CASE STUDY
Carnegie Mellon University
LifeKit UX + UI
A mobile app concept that helps individuals celebrate life’s moments and prepare for the future.
OVERVIEW
Our challenge was to develop a design concept that focused on design to improve life.
We were tasked with developing a design concept in partnership with The Index Project, a non-profit organization that promotes designs that improve lives worldwide.
TEAM
Anna Boyle
Michelle Chou
Eustina Daniluk
Nandini Nair
TIME
2020
15 Weeks
Carnegie Mellon University
ROLE
Ideation, Design Research, Visual Design, Concept Development, UI/UX Prototyping
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator, Figma, After Effects, Pen and Paper
CORE77 DESIGN AWARD
Recognized by the Core77 Design Awards as a Student Winner in Consumer Technology.
WHY DESIGN FOR END OF LIFE
Despite the diversity of life — one universal fact of existence is that it ends.
Our team found that only 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. have made plans for their end-of-life proceedings or have spoken to a loved one about their wishes.
Our challenge was to re-imagine the concept of planning for the end of life to improve the quality of one’s life over time.
OUTCOME
LifeKit - breaks down daunting life planning tasks into bite-sized steps and allows users to update, authorize, and legalize their wishes at their own pace through their mobile phone.
Integrated within the OS ecosystem and government, legal, health, and financial sectors.
LifeKit makes planning a part of living, enabling better peace of mind for individuals and their loved ones.
1.0
Celebrate life’s moments. Prepare for the future.
Celebrating the past and present to envision the future.
2.0
Make future plans, step by step.
Breaking down daunting tasks throughout the process.
3.0
Update, authorize, and legalize wishes, at your own pace.
Create autonomy and connections to online notarization processes.
3.0
Make life-saving information accessible to first responders.
Enabling medical professionals to access critical information during times of emergency
1.0 | PROCESS
Exploratory Research
We researched how people regard mortality today through conversations and literary analysis and found that many neglect preparing for uncertainty and postpone planning indefinitely.
OBSERVATIONS & INTERVIEWS
We conducted expert interviews, stakeholder interviews, conversational workshops, and a graffiti wall activity.
9
Expert
Interviews
We spoke to 9 experts in the fields of hospice care, legal planning, social work, and others to develop a clear and broad understanding of the territory we were going to be researching
15
Stakeholder
Interviews
We interviewed 15 individuals, aging from 26 to 87. Through this process we developed an understanding of current trends in aging populations and observed what a best-possible aging future could look like.
3
Conversational
Workshops
100+
Graffiti Wall
Responses
We held 3 workshops with Hello, a conversational game that asks users what matters most to them in their life. This workshop gave us the opportunity to compare multi-generational perspectives and social settings.
We posted 4 graffiti wall activities that received +100 participants. This activity helped us identify how individuals perceive their lifespan as well as gauging the gap in expectations retirement and end of life.
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH INSIGHTS
In synthesizing our initial findings we came away with these three key insights that helped us define our problem statement.
Often Triggered
by Life Events
Life planning is oftentimes only brought into focus when an individual survives or sees a loved one survive a life-threatening event, or when feeling "old enough" to do so.
Not Formalized
or Communicated
People have ideas about what they want, but most do not formalize them or communicate their intentions to those who matter.
Lack of
Awareness
Many are not aware of how to prepare for the long term, also not ready to navigate the complexity of legal, medical, and government systems.
How might we motivate and
mobilize individuals to prepare
for the unexpected?
2.0 | PROCESS
Generative Research
We dug deeper into why people don’t plan and what actions they need to take to make planning easier.
Secondary Research
We spoke to 9 experts in the fields of hospice care, legal planning, social work, and others to develop a clear and broad understanding of the territory we were going to be researching
Experience Audit
We interviewed 15 individuals, aging from 26 to 87. Through this process we developed an understanding of current trends in aging populations and observed what a best-possible aging future could look like.
Generative Workshop
We held 3 workshops with Hello, a conversational game that asks users what matters most to them in their life. This workshop gave us the opportunity to compare multi-generational perspectives and social settings.
STORYBOARDING
Our initial concept was centered around the idea of selecting an animal at the beginning of your museum experience and having this object act as a personal guide or companion. This concept was then modified and broadened to the final LINK concept and hexagon screen device.
Storyboard | Jiyoung Ohn
PROTOTYPING
We experimented and prototyped a lot of our interactive touchpoints. Below is a sample of images from our process.
Since the device was not a standard shape, we did some user testing to determine the size of the device and where to put the navigational elements. Through many iterations, we were able to decide on the ideal size that was easy to hold. The final prototype included: a 3D Laser Printed mock-up and Arduino haptic nudge simulation.
VISUAL DESIGN
After refining our concept we developed a visual design system and branding for the experience we were creating.
We chose to move forward with the name LINK as it explores the relationships between humans and the natural world while helping visitors see and understand these connections within a larger ecosystem.
Form
We chose the hexagon shape as our brand identity because it is a common shape that appears in nature and represents growth and harmony.
Style
We decided to use a modern and user friendly typeface and simple iconography alongside a minimal color palette with a pop of green to highlight connections to the natural world throughout the experience.
Photography
We chose to include wildlife photography and focused on animals that were endangered or or at risk because of human impact.
INTERACTIVE TOUCH POINTS
1.0 Link Device
The LINK device is a hexagonal interactive screen that visitors can carry through all the exhibitions. LINK has the ability to provide directions, introduce relevant human impact stories to visitors, and enable interactions on the reflection table.
Discover Animals
Collaborative Learning
Collect Along The Way
2.0 Interactive Table
The table gives visitors the opportunity to view and interact with different human and animal relationships. Once the device is activated it guides the user through the experience. The table prompts a variety of different social interactions by creating links between the animals that each user has selected and showing how the animals are related to one another and different human impacts.
Select an Animal
Once another person approaches the table and places their device on the screen, a link appears to show the connections between the two different animals that have been selected by each visitor.
Connect + Understand
Once another person approaches the table and places their device on the screen, a link appears to show the connections between the two different animals that have been selected by each visitor.
Explore + Discover
The table shows the trajectory of species, populations, and ecosystems. It helps visitors explore the evolution of the animal over time and its relationships with other organisms, both living and extinct while displaying the ecological systems and relationships the animal has through the food chain.
3.0 Kiosk + Collective Wall
At the end of the experience, visitors come into contact with the LINK Kiosk where they are able to return their LINK device. After returning the device, visitors are prompted to take a personal video and write a personal note showing their support for the natural world. The selfie and handwritten message on the screen are then displayed on the LINK collective wall.
Return
The kiosk is activated by returning the handheld device at the end of the experience.
Contribute
After returning the device, visitors are prompted to take a personal video and write a personal note showing their support for the natural world. The selfie and handwritten message on the screen is then displayed on the LINK collective wall.
Reflect
Collected images and reflections are displayed on the immersive wall at the entrance of the museum. By contributing a personal message at the end of their experience visitors will be able to gain a better understanding of how small actions can make a difference.
User Journey
Reflection
Design Systems
We learned a lot about design systems and developing clear transitions through a multi-touchpoint interactive experience.
We also had the opportunity to test these transitions to gain a better understanding of the user experience through prototyping and developing user flows for each individual device.
We were very inspired by Google’s AI Design Guidelines and tried to use their principles to guide our design. This included using short, simple, concise words and prompting users with task-oriented responses.
Navigating Complex Information
Our concept focus of visualizing and communicating human impact to a large and diverse user group proved to be challenging but relevant.
we would welcome the opportunity to do more research on developing the content around this experience. i.e. identifying more animals that have been effected by human impact or are threatened or endangered.
Next Steps
est our concept with Museum stakeholders.
Refine the LINK Device and LINK Reflective table UI experience to include smoother device transitions and relevant information.
Conduct more user testing to refine the LINK device size and shape for younger and older visitors.
Develop a stronger brand identity that would appeal to a wider audience and that would be more fun and engaging.
