Accessibility Mobile IoT Service for Hard-of-Hearing Users' Daily Lives

Contribution

UX Research

UX Design + Prototyping

Pushing through with coffee! ☕️

Project Type

Independent Project

(E2E process, 3 testings & 3 iterations)

Timeline

May - Oct 2022

Problem

People with physical constraints have difficulty using home IoT appliances in their daily lives.

I started this project after my mother's surgery 2 years ago where I took care of her because she was unable to get around by herself and do household chores.

I realized this was a problem when I began to wonder, "If I were away, how could my mom manage all the chores by herself? She might struggle to complete them.”

Solution

I finally created main visual features to address each user’s problem.

#1.

Appliance status check with a visual alert.

By setting a light alert, users can check the time when appliances are working or done.

#2.

Reserve an assistant for heavy household tasks.

Users can reserve a real assistant for heavy tasks through ‘Reserve’ on the nav tab, which connected with a real assistant agency.

#3.

A quick call & chat with a written record as well as a voice record.

Users can get both a written record and an audio recording via a 'quick call & chat' feature, enabling them to access the records whenever necessary.

Research

  • Smart home devices may pose difficulties for people with physical limitations, despite their use of technological devices.

  • Users have difficulties using home IoT devices due to their physical limitations.

  • The competition has minimal consideration for accessibility.

“Due to my hard-of-hearing, I frequently remain unaware of when the laundry is finished!”

“I rely on smart home devices to simplify my life despite limited mobility, but I still need someone’s help for certain heavy tasks.”

Jobs to be done

Defined 3 Insights from research synthesis

Problem Statement

1.

Hard-of-hearing users struggle to check home appliances as they can't hear the alerts.

2.

Users having limited mobility struggle with heavy tasks like unloading laundry.

Design Challenge Prompt

How might we design to help disabled individuals with hearing and handling home appliances difficulties?

1st Testing for Design Concept with 2 home IoT users

Ensuring that users can stay informed, connected, and seek assistance for demanding tasks easily.

I showed this storyboard to two users, the one is a hard-of-hearing user and the other one is a user with limited mobility. 84% of disabled people use smartphones daily based on research, so mobile app can link online and offline experiences, which are mostly home-based.

1st Iteration

Based on feedback from the 1st testing, I created wireframes to work on the 2nd testing quickly the flows before starting pixel perfect designs.

  • #1. Built ‘set an alert’ function for various alert option.

  • #2. Created ‘Request an assistant’ with a quick call & chat for users who need someone’s help.

2nd and 3rd Usability Testing

2nd & 3rd Moderated Usability Testing with 1 hard-of-hearing IoT user to obtain genuine feedback.

  • Challenge 1: While waiting for users, there were some technical issues at the beginning; they couldn’t move to the next page because of interaction errors. I should have checked more details before starting to test.

  • Challenge 2: Because their ‘Cochlear implant’ was charging, they wanted me to chat instead of talking to her, while conducting testing on virtual platform. And so, I needed to check a participant if she understood what I explained.

Findings

  • 💡A visual alert can provide a simple and effective way to know if home devices are functioning.

  • 💡Providing simultaneous written recordings of calls and chats is a valuable accommodation for hard-of-hearing users.

2nd Iteration

3rd Iteration

Hi-Fidelity Screens

Solution

EasyHome empowers hard-of-hearing users to lead more independent, informed, and connected lives through technology.

Expected outcome

To make user’s problem more feasible and viable, the success of the product will be measured by below five criteria.

I will target key stakeholders capable of delivering EasyHome as a comprehensive home IoT service to their clients, and focus my efforts on engaging with them.

Learnings

  • If a design is for exclusively the business' goals, it will most likely fail.

  • I prioritized addressing users' pain points over business objectives in this project, resulting in an experience that better serves most users having physical impairments.

  • Moderated Usability Testing enabled me to empathize with users by facilitating communication.

  • In my previous project 'AirMappy', accessibility wasn't considered as I lacked understanding. Now, it's a key focus after gaining more interest in A11y design.

The next step

  • Conduct testing with users having other physical impairments for better solution with accessibility.

  • Meet IoT devices stakeholders to get more insights from a business stance.

  • Create brand design regarding how users would know the product at first.

  • Better adhere to A11y Design guidelines.