LOOPER APP DESIGN
About the Project
The Challenge:
The pandemic has exacerbated the need for users to have access to hygienic, accessible and inclusive public restrooms.
The goal of this particular project was to design an app that allows users to filter through and locate the nearest public restroom that meets their needs.
My Contributions:
Product Designer, Prototype Lead
User Research, Interaction, Logo Design, Prototyping & Testing
Team:
Audra Miller, Folake Sanusi, Volver Zhang, Michelle Guo, Kendall Davis-Granada
Tools Used:
Figma, Miro, Trello, Illustrator
The Process
Empathize
User Interviews
Online Survey
Define
Affinity Diagram
User Persona
Competitor Analysis
Ideate
Feature Prioritization Matrix
User Journey Map
Prototype
Wireframe Sketches
Lo Fidelity Wireframes
Lo Fidelity Prototype
Test
Usability testing
Hi Fidelity Prototype
User testing
Refine
Next Steps
KPIs
Empathize
Research and Problem Definition
Initial Research
Interviews
We interviewed seven individuals between the age ranges of 25 and 45. Two participants had young children, one participant was pregnant, and one participant had special needs. These are individuals that tend to need to find restrooms more often with more amenities. I conducted one of the interviews.
Research Objectives
To discover the pain points users have when locating public restrooms.
To understand the comfort level of users with public restrooms
To determine how users select a public restroom.
“As a pregnant woman, that’s the main thing I think about when leaving the house. Where can I find a bathroom?”
— Rebecca
“I feel using a public restroom at night, particularly in big cities is unsafe. I wish there was a better way of finding safe and clean restrooms.”
— Brewer
Online Survey
We sent out a 10 question online survey to gather insight into which demographics need this service the most.
Out of the 123 responses, our top findings were:
56% of city dwellers admitted
to having difficulty finding
public restrooms.
3 out of every 4 participants rated cleanliness as the most important factor when choosing a restroom.
49.6% look for restrooms
on their own. A majority of the rest
used Google Maps.
Project Focus Shift
As our team conducted our initial interviews we realized that overall, many individuals do not have trouble finding restrooms. What they have difficulty with is locating hygienic restrooms during the pandemic and trying to find restrooms that have a specific amenity.
So we decided to adjust our research focus to individuals that need specific amenities in a public restroom.
Define
Identifying Key Issues and User Insights
Problem Statement
Individuals are not satisfied with current restroom locating applications. It is difficult to filter for contactless restrooms with amenities like changing tables, unisex restrooms, accessible restrooms and spaces that are very clean, all of which have been exaggerated with the pandemic. As a result, individuals end up searching for restrooms on their own, their needs unmet.
How might we develop an application that provides day-to-day user insights on detailed public restroom availability and also meets the cleanliness, accessibility, and inclusivity standards of our users so they can successfully locate bathrooms based on number of times returning to our app and amount of real-time user generated reviews/ratings?
Affinity Diagram
Main points from user interviews were categorized into the categories of “Bathroom user Expectations,” “User Pain Points,” “Security Concerns,” “Bathroom Scenarios,” “Other options to Public Restrooms,” and “Opinions on Pay for restrooms.”
What we discovered is that:
Temporary closures of restrooms are hard to track
Cleanliness and sanitary conditions are important to most interviewees
Individuals with higher public bathroom standards need some specific amenity in their bathroom
User Persona
Competitive Analysis
There are plenty of apps out there that are focused on toilet locators out publicly, but a many don’t use them because these apps aren’t as inclusive and are focused on audiences that do not really need toilet finders. Competitors were studied to see which features they include and which they don’t.
Good2Go was our main competitor, but they are only available with specific retailers and their review feature is offline. It’s not as accessible.
Indirect Competitors:
Google maps
Green Elephant
Ideate
Brainstorming and Prioritizing
Feature Prioritization Matrix
From the affinity diagram, we constructed the list of needs users requested in an “I want,” “I wish,” and “what if” categories. The top ideas were dot voted on and put into a feature prioritization matrix. We focused on many features in our High Impact and Low Complexity Category.
Some of these included:
User Reviews
Listing walking distance
Filter system based on amenities
Click image to enlarge
User Journey Map
Based on the feature prioritization matrix and interview findings, I developed a user journey map.
User Flows
We brainstormed what tasks a user might perform when opening the app. I designed the user flows with my partner, Michelle Guo. Since a majority of users polled turn to Google maps to find bathrooms, we wanted a map to be the first things users see so they don’t have to waste time logging in. Users would then be able to filter for the types of restrooms they require. If they want to leave a review, then the app would ask them to sign up.
Prototype
Developing Layouts and Formulating
Wireframe Sketches and Lo Fi Wireframes
We all drew up different sketch ideas and then combined the top elements from each into a lo fidelity wireframe. This is my sketch:
Hi Fidelity Wireframes
Test
Testing Prototypes and Iterating
Testing Results
This stage is always incredibly helpful. We conducted three guerilla tests and four hi fi prototype tests on our app.
Our findings from the lo fi guerilla testing were:
Back arrows were confusing to users, especially on directions screen. Want to shift those to X symbols.
Press needed to be its own section since users were not clear on the website scroll feature.
Hi Fi User Testing
The main takeaways:
Icons were a bit confusing. Could use labels or more simplified imagery.
Add “Distance” next to the sort by drop down button so users know it’s function from the start
Confusion on bathroom ratings. Simplify again to only a cleanliness rating instead of cleanliness and overall rating.
Refine
Improving and Reiterating
Next Steps
Simplify Onboarding and Icons
Enable Users to add Bathrooms
Add Hourly/Seasonal Schedule
Add driving distance
Key Performance Indicators to monitor:
Amount of time users return to the app
Number of reviews being submitted
Amount of times users click “Get Directions”