Light House
IOS Android Figma Adobe Suite
This HCI class was my very first UX project at SCAD.
For this class, the prompt was “Conversation“
Lighthouse won:
Red Dot Award 2020: Brands & Communication Design
EPDA 2020 Top Design Winner: Product User Interface Design
IDEA Awards 2020: Finalist
Indigo Awards 2021:
Gold in Apps for Social Change 2021, Student
Gold in Apps 2021, Student
Gold in UX, Interface & Navigation 2021, Student
Gold in Interaction Design for Social Change 2021, Student
Silver in Mobile Interaction & Experience 2021, Student
Silver in Mobile Responsive Design 2021, Student
Silver in Mobile App 2021, Student
Silver in Digital Tools and Utilities 2021, Student
Silver in Innovative Use of Mobile Technology 2021, Student
Silver in Digital Design for Social Change 2021, Student
Silver in Interactive Design 2021, Student
Silver in UX, Interface & Navigation 2021, Student
Bronze in Technology 2021, Student
Design Prompt
The lighthouse device will visualize an individual's performances by color and opacity and send the collected data to the app that will show analysis of voice valence, arousal, and speech frequency to encourage participation and active listening. Additionally in the app, the users can access their performance skills through data visualization.
My Role
In this project, I was responsible for planning, overseeing, implementing, and executing the project. Conducting primary and secondary research, along with designing and prototyping the interface.
Delivered
Primary research, secondary research, concept development, user journeys, prototypes (HUD interface).
Team management, case study content strategy, vision video.
Duration
10 Weeks
February 2020.
Tools
Figma
Adobe Suite
Google hangout.
21 out of 63 people think they are good at communicating, but still prefer individual projects.
Why?
Because conversation within a group requires a lot of energy and effort.
How Might We…
encourage active listening within a group project?
Solution
Impacts & Outcomes
Our project lighthouse is both an app and a device that works hand in hand to aid in active listening and empathy in group conversations. We hope that Lighthouse will be the helping hand to encourage empathy for better group conversations in the future.
Research
14 Interviews between 18-24 yr who have experience or currently in a group project
Online survey with 92 responses, among college students
8 diary studies with college students who are involved in group projects
Personas and Journey maps
Primary Research Insights & Pain Points
There is an unspoken fight for power or competition of approval within a group
“Some people shut you down... they are kinda like bullies.”
If you don’t take the time to listen to other people you get associated as a ‘know-it-all’.
“People are too transparent and don’t take other people’s feeling into consideration.”
People are fearful of becoming the black sheep of the project.
“I’m scared to give my opinion because I do not want to be judged.”
Desk Research Insights
Indications of stress and anger helps people regulate their speech and become more self aware.
Productivity or the ability to get things done decreases in a bad emotional state
People get emotional and say mean words without realizing.
Core Functions
Use voice tone to capture emotional state
Empath’s Web Empath API
an emotion recognition program developed by Smartmedical Corp
Use AI to capture language cues that imply a certain emotional state.
Enables light or vibration that subtly indicates change in tone or mood of the conversation
Final Design
Access your data from group meetings at your fingertips
After collecting data using ASR and NLU through our house device, the app will visualize data on your enthusiasm, attitude, and frequency.
Visualize your personal improvements
Receive personalized tips and tricks to enhance your communication skills. Your personal overview is available to see your journey.
Simply tap to connect
Our NFC feature allows users to connect the phone to the lighthouse device with a single tap. Multiple group projects are also easily accessible with one tap.
User Testing
Questionnaires
https://garyperlman.com/quest/quest.cgi?form=QUIS
From our user testings,
concerns were shown on
Privacy issues
Relying too much on technology itself
Wanted detailed data analysis from group meetings
Concerns in productiviness having phones out the whole meeting
Persona and Journey Map
Based on our research and feedback, we created a persona that best represents our studies and found pain points and design opportunities once again. Looking back at our research helped us a lot, going back to the basics and thinking back on what the users truly wanted, which was an easy way to track their behavior in a meeting unobtrusively and gain personalized feedback on how to improve their group meeting experience.
Storyboard
After much consideration and going back to our initial research back and forth, we finally came up with our final product and application.
Components and Branding
To emphasize productivity and efficiency, we decided to have a simple design using soft UI (Neumorphism) in Dark mode.
Key Takeaways
10 weeks have never felt so short. For this quarter, this project was my top priority and it ended up being worth it. I had faith in the direction we were heading for this class, and although it was not crystal clear on how we wanted to solve the design problem, I trusted the process. The most difficult part was that since our topic was heavily intertwined with human psychology, we had to make sure our design was not intrusive. I am proud of my team and everyone who helped us improve our product! 🥰