[meerkapp] Case Study

to help you and your family feel safer

Situation

Coming home late in a dangerous neighborhood is a problem that many people deal with every day.

Insights

• Users have a weekly routine with little changes. Adapt to it could be a challenge.
• People need to communicate with their families and friends for safety.
• Apps user currently use are not focused on resolve this problem.
• Women have the habit of sharing real time positions when they feel unsafe.
• Sometimes younger people forget to talk with with their parents and they worry for them.
• Sometimes it is difficult to take out the phone to write a message.

For this project a double diamond design process. In the first part I try to understand and define the problem and users’ insights. In the second part developing a possible solution idea for that problem.

Challenge Overview

For me was a personal challenge, if users use less than 5 installed applications, they say. Maybe there’s no need to make users interact with applications every time to achieve the goal. Maybe could set only once an the app functional along the time. How could we do it?

Discovery: Research & Analysis

I wanted to avoid my own bias as an young adult man without offspring.
I try to understand users situations, specially from females, teenagers and parents.

I made and execute a Research plan to try to understand the situation that people who that lives in “dangerous” neighbourhoods and the situations they must deal everyday.

Discover patterns in similar situations. Watch the research plan and reports here.

Step 1: Semi-structured interviews with four participants. 3 women, 1 mother, 1 man. Key insights from these interviews were extremely valuable to the process.

Step 2: Surveys with 25 Survey participants. 10 parents, 15 offspring, 18 women, 10 men. Results here.

I found that people have a routine but it could change each week. Also I realise that users say that they communicate before returning to their home but sometimes they forget it and their parents are worried.

Parents prefer watching real time positioning on map and departing/arriving notifications. Children prefer to incorporate information and a multifunction button.

Key findings

It helps me to define the problem and have a solution hypothesis. I create a concept of a possible solution.

• Users have a weekly routine with little changes.
• People need to communicate with their families and friends for safety.
• Apps used to resolve this problem are not focused on it.
• Women have the habit of sharing real time positions when they feel unsafe.
• Sometimes younger people forget to talk with their parents and they worry for them.
• Sometimes it is difficult to take out the phone to write a message.

Users Personas and Stories

As a mother, I want to know when my daughter left the school, so I could prepare her meal.

As a young woman, I want to share my position with my boyfriend so he can watch for me.

As a teenager, I want my family to know that I am returning home so they are not so worried.

How can we improve this situation?

[Manual mode]

Simple and intuitive use. One click sharing/watching.

[Automatic mode]

Set a place of departure at a specific time, during that gap of time, the system compares your actual gps position with the seated area. Whether your routine changes and you are not there, don’t worry the system doesn’t activate.

If you are inside the departure area at the moment you leave it, the app will send a message to your selected contacts. They will receive a notification and watch you along the road.

When you are near home they will receive a new message saying you are arriving.

Design: Concepts & Sketching

I try to understand the problem and pose a possible verbal solution. I try to understand a complex situation and try to solve it in the most simple way in words.

Avoiding user interaction with the app to solve the problem and being completely functional was a design premise.

My objective was to make it the most simple and functional.

Develop: Prototyping

I start with the second part of double diamond design process looking for a possible solution and create a interactive Lo-Fi prototype.

I test the possible solution idea. Basic screens and basic interactions to iterate them. The most I can test and iterate, the better of course.

Figma Lo-Fi: https://bit.ly/3gHFPmX

Test: Validation, Usability, Feedback

Then this prototypes were tested to try to improve findings.

I have iterated screens and components according color usability test. Contact bars, headers, modals and inputs were updated.

Finally, iterate component based on users insights to increase user task success.

Design: Iteration

Wide option for each problem solution. Most suitable testing.

Reduce the components to minimus, incorporate text in modals, contrasting color and forms between components to reduce misconfusion between screens.

Onboarding to present application and features. Automatic mode setting could be improve in order to helps users understand how it works and what kind of benefit could they achieve using it.

Solution & Impact overview

Meerkapp is a simple app that allow you to be watched by your family and friends just in a click. Automatic mode to leave your family and friends relaxed even though you forgot to write them.

Figma Hi-Fi: https://bit.ly/3gE71mK

Finally I arrive to a possible solution that was iterated based in accessibility and create a hand-off delivery for programmers.

Zeplin: https://bit.ly/3gKTGJa

Annex: Concept Identity

The brand identity could be related with this funny animal. The watch for the family and alert if something isn’t right. A logo and an animal across the user experience could improve user approach.

Meerkat youtube video here.

🌈 Regards for reading and don’t forget to 👏🏼