OdourCollect
An end-end mobile app design project
DESIGN PROCESS
Discover
Desk Research
User Interviews
Surveys
Competitive Benchmark
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Define
Affinity mapping
Personas
HMW´s
BENCHMARKING
The first step in the discovery phase was to understand who where the main competitors of OdourCollect.
Since the app is addressing a very specific problem with a Citizen Science approach there are not many competitors in the market. There are citizen science projects offering the same solution but addressing different problems. Two examples are iNaturalist and Crowdwater, offering mapping biodiversity and hydrological observations to predict drought or flooding.
The main positive difference of OdourCollect from their direct competitors is to offer open data with the users, something crucial for a citizen science app.
USER INTERVIEWS AND FIRST USER TEST
I conducted 12 interviews to understand user´s pain points when experiencing a bad odour episode along with a user test with the first version of the app to understand their pinpoints when using the app.
I also did stakeholder interviews to understand in depth about the user´s context since some of them facilitated workshops for affected communities.
SURVEY
I also received 74 answers from an online survey to have more data about pain-points and areas for improvement.
AFFINITY MAPPING / INSIGHTS
Users are discouraged from mapping if the language sounds too niche
Users feel confused about the typology of odours since the classification seems arbitrary and there are words that they do not know.
More information about the purpose of the app is necessary to motivate users to map
Users are not sure what they can do in the app or the purpose and final outcome of adding an episode to the map.
PERSONAS
Project Timeline
16 weeks
Role
UX/UI Designer
Company
Science for Change
Project Goal: Re-design OdourCollect, a citizen science app to map collaboratively odour pollution episodes
User: People affected by regular and occasional odour episodes
User Problem: Experiencing odour pollution and not being heard by governments and responsible industries
Solution: An app to fight against odour pollution through an open data map
Develop
Brainstorming
Sitemap
Color/Text styles
Wireframes, task and user flows
Develop
Prototype and usability testing
Analazing results
Iterations
Handoff to developers
The Science for Change team was present in some interviews, since they already knew some of the users and their specific odour related problems
Lean Survey Canvas I filled before writing the survey
I gathered all the answers and clustered them by themes in an affinity map that led me to the main findings:
Having some type of feedback or interaction with other users gives them confidence in the app
Users feel their experience in the app is lonely, without being able to know more about other users or receive any feedback about their actions.
The degree of subjectivity of the sense of smell is challenging for classifying odours
Users are confused by the scales to establish the intensity and hedonic tone of odours.
HMW´S
I decided to focus in two main needs:
Common themes that emerged from user interviews included confusion when choosing types of odours and not having any feedback about their actions.
Once I had the main findings to work with, I created the Personas.
After carrying out the research phase, it was clear that there were two types of users. The first is someone who suffers from episodes of bad odours regularly, who is aware of how harmful it is for the environment or health and who wants to do something about it.
The second type of user is someone who has not suffered from constant episodes of bad odours but is curious and eager to do more to reduce environmental damage
DEVELOP
Ideation led to reducing the steps in adding an odour and making it more visual, an onboarding process and gamification, using badges to increase engagement.
First wireframe sketches
TASK/USER FLOW
I designed a flow for a user who’s experiencing a bad odour episode and wants to add it to the map.
I had to keep in mind the users' need to make this process as easy as possible while maintaining the company's requirements to use the terminology associated with the Spanish standard for measuring odours.
User flow to add an odour to the map
LO-FI WIREFRAMES
After I did all the user flows, I developed the Lo-Fi Wireframes so I could have a first round of remote user testing.
Lo-Fi wireframes of onboarding, home, add type and subtype of odour screens
USER FEEDBACK
After conducting the first user test, it was validated that it was crucial to recategorise and rename types and subtypes of odours and that the scale to rate odour intensity and hedonic tone needed to change to improve the user experience.
The scale to assess intensity and hedonic tone changed from 1 to 6 and from -4 to 4 respectively, from less to more intense and from very unpleasant to very pleasant
FONT AND COLOR GUIDELINESS
Once I had the necessary data from user testing to develop the High-Re prototype I focused on the UI. I worked along with the in-house designer, who did the rebranding and handed me font and color guidelines.
DESIGN SYSTEM
OdourCollect brand style guide
I built all of my components using booleans, variants, and auto layout to insure I can quickly pivot on iterations coming out of usability tests.
Design system detail
SECOND USER TESTING
I conducted a second user test with the Hi-Re Prototype to make necessary final adjustments before the handoff of the final prototype. A pain point that persisted was confusion around amount, naming and categorisation of types and subtypes of odours.
I suggested a re-categorisation of odours based on user feedback for stakeholders but the decision was ultimately theirs as they were the experts in the field.
I suggested changes in the amount, order and naming of odours based on user feedback
FINAL PROTOTYPE
I updated my designs to increase usability and made some minor UI adjustments.
Hi-Fi prototype screens
REFLECTIONS/WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Ethnographic research
Margaret Mead, the world-renowned anthropologist, famously said: "What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are entirely different things.
I think that for this particular project an ethnographic approach would have been most insightful. Since the problem the app seeks to solve is so site and sensorially specific, using such method would allow me to get even closer to user´s needs and pain points.
The need to make science more accesible
In order for citizens to voluntarily help conduct scientific research through Citizen Science platforms and tools it is vital to make this tools as accesible as posible and to consider the value that a good user experience bring to its users and ultimately to their engagement in preserving the environment.
