eleMental - Spec Project for Google Earth
Role: UX Designer
Duration: 2 weeks | May 2020
Disclaimer: As stated above, this is a spec project. Neither I nor the team have affiliation with Google or Google Earth.
The world is a stressful place. People have more obligations than ever before, and the state of the world is more and more fluid. With more on our plates, it is vital for people to be able to decompress and refocus the mind. It is widely confirmed that spending time in nature is a necessary part of our daily lives, but it’s not always accessible. With roadblocks like time, transportation and location people choose not to jump those hurdles and only accomplish what is infant of them: work, family, and what bit of self care they can squeeze in between.
How can we help those with limited time and access the natural experience they crave? Presenting: eleMental by Google Earth
research
Goals of research:
Are people really more relaxed after watching natural phenomena and engaging with animals in nature?
Is engagement with nature inaccessible to most?
Is a nature relaxation app desirable?
Research began with a series of interviews of potential users. We asked about their daily stressors, how they decompress, and their feelings toward nature and their access to it currently.
From there we were able to synthesize data from those interviews to form an overall big picture. From our 8 interviews we began with taking observations and quotes from our interviewees. Many were focused on their daily stress levels, accessibility to nature, nature in their daily routine, and how they feel when they are able to connect with the natural world.
eleMental affinity map
eleMental insights to features
partnership
Google is an innovator who believes that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the World.” We believe Google Earth is the right partner for us. They are able to offer us a valuable API for an environment geo-locator, as well as become a free alternative to other health and wellness applications.
How Can Google Earth Help?
Importance of health and wellness space is growing
Provide the knowledge and experience required for the emerging need for self care and relaxation in the wellness space
Increase accessibility and exposure of the app
Emphasize connectivity between the user and the earth/ nature
Thematically similar through information and entertainment.
How Can We Help Google Earth?
Provide immersive connection to the earth through audio and visuals
Geo-tagged videos provide users with the location of the video they are watching
Information about each video topic is provided to educate users and direct them to possible conservation efforts
Connect learning with relaxation and fun experiences might increase user satisfaction
design
We developed our persona, Maya. We wanted to hone in on what a day in her life would probably be like. Our User Journey map was used to understand our her better and where our application could help boost her emotional experiences.
Our app could provide relaxing content while she is getting ready for work and during her commute. Our app could also help her stay focused and relaxed while working late. We could also provide education content for her to read to her children at bedtime. As well as provide calming visuals as she winds down to sleep.
Below you’ll see results of our design studio. We aimed to bring our features to life in a sketch with 2 minute drawing sprints and 1 minute critiques between teammates.
We started with our early mid-fidelity designs under the brand name “Breathr”.
Our home screen includes a featured today and new video tiles, and we also have the capability to explore new places and nature through the google earth view page.
Mid Fidelity and High Fidelity Screens for eleMental
testing
For each round of Usability Testing, we walked five participants into five different scenarios and tasks while using the application and to rate their easiness.
Find a soothing beach video to watch
Find more information on the video you are watching
Favorite this video to save for later
Find and play your favorited video
Find the California Redwoods on a map.
In round one of testing, our users had a difficulty completing our last task to find a content through our map view, we decided to combine and include the map view page into our current search page to lessen confusion.
We also want to add a greater sense of narrative and voice in our overall application and design. Some of the feedback from our testing suggested that our text was too “rigid” and some “too unfamiliar,” so we will apply our soft narrative voice to our overall text and word choice.
Lastly, our testing participants expressed that the app name breathr reminded them of a meditation app, so we decided to rebrand our app from breathr to a new name that suggests that our app is also about nature.
eleMental Task 1 screen flow
From our round 2 of usability testing we found the following insights:
Users were interested to see natural locations nearby their current location, which we would include in a high position on the Profile page.
Users responded to our design thinking it was inspiration for travel, so changing our hook and potential labels could help reframe our mission
Users had to dig further for the earth view, which we believe would be better served back on the navigation bar
Finally we’d like to prototype and test again with the goal of a application we can gauge wide audience use
Usability testing again, to inform on new design decisions and iterations
next steps
Our lives are only getting busier, and our space and time only more constrained.
eleMental and Google are in the position to provide a respite from this grind; to get back to our roots and connect with the natural world.
During these most uncertain times, our partnership has the opportunity to become a valuable member in Google’s suite of tools and break into the digital wellness space as a trusted name. To reach their current user base of billions and encourage us to take care of ourselves.