Type of Project
- User Experience Design Master of Arts
- Research Methods & Design for Behaviour Change
- 2020, 5 months
Skills
- Individual work
- Secondary Research
- Ethnographic Research
- Human Centered Research
- Behavioural Design
- Low/Medium Fidelity Prototype
Background
The Brief
A brief by the organisation Hubbub was to create a behaviour change concept that can: “Engage city residents with air quality and encourage them to take action to reduce their exposure and take steps to avoid their contributing to pollution.”
The Problem - London Pollution for Commuters
Within the UK, London is one of the most polluted places at ground level. Shockingly, on the London Underground, the deepest lines are on average 18 times more polluted than at surface level.
London commuters are especially at risk due to longest average commute in the country of 46 minutes . This time period, twice per day, whilst breathing in poor quality air, creates a negative cumulative effect that is damaging to their health.
The Concept
The final concept aims to help commuters living and working in London to meet their healthy motivations by avoiding pollution on their route into work. The concept 'Commutair' is to adjust commuters' habits, so their morning routine affords them the time and knowledge to take the least polluted routes into work.
Approach
Double Diamond Process
1. Discover: Starting with a broad range of primary and secondary research around the topic.
2. Define: Using analysis techniques such as affinity diagrams and journey maps to work out the problems.
3. Develop: Developing design concepts with 'How Might We' and 'crazy 8s'. Specifying target behaviours.
4. Deliver: A mid-fidelity prototype app was created, tested and evaluated.
1. Discover
Assumptions
I checked my assumptions to try and reduce bias and discover target areas where I lacked knowledge and require more research.
Hunt Statement
"I am going to research the commuting habits of young professionals working in London, and commuting to work, in order to identify opportunities to lower their exposure to air pollution and reduce the emissions they produce."
Research Questions
- What journeys do young professionals working in cities take, and why do they choose those journeys?
- What are their beliefs towards pollution?
- Why are they not doing more to avoid air pollution?
Contextual Inquiry and Shadowing
I emersed myself in the day-to-day commutes with five different participants and discovered their experiences and gained empathy and understanding.
Semi-Structured Interviews
After the commutes, I interviewed the participants to reflect on their experiences to reveal their attitudes and beliefs.
Images of the commutes and pollution data were used as prompts to help reflection and to trigger memories.
I used card sorting to understand the priorities of commuters. Their real-world behaviour was compared with this information to look for interesting differences.
2. Define: Research Analysis
Affinity Diagramming
I created an affinity diagram to search for themes, likeness and ideas to add meaning to the information.
I wrote up the transcripts from the interviews and split them into sections to help inspect the large amount of information.
These were printed on cards, to make the data visual and movable to help cluster around themes and find insights.
I added key observations and quotes from the shadowing and contextual inquiry to build up a full picture. These were clustered into categories.
Journey Mapping
I created journey maps for a tangible representation of the commuters experiences. It allowed me to step back after the contextual research and view the commutes together to pick up on common themes and observations.
Participant Boards
Maps of the journeys were printed and displayed near the results of the card sorting activities. These references allowed me to see commuters' exposure to pollution and compare the participants' real actions and priorities expressed in the interviews. I was looking for idiosyncrasies that could lead to insights.
Insights
Above are some example of insights interpreted from the data analysis.
The insights were sorted into a matrix to identify and evaluate ideas based on potential to change behaviour to avoid pollution and improve the user’s experience.
3.Develop - Concepts
Behaviour Change Process
The above behaviour change process was used as the structure concentrates on effective behaviour change while considering ethics.
Persona
I created a persona as an amalgamation of participant behaviour and characteristics. The persona and insights highlighted specific behaviours for change and helped when designing a positive experience.
'How Might We...' (HMW)
The HMWs were sorted into a matrix to look for ideas to improve Sam's experience (the persona) and lower her exposure to pollution.
The HMW below was chosen, as the scope can effectively target two behaviours. These are: Rushing for any train and being unaware of pollution levels. This has the potential to have good ethics as it meets a desire to become healthier and takes into account Sam's (the persona's) current needs.
Behaviour Change Strategy
I used Crazy 8s to generate design ideas rapidly. I sorted these ideas with two matrices.
The first matrix is to rank the ability to improve Sam's experience and lower her exposure to pollution.
The second matrix is to compare the control of the product or user control against obtrusiveness. Too much control by the product and it could be rejected, too little and it may not work. Therefore the concept work with information, feedback, encouraging and behaviour steering.
This work led to a concept that involved an app that aims to give commuters the ability to catch low pollution trains, through adjusting the time they wake up, and informing them of the healthiest route. This was deemed to be feasible, desirable and viable. However for ethics and efficacy, required prototyping and iteration.
The two target behaviours for behaviour change:
The two desired new behaviours:
UX Vision Statement
4. Deliver: Wireframes and Testing
Example Screens
Setting up the app: Low/Medium fidelity prototype for questions from participants. Testing if the sequence is logical and understandable.
Selecting routes: Examples of screens used in testing. Working out effective 'informing' techniques.
Morning routine: Screens designed to modify habits. Alarm increases ability to change, rewards provide motivation and effective variable rewards.
Feedback and Rewards: Testing feedback methods for avoiding pollution.
Prototype Testing
I tested the prototype on an Adobe XD application . Participants had a scenario so they understood the context of use. Think aloud protocol gathered deep insights into the user’s thoughts and interpretations, which is necessary when attempting to assess the ability to change behaviour.
Outcomes
Ethics and Comments
Further Evaluation
With a longer timescale project, it would be necessary to further test the design in the actual context of use to ensure the data is reliable. The users would need to use the prototype in context as part of their lives to gain more realistic insights and judge the effectiveness and ethics of the behaviour change strategies. A large group of participants over a long period of time could help reduce the possibility of unintended consequences and help to improve the experience.
