Problem
Due to the long-term trouble of my dad’s smoking, I pay more attention to the smoking problem in today’s society and find that many people are victims of first-hand or second-hand smoke. Though many smokers are willing to quit smoking, smokers lack a tool which can monitor and record their smoking habits to help them quit.
ROLE
UX Research
Design
Test
DURATION
3 Months
Research
Backgroud Research
Middle-aged smoker
Young smoke for fun
Release stress / social need
Research
Interview
You know, sometimes I got no addiction, I just get used to these smoking actions
During my user interviews, smokers of varied ages suggested that sometimes they just got used to light a cigarette at certain times and occasions, and did not have a strong physical desire. And some of them also mentioned that normal apps can only record smoking behaviors manually, but they had already smoked at that time. In other words, they may need a tool to warn them instantly when smoking.
Script
Research
Survey
I conducted a survey of more than 60 smokers who have been smoking for different amount of time, ranging from 3 to 20 years, and it helped me a lot with both sorting out difficulties they are facing and needs my users will have. Regular smoking time and difficulty in keeping recording smoking behaviors are the two main commonalities of the interviewees.
Questionnaire
Research
Competitive analysis
I then conducted a competitive product analysis, learning the functions and features of several mainstream apps, and collected interviewees’ feelings about using these apps. In addition to the above-mentioned functional deficiencies, the visual design of these apps is also messy and outdated, making smokers have no desire to use them.
Research
Takeaways
56% participants thinks that smoking is only because they are used to it, not because of stress or social purpose
82% participants wanted to quit smoking mainly for their own health, not for their family
Over 50% participants stated that it is very difficult to quit smoking because it is easy to smoke again without tool to remind them in time.
Feel motivated in the early stage of using apps and actively record their smoking behaviors
Feel bored after few days using apps because they have to manually record smoking, which is troublesome.
Lost interest because these apps can’t remind them when they're smoking, and it’s not helpful to record afterwards
Research
Insights of drives
Why the current apps can’t help quit smoking
1
Current apps can’t promptly remind users when they’re smoking. For a habit that needs to be changed, prompt reminding is very important
What kind of features that users really need
2
What make users insist on quitting smoking
3
Automatically record
Real-time monitoring & warning
Visualize data & damage
Gamify the process
Gamification
Marks of achievements
Ranking among friends
Physical improvements
Research
Build Persona
Through research, I narrowed the user group down to two groups: young smokers and middle-aged smokers. Considering that the main reason for smoking among young people is mood swings (which are difficult to resolve through smart apps), and they generally have little physical addiction to smoking, I finally set middle-aged smokers as my primary user group and then built my user persona.
User Persona
Ideation
Brainstorming
Based on the sights, I brainstormed and take sticky notes to come up with as many as ideas that may be a good design for their desires. In the process, I came up with many interesting features for users’ pain points.
Brainstorming
Ideation
Narrow Down
After brainstorming, I needed to narrow down these ideas based on feasibility and users' interests in them. So I categorized ideas and let some smokers who want to quit smoking vote. It helped me scope what truly make smokers willing to keep using and define the key missions.
Vote
I decided to apply Apple Watch !
Use smart watch to monitor the user's continuous wrist-lifting action to monitor whether the user is smoking, so as to promptly warn the user not to smoke！
Design
User Flow & Wireframe
Based on the research results and feedback from the voters, I drafted user flow and wireframes to prepare for my low-fidelity model and iteration tests.
Design
Low-fidelity & Test
I did low-fidelity prototypes to do the usability test in order to test if the users knows exactly how to use the feature and to prepare for my refinement design later.
Low-fi
Online test
Design
Iteration
I got a lot of valuable feedback from the overall concept to usability issues. While here I’m only going to talk about the three most significant findings that led to major changes to the design.
1
If one cigarette makes all the values zero, it's too strict for users and may make them want to give up.
Improvement
Every time you smoke, your health value drops. Smoking continuously, the value drops rapidly. Keep smoke-free continuously, there will be obvious signs of physical recovery.
Previous
Current
「When I click on a visualized data section, I hope to see more details, rather than more visual effects and animations」
Kenny
2
Gamification and visualization should mainly focus on the first screen, and the deep path should focus on data and details.
Improvement
Move the important visualizations to the homepage, and emphasize the source of the data, the calculation method, and so on in the deep pathes. And I also remove the little game of collecting gold coins, which is not as attractive to middle-aged users as I thought.
3
The tutorial for new users needs to be improved to let users know how this application works
「When opening this app for the first time, I feel a little confused. Will it work?」
Sherry
Improvement
I perfected the part for users to fill in basic information and set reminders, and added an introduction to the principle of the function, so that users can use it with confidence.
Then, let's design it!
Design
High-fidelity
Visual Strategy
Onboarding & Tutorials
Before users start, they will see a series of splash screens first to get a general understanding of what to expect here.
Then, they need to set up personal profile (age, gender, smoking habit, etc. ) so that we can calculate health data later on.
Of course, users also need to set a reminder to ensure that they will be warned by this app when they smoke in the future
Data Dashboard
Users can easily know their progress in quitting smoking. Also, users can check the visualization of the recovery situation and have a better understanding about their body.
Users can also see this week’s smoking data and recent prediction of smoking addiction. Users can get the most effective information on the homepage.
Smart watch can only remind you if you have started smoking. If you feel a strong desire to smoke, you can also quickly record your addiction through the Quick Record button.
Details & Stats & Prediction
Click each section of the homepage, and users can see more details. For example, the calculation method of the recovery percentage, the time and place of each smoking, etc.
Watch OS !
The main function of the smart watch is to monitor the user's smoking behavior.
When you keep raising the wrist to make smoking action, your smart watch will give out a vibration and show the visualization of damage.
The function is relatively simple, only contains the function of displaying important data, and the function of fast recording
Real-time Warning
It is the best and most effective way to quit smoking by allowing users to be reminded in time when they are smoking. If the user continuously raises the wrist within a certain period of time, the system will judge it as a smoking behavior and issue a warning.
Of course, if the user thinks this is inaccurate or too strict, they can set the detection standard according to their own behavior patterns, such as warning when raising the wrist more than 10 times within a minute.
Future
Next steps
Gamification is a feature I have always wanted to do. I hope to use virtual pets or similar methods to create an emotional bond between smokers and the app, so as to motivate them to transform passive smoking cessation into quitting smoking actively. I believe this is a more effective and ideal form of quitting smoking.
Community is an important functional element of habit-forming apps. It may include the ranking of friends, sharing of experience, forums, etc. It plays a vital role in motivating users to maintain good habits. I can combine user rankings, competitions, with the game part. The users with higher rankings can get better game props, which will stimulate them to keep stopping smoking actively.