This project was developed for the class IACT 315, Human/Computer Interactions under professor Eunki Chung. Our assignment was to create a solution designed specifically to fit the needs and disabilities of one single user. Over the course of 6 weeks, my team of five designed for a 62-year-old woman with severe anxiety and agoraphobia. Our solution allowed her to expand her experiences and re-engage with her positive and creative hobbies.
My role
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Wireframing
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Hi-fi interfaces
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Illustrations
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Visual Design
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Prototyping
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Ideation
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Primary & Secondary Research
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Vision video (acting/script)
Exposure
Problem
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders and affect more than 40 million adults in the United States alone each year.
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affects more than 6.8 million Americans.
Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with GAD as men.
Agoraphobia is type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed. Often times, this leads to reclusive and antisocial tendencies.
0.8% of American adults are diagnosed with Agoraphobia.
User case
How might we…
Encourage the user to achieve her goal of breaking her routine and having new, positive, and exciting experiences without creating a situation where she will become anxious?
Solution
A network consisting of a task-based photography app, a 180° clip-on camera, and an easy-to-mount bluetooth digital photo frame.
The app
Challenges prompt Kay to go out and have new experiences on her own time, allowing her to expand her comfort zone without causing major anxiety
Daily challenges are simple and give Kay something to look forward to every day. Instead of coming home from work and shopping, she can engage in her favorite hobby, and is encouraged by growing streaks.
Monthly challenges are more difficult and give Kay some friendly competition. These challenges encourage her to plan her solutions ahead of time and expand her experiences.
Completion challenges utilize the AI element of the app by automatically categorizing other user submissions and recognizing a common element; Kay's job is to complete the set.
Extra challenges are there for Kay if she wants something more challenging to work on in her free time, and there is no time limit.
Search function
Exposure's search function is unique. Instead of providing Kay direct solutions for her challenges, our goal is to provide her inspiration. When a photo is uploaded to Exposure, the AI uses photo recognition to identify various major aspects of the submission including color, objects, and composition.
Kay can search submissions that have a certain color scheme or are of a certain subject if she likes. She can even search for examples of a composition to help her out.
The AI also provides a list of users who commonly submit photos with the tags she searches in order to encourage conversation and possible collaboration.
180° Clip-On Camera
This camera was designed to match Kay's lifestyle. Even though she can't interact with other people very easily, she enjoys hiking alone or walking in quiet, empty parks, and often carries her backpack around with her everywhere.
This camera easily clips to her backpack strap and takes a photo in less than one second with a click of a button. She can later view these photos in a compiler or through Google Cardboard, and relive her positive experiences while being encouraged to continue her recovery and make more.
Digital Photo Frame
This frame is simple and easy to mount, and connects to Kay's phone via Bluetooth to allow her to easily display her hard work. This will also encourage Kay to keep her home cleaner, as she would want people to come over and view her art.
Adaptive UI & Designing for Age
Kay is a smart woman, but it can't be denied that her age was a factor when designing. Our app was designed to be extremely simple and easy to use, with no "confusing, noisy buttons" (Kay's own words).
The adaptive UI was put in place so that the AI will learn Kay's habits over time and make the use of the app even simpler; automatically opening her preferred challenges as soon as she opens the app.
System Flowcharts
Journey Maps
