Safe Slots
Safe Slots is a booking management system for availing of lifestyle facilities in a safe and trustworthy environment in the new normal. The mobile app aims to provide a contactless, secure, and time-efficient user experience to the pandemic-ridden world by abiding by social distancing norms with a validated crowd and hygiene guarantee.
My Role:
The project was completed in collaboration with Mr. Viraj Verma during the worldwide Covid lockdown of 2020. I was involved in producing the following deliverables:
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Job stories
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User survey form and analysis of early research data
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Mind Map and User journey map
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Lo fidelity wireframes and prototyping
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Discussion guide for user testing
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Conducting Usability testing with five users
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Analyzing and integrating research findings
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Design system
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High fidelity UI Design
Project Timeline:
1 month: May 2020
Project Typology:
An open ended Product Design project
Project Focus:
The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework for design
User Onboarding flow
Beep nudges from the intelligent social distancing assistant when somebody enters your safe distance of 3 feet radius.
Scan QR codes at touchpoints like entrance doors, menu cards, cash counters and exits for a complete contactless experience.
Public furniture and touchpoints at outdoor facilities are sanitized every hour for maximum hygiene and protection against the virus.
A fresh set of masks and hand gloves will be provided on your arrival at the facility. This way, no one might be wearing an infected mask!
All visitors are logged for their health condition at the entrance of our properties, and the data is digitally collated nationwide.
All staff at our facilities are equipped with personal protective gear, and their body temperature is logged every hour to ensure maximum safety.
Design Process
Problem Statement
The COVID 19 lockdown had clutched people into an environment of fear-mongering and distrust across the globe, posing a big scar on the face of the nation's economy and operations of non-essential business verticals. In the demographic scale of India, access to lifestyle facilities and activities like shopping, street food, gym/clubs, salon/spa, restaurants/ pubs, and local places of interest became a challenge when the countrywide lockdown opened up. Overcrowding in queues and lack of standard operating procedures for hygiene, healthy crowd validation, and the time spent by a user to access lifestyle facilities propped up as the main deterrents for users stuck at home and more difficult for non-essential businesses to recuperate.
Jobs to be Done
The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework for design focuses on situations and motivations of 
users in a given context rather than roles and attributes as followed in the alternate approach of user personas. JTBD builds on hypothesis and (dangerous) assumptions to be further validated by user research and desirability testing.
There is an object 'The User' with a ‘motivation’ to achieve the ‘desired outcome’ through a verb 'trying to avail a lifestyle facility' in a given context, 'The New Normal.'
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The syntax for a job story
"TO USE A PRODUCT IS ESSENTIALLY TO 'HIRE' IT TO DO A JOB"
Early User research and Key findings
User research by means of a google form online survey was done on a set of 85 users.
An understanding of a user's lifestyle habits and preferences gave an insight into how one perceives to use of these facilities once the nationwide lockdown opens up. This step is a validation of the hypotheses made in the JTBD framework and facilitates an understanding of the desirability of the product to be designed.
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Preference of lifestyle activities according to user survey in the descending order:
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Street Food
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Local Markets
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Gyms & Sports Clubs
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Pubs
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Dine-in Restaurants
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Local Hangout Spots
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Movies
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Live Theatre Events
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Local Places of Interest and Hangout Spots
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View Survey Results
Mind Map of users
The key findings from the early research phase were translated into a mind map of a user trying to avail of a lifestyle facility in the new normal. Crowding, Book time, Hygiene concerns, help from technology, and trust came up as the main priority criteria (solid lines) for users. However, COVID 19 impact, payments, and proximity of the facility emerged as a second priority (dotted lines).
Users Journey Map
User journey mapping for a user, facility owner, and the facility gatekeeper depict the rise and fall in the user's mood through the journey. During the assessment, selection, decision, and booking phase, the user is confused and anxious. Users are most anxious at the time of checking in at the facility. However, users feel satisfied and relaxed after availing of the facility, making a payment, and a contactless checkout. They give satisfaction level feedback and recommend to friends the hygiene guarantee of the facility after checkout.
Wireframes
Sketched the solution flow into wireframes.
User Testing and Findings
5 User Tests with the wireframe prototype were performed in the target age groups and varied professions. Interviews were done remotely over video conferencing calls and all conversations were based on a standard interview structure to avoid ambiguity. User comments were documented screenwise and color-coded to understand recurring trends and pain points. Users were asked to share screens and the sessions were observed in real time and also recorded for a better understanding of user feedback.
Trends
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Safe Slots conveys the message of Safe and Hygiene Guaranteed outdoor visits.
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Choice criteria: Personal bias > Hygiene rating > No/Low Wait time > Nearest
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User wants to check the crowd with live feed before visiting an outdoor facility.
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User likes to pre-order to save time.
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Users are expecting a validated crowd only in their place of visit.
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Majority of users prefer List View over Map View
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Social Distance Assistant (Education + Notification) should be always active.
Painpoints
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100% Hygiene is a Bluff. Information is insufficient for building trust.
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Cannot understand the safety score
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Bestsellers should be highlighted and displayed.
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User reviews and comments more trusted than hygiene rating
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Waiting time is ambiguous
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Slot booking should be in real-time
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View Recordings
High Fidelity UI Design
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Design System
High-fidelity mockups were prepared on Figma using UI components and typography scales as specified by the Google Material Design system. The UI components were modified accordingly to fit a visual theme and hierarchy. All illustrations used are free resources from Freepik.com, used with some modifications with the intention of storytelling, and are not my original pieces of work.
Color Palette
Safety Badges
Typography
Iconography
UI Components
Tools and Resources
