Crowd Shield
3 months
Interaction Design • UX Research • Prototyping
Crowd Shield was a design exploration for a school project I created for my certification portfolio for the Department of Labor. In this exercise I explored design solutions to make events like Coachella safer for its attendees. What if attendees could track and locate their “Safety Buddies” though a custom interactive map of the festival with precise location codes assigned?
Problem statement
Create a safety app for Coachella Music Festival participants.
Understanding the users and opportunity
The initial problem statement was pretty ambiguous. To add scope to this project I conducted foundational user research to get an understanding of what problems people were facing today when attending large events.
Research details
Remote across the US
Conducted over Google Meet
7 participants
Current user pain points
After analyzing the data collected during the user interviews I identified 2 main pain points users a struggling with today.
1
No precise location information
When users are trying to locate their friends via current location tracking app they struggle with finding the precise location and have to use estimates to reach their goal.
Users currently have to switch back and forth between messaging, location and utility apps to help them complete their goal. Adding more stress and cognitive load to the user.
Have to use several different apps
2
To better guide and ground my design process I created additional documentation about potential users, their journey’s and current products strengths and weaknesses that could inspire my solutions.
User Persona
Competitive Audit
User Journey
My Solutions
After gathering and documenting my research I identified solutions for both businesses and users.
Businesses can upload their festival ground plans and Crowd Shield assigns custom geo-location codes to every 3 meter square.
Now with precise location and a map that includes location specific landmarks friends can navigate to each other even when they’re in a big field.
My Design Process
To provide more accurate locations businesses can upload their festival ground plan to the Crowd Shield portal. Once uploaded Crowd Shield assigns specific location codes to every 3 meters.
Upload your ground plan from your computer, or use the QR code to upload from another mobile device.
Once uploaded Crowd Shield will then creates zones and assign custom codes to every three meters. This provides users more precise locations, especially when big events take place in a large field. Businesses can edit their ground plan by working with an AI assistant to make any changes.
Once the ground plan is uploaded companies can then monitor their event by tracking attendee numbers and number of incident reports.
Broadcast my location to my “Safety Buddies”
With custom location codes assigned to every 3 meters and an interactive map with precise landmarks users can navigate to their friends with less ambiguity, especially if their event takes place in a large field.
To share their location users click the “Broadcast Location” button.
Easily share with your assigned “Safety Buddies”, or select from other friends.
If you need extra assistance with your surroundings users can engage with the built in flashlight, or siren features.
Keep track of your Safety Buddies ETA to your location.
Resume making unforgettable memories with your people.
Usability testing with real users
To determine if my ideas would hold up I was able to test parts of my concepts with real users! I tested lofi wireframes for the user need:
Broadcast my location to my “Safety Buddies”.
Research details
Remote across the US
Moderated and conducted over Google Meet
5 participants
2 Women
2 Men
1 Non Binary
User tasks
Send your location to your pre registered “Safety Buddies”.
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End location tracking session
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Return to home screen
Home Screen
Interactive map
Prototype
Usability test insights
1
Location Accuracy
“How would I find my friends if my friends were in a crowd?”
Users need a way to ensure the location being shared is accurate enough to be able to locate their friends in a crowded setting.
2
Detailed maps
“Having interactive maps with landmarks would be a good idea.”
Users need an interactive and detailed map in order to easily navigate the festival area and find friends.
A clearer way to end tracking sessions
3
“I was not immediately aware that clicking “end” was what I should do to end tracking session.”
Users need to immediately know how to end a tracking session and return to the homepage.
Design iterations based on usability insights
Interactive map • Stopping session
Now when you share your location not only do you have the interactive map, but a unique location code that is assigned to your position through the app.
Now if you’re in a crowd, or a large field your friends can find your specific location.
Stop sharing is now in the same location as the “share my location” button and have new copy stating “stop sharing”.
I made these changes to alleviate the pain point of not knowing how to end the tracking session that we discovered during usability testing.
Before usability study
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After usability study
Homescreen • Sending location
After feedback from our usability test I decided that the interactive map was going to the highest proposition value.
I changed the shape and size of the location button to allow for the map to shine through. Allowing users the ability to see their friends on the map before sharing their location.
This change supports the users pain points on wanting a detailed map.
Before usability study
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After usability study
More design explorations
I also explored other tasks a user would need to accomplish while engaging with Crowd Shield such as:
Create an account
Add friends
Navigate to a friend
Results and final designs
Crowd Shield would be making a great impact in a market is just starting and doesn’t have much competition.
There aren’t many apps that provide what Crowd Shield does. Any festival, or outdoor event would be providing great value to the industry and leaving everyone a little safer in the process.
“went to Lollapalooza and got lost many times and would have loved an app like this”
