Background
Duration:
~4 Months
Software:
Figma, Miro, Photoshop
Elements Designed:
App, Physical, TV Interface
Team Members:
Emma Fowler
Mara Healy
Lydia Goshen
Hadyn Hawkins
My Role:
Graphic Designer
What I Learned
Basis had the largest team of UX designers I had ever worked with before, all of whom are incredibly talented. However having 5 people stay on the same page presented it's own challenges to overcome. All of which, I feel we did end up overcoming in the end.
This was also the only project to date that I have designed a TV interface for, which presented unique design opportunities. Mara Healy designed a large portion of the app interface, so I worked closely with her to ensure the TV had the same design language.
Problem/Solution
Lack of in-person social interactions with family members, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, can cause communications to deteriorate leading to family members feeling disconnected from one another.
We set out to design a platform that will strengthen the bond between family members by creating purposeful communication, encouraging sentimental memories, and emulating physical closeness.
Project Overview
Basis is a collaborative family platform that allows users to stay in touch with their family by leveraging downtime in each member’s schedule.
With features for every member of the family, such as games, watch parties, and a family content bank, every member of the family can enjoy Basis.
Basis utilizes a smart calendar in order to match up everyone's schedules, lining up the best time for everyone to
View the entire process book with the button below.
Value Proposition
Openness
Sentiment
Family members can post updates about their lives and ask for advice in a collaborative space though text posts, images, and polls.
Family members can reach out to each other for fun and support, and share memories with each other through the shared content bank.
Togetherness
Even through a busy schedule Basis can find a common time for the family to video chat, play games, and enjoy spending time together.
Research
My team and I went though several rounds of research, starting with our secondary research, which looked into the dynamics of familial relationships and communication patterns.
Our primary research consisted of:
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A Survey with 208 responses
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10 Interviews of "Nuclear Family" members
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3 Interviews of Family Therapists
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Competitive Analysis of 5 competitors
From here we gathered all of our data to begin the affinity mapping process.
Personas
Mindsets
These are they different categories of potential users that we aim to design for.
Affinitization
From 400+ data points, down to 5 key insights.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
1.
A lack of physical presence is directly linked to a decline in emotional closeness.
2.
Most people believe open, non-judgmental communication would bring their family closer.
3.
It’s common for young adults to feel like they lost their support system after moving away.
4.
Frequent & deeper communication is key for healthy family dynamics, but families struggle to find time for it.
5.
Family members value family traditions but feel that they diminish and erode away after members move away from home.
First Design Iteration
Some User Testing Findings:
Opening full TV menu screen from the side menu is confusing.
TV menu is lacking a lot of potential features from the app.
Don't rely on just iconography in the app; use labels as well.
There's a lot of dead space in the TV menu and app home menu.
Second Design Iteration
Some More User Testing Findings:
Colors seem nice at first, but users found annoying to look at for long.
Users can't find their family members posts. On app or TV.
The side menu shouldn't cover any of what the user is watching.
The idea of gesture controls for the TV doesn't follow the users mental model. Use a remote instead.
Third Design Iteration
Some More User Testing Findings:
TV menu doesn't fit the feel of the app, and is unattractive.
"Recent Highlights" confused the user, change to "Content Bank" page.
Creating a post on the app, which is encouraged, wasn't intuitive.
Family members profiles needed to be more useful.
Final Design Iteration
List of features:
Virtually reach out to family members by offering or asking for support and scheduling in-person events that work with everyone's schedules.
Easily play a variety of games with your family through the app or at home on the TV Base.
Help create a virtual content bank of memories of the family.
View important information such as wish lists, recent posts, and familial connection data on the profile pages.
Make posts to just your parents, or just your siblings, or have a girls chat by creating custom groups to post in.
Final Renders
Emma Fowler
Project Manager
Mara Healy
Interaction Design
Lydia Goshen
Systems Design
Darren Wells
Graphic Designer
Hadyn Hawkins