Week 4: Project Brief
22nd of September, 2021
What did you do? What did you learn?
This week, I have been mainly focusing on finalizing my topic and writing up a project brief. I had a quick feedback session with a few of my classmates to discuss our possible topics and finally, I have confirmed my topic and wrote my project brief. This definitely helped me to figure out and organize my thoughts, but also, to plan my research and design process throughout the semester.
- What is your project about?My project is about the experience of walking on the streets alone in the United States. Within my assumption based on my experience, I believe that not everyone always feels safe walking alone in the streets. Whether it is physical or verbal abuse, street crimes are still occurring today, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only myself but I am also surrounded by people who feel the same way and knowing that there are people out there who feel uncomfortable walking outside brings the need for us to talk about the issue. Through this project, I am hoping to help improve the walking experience for people to feel more safe and confident in the streets.
“ I want to make a safer walking experience for people who walk often / female / Asians
so that they can prevent any possible street crimes and feel more confident
by being aware of the safety around the community. ”
- Who is my target audience?I am still in the progress of deciding my target audience by doing a quick questionnaire. My possible target audience could be open for anyone who walks on the streets often or narrowed down to minorities such as females or Asians in the U.S.
- What unknowns are there?I believe that I need to find out how much people feel unsafe walking in the streets and the demographics of who is feeling the discomfort the most. I also need to explore and understand the exact emotions that they are feeling when they are comfortable and uncomfortable, and how they define safety when they walk in the streets.
Research Plan
Primary Research
- QuestionnaireI am currently doing a quick questionnaire to understand how many people are feeling unsafe in the streets and to find out which demographics feel uncomfortable the most.
- InterviewI am planning to do several interviews based on the demographics from the questionnaire. I would like to talk to both groups of people who feel safe in the streets and people who don’t feel safe walking alone. This is to understand the exact emotions that they are going through and define the word safe.
Secondary Research
- I am planning to do secondary research on street crimes to understand what they are, what types of crimes there are and how much people are influenced by the issue.
User Testing
- I am thinking to do user testing with my target audience to test several ideas for a possible solution. This would help me to figure out which idea might be more approachable for the users.
Usability Testing
- I hope to do a few usability tests with my target audience to create an easily navigable experience through layout and flow for them to use.