Intro: Unplugg’d
Creating confidence in communication between parents and teens
It all started with an overheard conversation…
After throwing around many ideas for our SMU UX App project, the one we as a group kept circling back towards was a problem we realized many of our friends were experiencing. Overheard conversations of frustrations with our friends who are parents and their growing teens, began to be our focus on how to rebuild bonds and encourage more openness during these difficult years. Reflecting on our own experiences and similar career backgrounds in teaching, gave us the fuel needed to try to solve this problem.
Problem: To bridge the communication and generational gap between teenagers and their parents.
DEVELOPMENT: In order to meet teenagers where they spend most of their time (their cell phones), the Unplugg’d application was developed to guide parents on how to communicate with their teenagers based on insights from their teen’s individual communication styles as well as prompts to promote daily verbal conversations.
As a Ux Designer on a team, my responsibilities were-
Design Ideation
Project Management
Primary and Secondary Research
Conducting User Interviews
Lo-Fi Sketches
Wireframes and User Work Flows
Developing a Design System
Performing Usability Testing
NEXT:
Final Prototype and Usability Testing
Design and Research
Final Prototype
“These unprecedented times are creating new challenges for parents and their kids”
SOLUTION: The Unplugg’d App is a parenting tool that empowers parents to build better relationships with their teens, inside AND outside the app.
The Unplugg’d App features:
access parents and teen’s personality type with a survey
provide personalized relationship, communication, and parenting tips based on survey results
give analytics that allows parents to view, manage and interact with all their teen’s communication data
unique AR capability that allows parents to have practice conversations before committing to a in-person conversation on a tough topic
Usability Testing
Usability testing was conducted after the first version of the high-fidelity prototype. The test subjects were the same individuals who were interviewed in the initial stages of the app during our user research. Usability tests were moderated and observed remotely through Zoom.
After completing usability testing, four observations were brought to our attention which validated modifications for the app:
Dashboard Functionality: The dashboard was easy to read and explore but was too complex which led many users to depend on the tour to locate functions.
Modification- Directional buttons were added to aid the flow of the app from screen to screen. Ex: “Back to Dashboard” button
Wording and Definition: There were clear labels for functions but the users were unfamiliar with app-specific wording and how it pertained to its assigned functions.
Modification- Lengthy paragraph wording was simplified throughout the app.
Call To Actions (CTA): Each function has its own CTA but certain CTA visuals were not clear as well as many CTA clickable areas were too small.
Modification- Format and sizing of fonts were enlarged as well as clickable areas for features.
Augmented Reality Simulation Feature: The CTA AR function was available in all views but users were unable to identify the CTA as the AR simulation game feature.
Modification- AR Button changed from the unfamiliar Unplugg’d logo to “Let’s Chat” to initiate the simulation feature.
Design
User Work Flow
As a group, we wanted Unplugg’d to have a youthful, playful look to appeal to both parents and teens. The app addresses some tough topics so having branding that was bright and energetic, fonts that were rounded and soft, combined with wording that was lighthearted and helpful were very important elements towards the overall design.
User flow
Epics helped us identify the main user stories with major features that should be included in the app based on our user research interviews and competitive analysis of similar apps. This helped align the most prominent features that influenced the first iterations of the user flow.
On Adobe XD, we created a first time user flow for a new parent sign up, communication personality quiz, tour of the dashboard, then dashboard tools and information regarding results of the quiz.
Sketches
After developing the parent user workflow, we sketched the transition of the home screen log in to the dashboard. Sketches allowed us to quickly refine, review, and revise screen versions as we continued to develop the final sequence.
Wire-framing (Low Fidelity)
The low fidelity wireframes allowed us to present our design flow and get feedback from our instructors and peers. We were able to identity points of confusion and implement changes before our high fidelity prototype.
Research
We began our research process by first defining and understanding the users (parents of teens 12-17). We developed a script and conducted 5-7 preliminary interviews with parents of teens through Zoom. To cover a wider demographic of users we sought to interview single parents, blended families, and legal guardians to ensure we captured vital input from main-stream and extreme users.
Interview Questions
The following questions were framed to gain more insight into these dynamic parent/teen relationships:
What is your relationship like with your teenager?
How would you describe your parenting style (laid back, direct, helicopter parent)?
What goals do you have for your relationship?
What are the frustrations in your relationship?
What tools are currently helpful to you as a parent?
Key Takeaways
Based on the responses we received, we concluded 3 Key Insights that highlighted the Problem for which to base our App design:
Generational Differences
Generational differences create an ever increasing divide. Advice that works for one generation is deemed antiquated for the next.
Seeking Solutions
Parents are desperate for reputable and accredited resources for parenting. They often seek advice of friends or resort to parent influencers on social media platforms which are not always a reliable source of information.
Feelings of Inadequacy
Parents feel unable to connect with their teens in an authentic and meaningful way due to differences in technology and high school environments (influenced by social media and Covid closures).
Empathy Map and Personas
As a team, we created an Empathy Map with Mural to further explore the needs and wants of our parent users. We then created two Personas that represented the demographics of our users for future design validations.
Unplugg’d Communication App