With the rapid influx of industrialization a major decline has been observed worldwide in the interactions of man with nature, be it with the wild or with their neighbourhood.

I led the UX design to design a new feature for Google Maps that congregates exploratory information for solo travellers to make informed safety decisions in traveling as part of an academic project. I pivoted our design to create more business values and presented it to the head of Google Geo, earning their approval.

Product designer; Ied the design iteration and testing process, and built the design system using Material Design principles
User research, Prototyping, Design system, User testing
User research, Prototyping, Design system, User testing

Google Maps Explore Zone

Providing environmental information on Google Maps through persuasive frameworks.

Problem

Cities have become the dominant form of human settlement, giving people the underlying essence of an intense atmosphere.

While cities offer a wealth of variety and stimulation, too many environmental inputs to be processed can overload residents and make urban life negative.

But, humans need a harmonious relationship with nature. How can we enable this with technological advancements dominating daily life?

This problem presented multiple opportunities to explore

Explore the different ways through which people use systems to navigate their environment.

Explore the opportunities different systems present for learning and identifying different species in the neighbourhood.

Examine the effects of engagement with immediate nature on residents.

Explore the potential of persuasive design principles for information systems in developing awareness of ecology among users.

Opportunities

Goal

HMW help elicit ecological awareness amongst urban residents using persuasive technology in digital systems?

56% of the world’s population lives in urban cities, and this figure is only expected to double in size by 2050 suggesting a larger potential to disconnect people from their physical surroundings leading to exhaustion and health issues

Outcome

Introduced a exploration layer to Google Maps through persuasive messages for personalized neighborhood information.

Onboarding

Shapes what content the user will see which can be set and adjusted according to the user’s preferred interests & outdoor activities.
These preferences are saved and can be edited later as well so that the user can receive recommendations and personalised messages.

Research at a Glance

Users were more inclined to staying at home than stepping outside which needed more effort than they were willing to expend.
Users were unaware of any organized events, nature-related workshops, or educational activities in their neighbourhoods.
Users were not aware of local areas around them unless they searched for them physically or on navigation apps on their phone.

Favourable weather conditions & proximity to nature were major motivators to engage with outdoors which also could act as barriers if they were adverse (acute cold/rain/gloom).
Emotional responses like moments of awe, wonder, and tranquillity were mentioned during outdoor adventures which compelled users to seek out nature for the positive feelings it evoked.
Having limited leisure time as a result of busy schedules was a significant barrier to engaging with outdoors.

How do urban residents behave with their neighbourhood?

PHASE 1: CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY | DIARY STUDIES | USER INTERVIEWS ? DATA ANALYSIS

Uncovering the rationale behind general attitudes and motives regarding outdoor behaviour and exploration in urban settings.

10+ city residents were instructed to document their daily outdoor activities and experiences for 5-7 days. This included details such as the location, time spent outdoors, activities undertaken, and their emotional state during these outings.

PHASE 2: DATA ANALYSIS

I noticed a significant XXX, when talking to participants after a summarised week of immediate nature interactions which led me to 6 crucial insights; reflecting on the overall impact of nature on their well-being and perceptions.

Data Analysis Overview: Done through various user research methodologies such as Diary Studies, Ethnographic Studies, Affinity Mapping, Empathy Mapping, and Thematic Analysis (left to right).

PHASE 3: PRE-DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | FRAMEWORKS | DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Selecting a digital system that can successfully provide a solution for diminishing ecological awareness

Participants were inclined to use:

Technology daily in the form of smartphones to navigate when outdoors.
Navigation apps to support them in finding their way when outdoors.

Solution Idea:

An explorative feature driven by persuasive design principles to Google Maps that would allow individuals to plug into an already-existing user environment making it more practical for those who are already accustomed to the system.

User Convenience & Familiarity

Has a pre-existing sizeable user base

Avoid App Fatigue

Eliminates the need to download and manage an additional app

Resource Efficiency

Helps switch between getting directions and learn of nearby spaces within the same app

Data Synergy & Accuracy

Access to Google’s extensive dataset that has accurate mapping info.

Aligning Persuasive Design Frameworks and Formulating Design Requirements

Persuasion is a form of attempted influence with the intention of changing users’ attitudes or behaviour. Bearing this in mind, 3 imperative Persuasive Design Technology Frameworks were used or the Pre-Design Development.

8-step design process
By B.J Fogg

To design digital experiences that influence people, focused on early-stage design.

28 Principles of Persuasion by Oinas-Kukkonen & Harjumaa

Explores the design & evaluation process for persuasive systems.

Design requirements

Derived from the insights of user research to guide design iterations of the main functions and features required for the system.

Allow tracking of expeditions and journeys that helps people achieve goals or outcomes.

Provide opportunities for social interactions (publicising local/regional nature challenges & events) that are happening in the area.

Provide real-time weather updates to plan outdoor activities.

Message Tailoring
By Pelletier and Sharp

Communication techniques to encourage pro-environmental behaviour change and self-determined motivation.

Offer tailored messages for target groups that can serve as triggers to cause a behavioural change in the person.

Allow transparency to see other users’ performance to get motivated & match up to it.

Give prompts and reminders to the user to step outdoors, that can serve as triggers to cause a behavioural change in the person.

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PHASE 4: CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS | FINAL DESIGNS

Framing the Design Process with Persuasive Frameworks

The 8-step process provided by Fogg for designing persuasive systems was used as a foundation to frame the design process.

Step 8 (Development) has not been considered in this process as the research was limited and will not be going into development currently in this study.

To encourage pro-environmental behaviour change, Pelletier and Sharp’s persuasive communication strategies of message tailoring and message framing to improve behaviours through self-determined motivation were used.

Three phases of behavioural change:

Detection Phase

Decision Phase

Implementation Phase

Focuses the user’s attention on a problem.

Provides messages that sensitise users to make a desired outcome & benefit from adopting a specific behaviour.

Frames messages specifying what one wants to achieve & the behaviour to perform to achieve the goal (implementation).

PHASE 5: TESTING

Measuring Success

After conducting task-based usability testings with 10+ users and a survey that was sent out to 20+ participants, SafeZone has shown a positive impact on the perception of safety planning in travel, with 88% of participants expressing high interests in using this feature in planning for future traveling.

Persuasive Potential Questionnaire (PPQ) developed by Meschtscherjakov assessing attitude and behaviour change while using persuasive technology easy-to-use tool intended to measure the potential persuasive impact of prototypes

three aspects of Susceptibility to Persuasion by others (SP) 2.92, Individual Persuasive Potential (IPP) 3.5, and General Persuasive Potential (GPP) 3.89.

a quantitative measure of participants' overall persuasiveness can be attained.

The PPQ data was analysed and segregated to understand the potential persuasiveness of the system. The first 4 statements are categorized into the the Susceptibility to Persuasion by others (SP) dimension with an average score of 2.92 which showed that participants were inclined to get persuaded.

The rest of the statements reveal the designed system’s persuasive powers. Statements 5 to 8 have been categorized into the General Persuasive Potential of the system (GPP) dimension, meaning the potentially persuasive impact of the system on any user where it scored a higher average of 3.89. Statements 8-15 were summarized under theIndividual Persuasive Potential of the system (IPP) dimension (Meschtscherjakov et al., 2016), which is the persuasive impact the system has on a single user which scored an average of 3.5. These scores indicated that the system was on the right track and had the potential to persuade users to motivate and encourage their attitudes toward nature interactions in the long run if improved.

Role

Skills

Tools