Case Studies Pt.5: Getting Active with AR
As we proceed to learn more about user experiences and the many environments they pop up in, My fellow designers and I begin our next project with the idea of health and wellness in mind. The challenge given was to “conduct user research to understand people’s relationship with mental, physical and emotional well-being. With this research, we then would develop a tool that will drive them into action. The end product of the tool was flexible. The only rules were that the tool had to have the ability to track a user’s progress and pushed users to commit to a healthier lifestyle.
Enter Flutter — An augmented reality wellness application that works to couple fitness, wellness, and healthy eating.
Finding Scope
The assignment was due for 4 weeks. With the allotted time given and minimal opportunity for collaboration presented for this project, the design thinking process became rather abstract. Getting right in front of someone to ask how they felt about the wellness application industry would have been the standard. Being that this topic started broad, Brainstorming ideas was the starting point.
There were several ideas that came to mind in the beginning. From social interaction applications to mood analyzers, the ideation phase provided a starting point to creating something related to the challenge. From all the ideas that put out, making a tool that provided various activities became prominent.
Market Research
Trying to verify what applications were currently active in the market, research into the world of augmented reality began to arise. There were countless applications in the realm of AR technology, so to keep this phase brief, about two competitors were put into scope.
User Research
The first phase of creating the product started with gathering research from individuals who would most likely use an application pertaining to a healthy lifestyle. This started by interviewing those in the age range of 18–30, all with mixed views of health. Interestingly enough, this was a very mixed case study.
Out of all the people surveyed, and interviewed, there was one mindset that saw fitness as:
“Having fun, doing the things I like to do. That’s what a healthy lifestyle is all about.”
While others would look at wellness as:
“Getting a good workout in, setting carbs on fire. Rinse. Repeat.”
These interviews resulted in working to be aligned closer to something that catered to more than one type of user. If this application was too one-sided, It would have been a cutthroat gym trainer that took no days off. On the other end, the application would have ended up being a miscellaneous task advisor that gauged one’s level of wellness based on “fun points”.
Neither would have been wrong. Looking back at this challenge, It’s hard to say how empathetic the idea of being one-sided was. It felt as if an entire type of person was not being considered when taking one direction. Our instructors would say things on the line of “it’s not workable to cater to everyone” and with the scope, we were given, It looks pretty impossible. Yet as I became more intrigued by the idea of Accessibility and Universal Design, being one-sided was out of the question. It had to be for everyone. And of course, this good-willing mentality brought more challenges and responsibilities to tackle.
The User Experience Blueprint
After coming up with the concept of this application and getting some idea of how people felt about wellness, a UX Strategy Blueprint was put in place. This defined and guided the aspects of the strategy. It was great for revealing any challenges, outcomes, rules, and measurements to be laid out for an organized project.
This blueprint determined that users may not always have the time to exercise as well as the knowledge or trust in some wellness habits to commit to them on a daily basis. And with the layer of AR, it would make it more of a challenge to pitch this new product. The app would aspire to improve the wellness of others and increase activity. Some of the focus areas included people interested in health and wellness and those who had some experience with fitness in the past. The number one rule was to make it enjoyable. And the metrics of success would be based on App engagement and positive feedback.
The Value Proposition Canvas
To position the application to be in line with the values and needs of the customer, the value proposition canvas came into play. This tool gave clarity on what it was that a customer would want, and what difficulties they currently have with an activity, wellness in this instance. These customer wants and needs would be put in line with a product and its features that could resolve the pains of a consumer and be something of value as well.
Persona
Working to confirm the personality of the potential users and consumers of this product, personas began to be put in place. These identities were made to better represent the target audience. Those who may not have been interested in health and wellness were still considered, so more than one persona was created.
Problem. Hypothesis. HMW. MVP
To solidify all research allocated so far, it looked like a good time to declare the statements that would further guide this concept into completion.
The Problem Statement determined what the issue with the industry in question was, and its consequences.
The Hypothesis Statement was the solution that would be provided by the application that was being built.
The How Might We would ask how the solution might be accomplished.
And The Minimum Viable Product would be the definition of what the product would be. These essentials would be the solution given to answer how we would be solving the problems that are in this industry.
Adapting Information Architecture
Getting right into building the User Interface was a bold move. Concepts were pulled out of general fitness application standards and pages that would at first glance seem displaced. Yet the freedom and flexibility these first ideations had held up throughout the second stage of this project. To find ways to organize this content in an efficient manner, the method of Information Architecture applied. And although this came in early in the UI process — and raised more questions than answers, it kept the flow of the application clear through the second phase.
Usability Testing & Surveys
To keep users updated on the application’s progress, More surveys and testing were administered. Surveys were pushed out to ask about a variety of tasks that individuals would find themselves actually doing. These questions would ask about eating exotic foods, doing workouts in public areas, or trying yoga for the first time. The results had a strong connection with some of the interviews given out prior. Out of the 11 responses given, the majority of answers lined up with being willing to try these activities and exercises.
Although, when these activities were added to the application and tested for usability, the responses had not lined up as much as expected. Some of the responses of the usability testing sounded like the following:
Do you think this activity benefitted you in a health/fitness or wellness capacity?
“Asking the wrong person. I am not the workout type. But if I was, sure.”
Do you find any benefits to using this app?
“Could be a dopamine rush. But currently do not see it.”
There was a study to see how strong a social feature would be if added. Because the survey responses were negative about it, the usability test results were positive about it, and early interviews were mixed, it was difficult to find a place for the feature, leaving it up to question until the application was closer to the final prototype.
Logo Design
Concepts of the logo came with the idea of something subtle and modern. Something too bold felt as if it was yelling at you to get healthy. So the idea of a butterfly came to be a solid idea. This was combined with the icon that defined AR technology to give a high-tech theme. Adding easy-going colors made for an easygoing and fun brand.
Visual Design & Branding
After getting through the technical aspects of the project, it was time to start adding color and graphics to this application. Building the brand of the application was not influenced as much by the customer base, rather the idea of combining wellness and technology. This included energetic colors, fun and playful themes, and a bit of human touch that a user of this product could relate to.
Final Prototype
The final concept was put together from all the steps in the design process.
Final Thoughts
I was relieved when this project was completed. Trying new methods when thinking about the design process was not encouraged, making for some dull moments when going through this challenge. Nonetheless, this was another strong learning experience. The routine of building user experiences is becoming more of second nature and questioning the methods and tools that are presented always turns out to be beneficial in the end. Finding new and abstract ways to create something tends to make way for beautiful accidents as long as the intentions are good.
I respect the idea that in order to break the rules, you have to know the rules. I also like to think that to break the rules, you just need a hammer.
