Night Out
A mobile app concept making finding & planning for events during the pandemic easy for those who care about COVID safety regulations and those who don’t.
About
The Department of Energy (DOE) is an agency of the US Government that acts to ensure the conservation of energy & environment within national boundaries. Their primary goals are to increase efficiency of energy expenditure, slow & decrease effects of climate change, and create & enforce regulations in accordance with novel research regarding the former two.
Tools
Figma
Adobe XD
Google Forms/Drive
Balsamiq
Invision
Miro
Project
The project’s objectives were to solve fundamental usability issues presented on the Department of Energy website & mobile application. To do so, a variety of users were observed using the site, both before and after redesign. During the process, the hierarchy of information and navigation were reorganized & reconstructed, while the site also received new responsive breakpoints with corresponding designs. Overall, the redesign was observed to be successful in enhancing user experience.
Jump to a Section
(empathize)
A proto-persona was drafted to kick off the user research process.
Focusing on
To begin the redesign process, it was decided to jump straight into usability testing after the initial evaluation of the sit. Hopefully, this would shed light on the features that should be kept, improved, or scrapped.
User Interviews & Surveys
Research Questions
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Objectives
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout.
Responses
Each interviewee expressed myriad frustrations with apps that are currently available for planning events. Many were concerned with being informed of an event’s safety standards before attending and felt it vital that they be enforced by the venues or event hosts.
It was also found that, when in search for a non-specific event, users will likely turn toward unspecialized social platforms or search engines. The most common method of discovery was through either word of mouth or instagram (through friends’ posts or by checking tags). Users try google while traveling since they often are out of their social network.
survey
Though the responses to the survey were limited, usmers identified a need for a competent event sharing platformppppppkedsf
I feel like I'm taking a risk every time I go to [an event] without knowing how the venue handles COVID safety. Safety is very important to me
"It's difficult finding things when you don't know where to look. I'll use google but it's difficult because it's extremely expansive."
"I look for events that are age-appropriate, that the whole family will like, also no big cost, and it's nearby...It has to be really easy or I won't go."
An Empathy Map was then formulated by combining interview data.
(define)
Finally, interview responses, the affinity diagram, and the empathy map were all utilized for the synthesizing and analyzing of user data, which would provide evidentiary support for a user persona. Meet Myra Claiborne!
User Persona
User Insight
Statement
Because competitive apps and event ticket sites fail to gather a comprehensive list of events and local happenings, Myra needs an easy, innovative way to search for upcoming, safe events that align with her specified interests and are located along her travel route or near her current location.
Providing a platform that features details about local events and their venue’s COVID safety regulations will allow Myra to plan her evenings out enjoyably, efficiently, and with peace of mind.
Problem
Statement
NightOut is designed to facilitate the flow of information from event-thrower to event-goer and to aid the event-goer in their search for interest-specific, safe events.
We have observed that travelers experience an amplified inability to search in and select from a comprehensive database of events local to their destination due to: a lack of access to the normal, oral circulation of event information one would usually receive from a social circle; and lack of access to any single tool that efficiates the planning for a holistic range of organized activities.
How might we help the average traveler enhance their success at experiencing the overall local milieu of a destination, while operationalizing such a measurement by recording ticket sales, app traffic, and feedback of positive reviews?
How might we improve site cohesiveness & usability for the Department of Energy?
(ideate)
Brainstorming
Feature Prioritization Matrix
Value Proposition Canvas
Competitor Analysis
Storyboard
Boredom Sets In
Myra is away on business. Her late-afternoon meeting got canceled that evening, leaving her with a large chunk of time to fill before her flight the next day.
No Fear, Night Out is Here
Not wanting to sit in her hotel room alone all night and being the social butterfly that she is, Myra pulls out her phone and brings up her NightOut app.
Search Nearby
Myra isn’t quite sure what she wants to do, but she knows she to stay close and stay (COVID) safe, so she leaves the search bar blank and sets the filters for within 4mi and masks or vaccination required.
Find Something Great
What a surprise! A ton of events are happening nearby and starting soon! After reading through their descriptions, she chooses a concert featuring a band she loves that just happens to be local to the area. She instantly buys her ticket from the app with apple pay.
Share & Get Directions
Rejuvenated with newfound excitement, Myra quickly shares the event to her co-worker group chat for anyone else looking for something fun in town, taps ‘Open in Maps’, and is on her way. For the bands she doesn’t know, she finds links on the event page to their spotifys and listens through headphones on the go.
Have a Blast!
After receiving the link in the group chat, all of Myra’s co-workers downloaded Night Out, too. While enjoying the concert, each one simultaneously thought to themselves, “Thank you, Night Out!”
User Journey Map
Using data from the card sorting, a new site map was constructed implementing a generalized version of the categories suggested by the participants. Each category is intended to cater to the most likely users of DOE’s site, such as the climate concious, students & teachers, home renovators, and business owners.
(prototype & test)
Information architecture
User Flows
Onboarding
Add a Trip
CREATE an Event
Once we had gotten to know & understand our users, we compiled significant pain points, personality traits, desires, & motivations to build our problem statement and base our redesign on.
Responsive Design
Low Fidelity Sketch Prototypes
Initial Digital
Mid-fi Wireframes & Prototype
Interactive Design
Iterated Prototype
Usability Testing II
The purpose
To assess the efficiency of the navigation redesign and RWD elements.
The Goals
To uncover any hindrances to the user interface,
the tasks
- Look for and find any page off the homepage that interests you
- Find career and volunteer opportunities
- Use the site’s navigation to seek online learning resources for adults & workers
what were the outcomes?
Users were:
- Overwhelmed by the abundant content & tiny text
- Unable to figure out their location on the site (i.e., no breadcrumbs)
- Lost upon leaving the homepage due to the lack of sensical information hierarchy
- Not able to access on mobile devices
how were the results implemented?
Following user testing, results were analyzed, a user persona created, and priority attention was given to reformatting the site map and primary navigation, as those caused the most
Responsive Design
Iterated Prototype
After addressing issues found in user testing, the design was further simplified and iterated. This consisted of changing the hero image and formatting, highlighting the email sign-up process, and modifying headers & footers.
final
Prototype & Navigation
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
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