hi-pal
A virtual reality and mobile app for virtual hiking, featuring gamification to connect with friends.
Timeline
Sept 2022 - Nov 2022
Context
“Studio 1” Course Group Project
Team
Leah Leung
Sarah Cheung
Responsibilities
User Research
Prototyping
User Experience Design
Tools
Figma
Miro
Project Overview
During my university studies, I took a course called Studio 1, which laid the foundation for UI/UX and design thinking. The course challenged us to explore the impact of the pandemic on leisure activities and design solutions to address the challenge. My group chose to focus on hiking and worked on creating a digital product that provided solutions for hikers during the pandemic.
My contribution
I played a pivotal role in the project by doing user research and conducting in-depth interviews to gather valuable insights. My primary contribution was designing the VR app and interface of the hiking VR.
Problem
Hiking faced significant challenges during the pandemic.
Photo Source: The Standard
23%
of university students who answered reported sexual harassment both on and off campus
48.6%
of 3,669 secondary school students interviewed had shown emotional symptoms of depression.
Many people are shy to raise their voice regarding the incident or reporting someone’s case.
*According to a 2019 Equal Opportunities Commission survey
Due to misconceptions about DSE students experiencing mental health issues during their study term, they wish to consult psychologists for mental health assistance. However, a likely psychiatric disease affects roughly 17% of youths between the ages of 15 and 24. Due to stigma, the usage of psychological or psychiatric services is extremely low.
However, because of high demand, finding a psychologist during the DSE research period may result in long waits.
However, because of high demand, finding a psychologist during the DSE research period may result in long waits.
Challenge
How can we have social interaction and go hiking during the midst of the pandemic while ensuring an enjoyable experience?
Solution
From In-person to Virtual; Creating a virtual hiking simulator with social interaction
Hi-Pal, a mobile app helps to connect local young adults with their friends to a virtual world. With the app, the users could browse for different hiking trails in Hong Kong, including communicating with one another by using voice call, texts. The VR serves to start the immersive gamification experience in the hiking virtual world and added tasks to have fun things to do in the virtual hiking trail. Users can also wear a full body tracker to enable users to engage the gamificiation experience.
Education Resources
Providing the education resources to understand about in-depth Sexual Harassment. And offering users to receive help from professionals if they need.
Communities
Fosters a supportive environment where users can share their experiences and offer advice to one another. This creates a sense of belonging and understanding, helping to break the silence around sexual harassment.
Safety Features
To safety prevent the
**Promotional board is for the campaign, to have a consent for the HKDSE Students to show their
Key Features - Safety Features
One A-way
Fake call features provide a reason to leave uncomfortable situations. Providing the user whether they are safe after using the fake call feature.
SafetyBeacon
SafetyBeacon is an SOS distress signal that reaches out to people who are in a serious/uncomfortable situation. Close friends or students who have the app have the chance to be an active bystander to take action to interrupt someone’s uncomfortable situation.
Safe and Secure Platform
Keeping anonymous & students can have the choice to share their stories to notice board/promotional material
Vision Statement
Hi-Pal wants local young hikers to experience a quality leisure hiking time with friends by reducing the pandemic concerns
User Journey Map
Persona
After conducting the interviews with the post-DSE interviewees based on their DSE experience. We have found the key findings that may limit their knowledge about mental support and help resources.
However, there are misunderstandings that can be found in the survey results. 🤔
However, there are misunderstandings that can be found in the survey results. 🤔
Students think they are lack of mental health support
The school neglects mental health support, focusing more on academics, while social workers remain inactive in supporting students.
Student lack of understanding of the counseling resource
Students struggle to access these services due to inexperience, while poor promotion on campus limits awareness and understanding of counseling resources.
The reason students didn't have consultation experience
Students worry their privacy won’t be respected, and also find the booking system confusing when trying to reach a social worker.
Students would like to receive guidance but hesitated to seek assistance
Many are willing to see social workers but may hesitate due to anxiety about sharing their story or requesting appointments in person. Online booking is preferred, and some fear oversharing or lack trust in social workers and teachers.
Students want to hear more positive affirmative message
Students have high expectations placed by their parents or peers and receive negative feedback from them, it can greatly impact their mental state and motivation. However, when receiving positive messages and encouragement from their peers, especially those who are also striving to do their best in their DSE, can provide them with a much-needed boost and support.
After the brainstorming session from the key findings (survey, interviews) that my team conducted, we identified important findings that may lead to a solutions for our problem
Findings
Key Findings
After conducting the interviews with the post-DSE interviewees based on their DSE experience. We have found the key findings that may limit their knowledge about mental support and help resources.
However, there are misunderstandings that can be found in the survey results. 🤔
However, there are misunderstandings that can be found in the survey results. 🤔
Students think they are lack of mental health support
The school neglects mental health support, focusing more on academics, while social workers remain inactive in supporting students.
Student lack of understanding of the counseling resource
Students struggle to access these services due to inexperience, while poor promotion on campus limits awareness and understanding of counseling resources.
The reason students didn't have consultation experience
Students worry their privacy won’t be respected, and also find the booking system confusing when trying to reach a social worker.
Students would like to receive guidance but hesitated to seek assistance
Many are willing to see social workers but may hesitate due to anxiety about sharing their story or requesting appointments in person. Online booking is preferred, and some fear oversharing or lack trust in social workers and teachers.
Students want to hear more positive affirmative message
Students have high expectations placed by their parents or peers and receive negative feedback from them, it can greatly impact their mental state and motivation. However, when receiving positive messages and encouragement from their peers, especially those who are also striving to do their best in their DSE, can provide them with a much-needed boost and support.
After the brainstorming session from the key findings (survey, interviews) that my team conducted, we identified important findings that may lead to a solutions for our problem
Challenge
How can we have social interaction and go hiking during the midst of the pandemic while ensuring an enjoyable experience?
Presentation
At end of the project, we presented our design solutions to our professors and my classmates to showcase what we had done for the project.
Reflection
Over three months in this course, I learned to focus on processes beyond just creating designs. Exploring hiking as a topic, I gained insights into users' needs through interviews, which deepened my understanding of design. Moreover, user testing proved vital, as it helped me and my groupmates to refine the prototype based on valuable feedback.
Final Prototype
Phone App
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VR App
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