As my final project for General Assembly's User Experience Design course, I chose to create a mobile experience for AARP's Livability Index. The Livability Index scores communities based on housing, neighborhoods, transportation, environment, health, engagement, and opportunities. It's a tool for consumers and policymakers to view the livability score of any neighborhood. The Livability Index encourages people to take action and have conversations on how to make their communities more livable.
The Livability Index's primary users are policymakers who want to spark conversations or change within communities. For this project, I wanted to explore a different use case for this product. I re-imagined this version of the Livability Index to cater to older adults who are exploring the idea of relocating to a new community. About 42% of Boomers want to move or downsize; however, they need reliable tools and resources to compare neighborhoods to make informed life-changing decisions.
To better understand the mentality and the needs of older adults, I conducted in-person interviews with seniors who have recently moved or in the mindset of finding a new home. I also interviewed realtors to have a different perspective and understanding of what it's like on their end. Some key learnings were:
Based off what I heard during my interviews, I created three personas to represent the possible users of my solution:
Within my conversations, I also asked my participants which sites they used to find information about homes or neighborhoods. Most popular sites were:
I visited all websites, taking notes on their main features, strengths, and areas that need development. I then created a competitive analysis chart to help identify critical elements for my version of the Livability Index. The criteria were:
Through this analysis, I discovered that the Livability Index needed a lot of improvement when it came to aesthetics and usability. One of its most potent, useful and unique feature—being able to compare neighborhoods— was buried through layers of information. To also add, the user was not able to save their searches or favorite neighborhoods—a feature that the Livability Index lacked. So the two elements that I decided to highlight within my MVP were to compare and save.
With the valuable insight gained from the user interviews and competitive analysis, I utilized the MSCW method to prioritize additional features for the prototype.
To start, I created two sets of user flows: the first being a general user flow a generic user might take, and the second a user flow that may be more typical for one of our personas. After establishing a flow I developed a paper prototype to run a quick user test to understand the flow, interest, and functionality of the app. Key insights were:
The insights gained from these quick ad-hoc user tests helped me further develop my solution to the next level of fidelity. I came up with the name "Livably" to add a fun spin— yet still reference where the idea came from—the Livability Index.
I facilitated five usability tests to gain feedback and gauge the interest of the prototype. To do this, I provided two tasks, followed by a series of questions in between to understand their expectations:
Overall the prototype met the needs of my participants. The major takeaways from the tests were:
Taking an iterative approach, I took the comments and feedback from the second round of testing as guidelines and updated my designs.
Though I have completed the User Experience Design course by General Assembly—I still have a few things in mind to further refine my solution:
Revisit earlier research and conduct a broader range of surveys to understand the mentality of older adults and the process of relocating.
Further refine designs and find the right balance of information for the user
Conduct additional usability testing once all re-designs are complete.
Project Name: TransZen
Roles: User Researcher, UX / UI Designer, Product Manager
Brief: TransZen is a mobile app that helps trans individuals find health care professionals who are well informed and sensitive to the needs of trans individuals.
Project Name: AARP Cart Revamp
Roles: Design Thinker, Facilitator, User Researcher, Creative Director
Brief: We have developed a new design for a mobile cart to improve the mobility and presence of AARP within events.
Project Name: TipJar
Roles: Design Thinker, Facilitator, User Researcher, Creative Director
Brief: TipJar is an online community for caregivers to connect with other caregivers to find helpful tips and information related to caregiving.
I'm always up for exciting projects and new opportunities. Reach out to me if you are interested in collaboration.
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