Accessity
Overview
how can we make finding inclusive activities easier for people with disabilities?
For this 5 day hackathon, we wanted to figure out how we could better improve the lives of those living with a disability and limit the amount of barriers they might face day-to-day in society. We designed Accessity with the hopes of allowing users to find accommodating activities, events, and venues quicker and all in one place.
This team consisted of two designers with my focus being on user research, UX/UI design and usability testing.
Research
how are people currently navigating & active in their environment?
Our first step to empathize with users was to review articles and previously published work to gather more information on user habits, struggles, needs, and goals. From our research we discovered that the uncertainty that a place will be accommodating for individuals or have the necessary standards to ensure their comfort is a major cause of concern.
According to the Bureau of Transportation:
70% of respondents with disabilities reduce their day-to-day travel because of their disabilities.
user interviews. understanding everyday encounters and emotions.
For this hackathon project, we wanted to figure out how we could better improve the lives of those living with a disability and limit the amount of barriers they might face day-to-day in society. We designed Accessity with the hopes of allowing users to find accommodating activities, events, and venues quicker and all in one place.
“I find it hard sometimes just figuring out what’s even out there. I’d love to find some good recommendations without having to scour the internet” - B. D., Participant
feature prioritization. defining necessary features to help accomplish user goals.
Based on insights from our research and brainstorming session, we discussed what key functionality we would prioritize within the app. Additionally, due to the time constraints of the hackathon presentation, we limited a lot of other features that could be possibly explored in future designs.
Recommmendations
Curated homepage with recommendations based on search criteria or interests
Browse information to save time and determine if an activity is appropriate
Search
Filter through disabilities or interests to find the right activity
Map
Easily navigate local events nearby or in any desired area/location
user flow. following user interaction and engagement.
We began thinking about how we wanted the users to interact with the app to accomplish the main goals – create an account and find/save an activity.
Design
sketches. ideating the possible look and feel of the app.
Here are some selected sketches, where we explored how the first two flows could look. The goal of this exercise was to get as much ideas on paper and combine the details we liked best from each sketch.
mid-fidelity wireframes. creating initial designs for user testing.
Transferring from paper to screen, we recreated aspects of our sketches in Figma and cleaned up some elements. With the deadline for the hackathon approaching we needed a basic prototype for our usability tests.
Here are selected frames from the second user flow:
User Testing
how will we measure success?
In order to determine the impact of app with our success metrics, we had our users complete a few tasks. Some of which they would do on our direct competitions’ platform (meetup, groupon, yelp, eventbrite), then again using our application and compared the results between the intervals.
Here were our success metrics:
Success Rate
Were users able to accomplish their goal?
How fast were users able to complete their task?
User Satisfaction
How happy were they with their experience?
User Retention
How likely are users willing to use the app again?
usability testing. tracking user interactions in real time.
We were able to conduct usability testing on 5 participants. We made sure to make note of the number of errors, misclicks, and moments of frustration/confusion, users would encounter between tasks so we could make changes in our next iteration.
Each participant was ask to complete a number of tasks such as using the search filter to find an event, booking a class, and finding reviews.
test results. reviewing how users performed and what they had to say.
Overall, participants were able to navigate our app with ease and discover methods to find activities that fit their disability, needs, and interests. There were no errors made across all 5 tests. However, they all had comments and questions regarding the content and practicality of the features like the search filter, details page, and review section.
Good news: Users’ responses revealed many positives with the platform and it’s mission.
Not so good news: Users’ responses and questions also revealed many limitations within our data.
Our tasks were biased towards our designs, meaning our activities/events don’t reflect real world searches.
Although our app intends to make all available activities/events discoverable on one platform, it does not increase the amount of events created.
Final Product
hi-fidelity prototype. implementing user feedback from testing.
Despite the limitations from our testing we were able to gain very useful feedback about the functionality of our designs and how we can expand upon existing features. Main concerns regarding the previous iteration included a weak filter, overwhelming details page, and more.
Here is how we addressed the concerns our user feedback:
the presentation. getting hackathon ready
When presenting our app to stakeholders, we wanted to be sure to communicate how we made review criteria clear, provided more features for various barriers and had impact on our users.
Takeaways
what happened?
We received lots of accolades for our research and product after presenting our application. Our users have expressed positive feedback and I was honored to be a part of that experience. I hope that more resources like this app will be available for everyone in the future.
what’s next?
Since presenting we haven’t iterated on Accessity any further, however this hackathon experience gave me more practice when approaching design thinking. I enjoyed being able to utilize my research knowledge from when I was a research assistant and use articles/published work to back our design decisions.