Location-based Covid19 Safety app
Roles: UX researcher / UI designer
overview
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges shifted to online learning. In 2021, some students chose to return to campus with restrictions, facing challenges due to the pandemic. I designed "Safeguard," a stand-alone mobile app for the University of Miami students to address this. Safeguard enables safe navigation on campus by providing access to PPE, site testing locations, and distance checkers. The project took three months to complete, aiming to help students safely return to campus with ease and a touch of fun.
Opportunity Statement
How can I help students/ faculty feel more comfortable with safety protocols on returning to campus?
How can we make it easier for students to return to campus safely?
Process
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Empathize
Hypothesis
If students have an easy way to access information on safety protocols, they can return to campus with greater ease.
Interviews
I interviewed students, professors, and staff on what they perceive to be true about the University of Miami's Covi-19 safety protocols.
Target end users
University students and staff
The target audience for interviews
University students (taking in-person classes or Hybrid)
University students (taking online only)
Faculty
Research Methods
1:1 interviews
Voice #1
“I would like to see more accurate information on covid cases on campus”
- Studnet (hybrid)
Voice #2
“Location density trackers should have information for all campuses”
- Studnet (in person)
Voice #3
“It would be interesting to see the capacity numbers by buildings and maybe high-traffic areas.”
- Faculty member
Define
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Most participants were unaware of the max capacities of particular rooms on campus
Participants had expressed concerns regarding operation, credibility, and exposure testing and tracing for COVID-19 on campus
Participants wanted a clear indication of whether space was currently exceeding the recommended capacity before they arrived on campus
Participants wanted a better way to protect themselves from exposure
Participants did not know where personal protection equipment (PPE) and sanitization stations were located on campus
Persona creation
During the research process, I created personas to help me anchor the interviewees' thoughts into a clear hypothetical end-user.
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Prototype
User tasks
Search for PPE/sanitation stations
Select your campus
Submit a positive/negative test
Change notification settings
Search for a testing site near me
Check current distance from other people using AR.
Below I have some featured tasks and their
Task #1:
Users must be able to search for personal protection equipment and sanitation stations located on campus quickly.
Based on the University of Miami's decision to place PPE stations around the campuses, I have added a feature to allow students to locate these stations quickly from anywhere on campus.
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Task #2 :
Users must be able to select one of the three campuses they want to view on the map.
Allowing users to select between campuses gives them the necessary information about PPE/Sanitation stations, building capacity, and testing site locations related to their campus.
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Task #3:
Users must be able to submit their positive/negative test results.
To ensure a safe return to campus, all people coming must complete a symptom checker survey.
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Task #4:
Users must be able to change notification settings.
Giving users a choice to turn off notification settings allows users to interact with the application on their terms, ultimately increasing user enjoyment. It is standard practice for applications.
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Task #5:
Users must be able to search for a testing site near based on their location relative to the user.
Like the PPE/ Sanitation station location feature, the testing site locator feature allows users to find an on-campus testing site.
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Task #6:
Users must be able to assess the level of personal safety around campus.
Users said during interviews that they did not trust the floor makers set up by the university. This feature will allow users to take their safety into their hands by checking their current distance from others.
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NEXT STEP / TAKEAWAYS
Continue user testing
We will also begin testing information architecture to understand better how to incorporate these new features into the existing UM student/faculty/staff app.
Research other opportunities for more applications in the public health sector
