketched out all potential features for a round of user testing, rather than mapping the full user flow. Based on the feedback received, I could then determine which features to keep, remove, or combine.
Rebuild the product structure based on the feedback
1. Users prefer the match chat feature over live chat, as they find it offers a more interactive communication experience.
2. I chose to highlight the forum and chat features as the primary functions visible to users initially, due to their functional significance. People in quarantine need to access important information first before exploring other forms of entertainment.
Match chat ✅
Live chat
1. The emphasis on the task and plan system should be reduced, as most users are not inclined towards, or interested in, detailed planning.
2. Reduce the focus on the planning function and integrate it into the forum as a discussion topic for those interested in sharing or exploring others' plans.
Iterate design based on user feedbacks
Conducted user testing , gathering feedback to refine the designs and create high-fidelity prototypes.
- FINAL DESIGN -
- Iterations -
1. Home - updated quarantined regulations
On the home page, the latest quarantine rules can keep users informed about current news and important guidelines. It can help reduce anxiety about being unaware of the exact regulations and having no one to consult.
Iterations
PROS:
1. The way information is organized is tidier compared to A1.
2. The area coverage is more prominent than A1
CONS:
The information is not fully displayed, making it difficult for users to select the specific list they need for more detailed information.
PROS:
1.Use rolling card form combined with pictures could easier catch users' interest and attention.
2. present the entire information with related pictures could help users better understand the regulations.
Draft
CONS:
1. The area it covered is too small which was not prominent enough to catch users' attention.
2. the display way of information is too monotonous that users will easily lose the interest and patient to read them.
2. Home - Chatting room
Users have the option to chat with friends or connect with others who have selected similar topics. These topics are sourced from popular discussions in the forum and various social media platforms, encompassing basic areas such as food, career, hobbies, etc. This feature enables those in quarantine to find and converse with others in similar circumstances and with shared interests, helping to alleviate feelings of loneliness.
A2
1. Add the search bar for users directly search for the topics
2. Add the friends chat feature so that users could directly chat with their friends.
B2
‘choose topics’ and refresh button are separated to avoid misunderstanding
Iterations
Draft
A1
1. Missing a search bar for users to look up topics of interest.
2. There is no feature for chatting with friends.
B1
It looks like refresh button is linked with choose topics, which will cause confusion.
Iterations
D3
D2
CONS:
Frequent pop-ups will disturb users and bring them an annoying feeling.
PROS:
Using words at the bottom of the dialog box could give users proper notification without disturbing them too much.
Draft
D1
CONS:
The position is odd and it might cause the false touches.
3. Challenge - Video challenge
Introducing daily challenges for users through short videos leverages the popularity of this format as a form of entertainment. People are familiar with quickly interacting with videos, so this approach can greatly minimize the learning curve, allowing them to easily grasp how to use the product. Moreover, prompting users to engage in challenges that involve some form of exercise can assist in promoting a healthier lifestyle.
Draft
A1
Users need to directly see the entrance of their personal records about the challenge they took. The ranking list was put at the wrong place.
B1
1. It should show friends’ videos about this challenge, not all the challenges.
2. It could add the function of inviting friends who haven't participant.
3. Friends’ videos about all challenges could be put at the first page.
Iterations
A2
1. Put the entrance of the personal information on the first page.
2. set the friend button on the first page to link with all kinds of activities the friends took.
B2
1. When watching others’ videos, users could check their friends’ videos about this challenge.
2. Users also could invite friends who didn’t join in this challenge.
4. Challenge - PK system
To make the video challenge more engaging, I introduced a new feature known as the PK system, encouraging users to join competitions. This can motivate them to exercise to get higher scores. The ability to send and receive challenge letters daily adds an element of excitement, as users anticipate facing new competitions each day.
Iterations
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1. Change the background color to the theme color to increse the contrast. Use blocks to differentiate each part
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2. Add a ranking list, show the ranking of users to stimulate them to join in the competitions
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Replace the 'VS' decorative word with the rule of each competition to make more sense of this page.
Draft
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The background color is too pale and doesn't match the theme color. The low contrast might also make it hard for users to read the information.
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As it involves competitive play, there's a noticeable absence of a leaderboard.
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'VS' is unnecessary for users to understand what this part is for. As for a competition, it didn't show users what the rule is.
Iterations
PROS:
This feature assists users in scheduling a specific time for competitions, which can be entered manually with a one-week duration. Recipients of these challenge letters can accept based on their availability. A 'sent' page is included to track who has accepted the challenge, along with a countdown to remind users to join the competition promptly.
CONS:
The challenge letters might become more templated and less varied than before. However, in terms of accurately conveying information, this trade-off in entertainment value is considered acceptable.
Draft
PROS:
Allowing users to compose their challenge letters in their own words enhances the fun of sending and receiving them, highlighting the variety in each message.
CONS:
There's a lack of a designated time for competitors to participate in the challenge, leading to a vague and incomplete interaction process.
4. Drift bottle Letter
The drift bottle letter feature is designed to create a supportive community for those in quarantine, where users can share their emotions and receive encouraging responses from selected groups. Similarly, they can also respond to others' letters, offering comfort and warmth.
Iterations
A2
Remove the profile photo
B2
1. prominent the main features: write and reply a letter to make the structure of the page clearer.
2. Directly show the content of response users got from the letters they sent, which is more straightforward.
Draft
A1
The profile photo is a useless information here.
B1
1. After getting into the letter feature, they can’t directly see the letter. Instead, they should press another button, which is not straightforward.
2.The friends' letter feature may be unnecessary as users can message their friends directly.
- USER TESTING -