Track Global Water Scarcity
"We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one."
Overview
This is my passion project.
Objective: Give people ownership of responsibility over the conservation of our finite fresh water sources by making water availability information common and easily accessible for free with the use of an app.
Problem statement: The earth is expected to run out of fresh potable water by 2040. We need to help mitigate this issue together by staying informed.
Role: Designer, Researcher
Process
I am very passionate about saving water and staying educated about our water resources. So, I was very excited to begin creating this hifi wireframe.
I soon started to play with various designs and color palettes. I knew that I wanted the app to be welcoming, informational and inclusive. I was going for a neutral aesthetic and wanted to make everything feel familiar and standard, but still eye catching.
I even began to design an animated intro prototype for the potential app.
I was in flow, utilizing my skills and enjoying the creative process. However, I knew that it was not inclusive enough. People don't need another app to download. There is a more efficient way to reach out and inform without designing from scratch.
What is something that all people check daily regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, and even age?
Primary Research
These are some of the questions from a survey that I made on surveymonkey.com. I distributed the survey on various reddit.com subreddits: Portland, OR, Maryland, San Diego, CA, Arizona, Manila, PH. I asked people to volunteer to take the survey to see how people use their weather apps. I chose places with different climates to get various responses.
The data shows that people of all ages often check the weather, even multiple times a day, and they are mostly using a free weather app to check the weather.
The results show that a weather app would be a good platform to inform people about imperative water information.
Secondary Research
This secondary research is about the availability and waste of the Earth's water.
Design Explorations
I chose a few existing popular and free weather apps for inspiration. I wanted this feature to easily be placed on all weather apps as a standard.
Early Prototype Iteration
Usability Testing
I conducted usability tests on five users. I wanted to see how they naturally use a weather app.
Three out of the five users typically only check the daily weather and don't typically scroll down.
Two of the users scrolled down and were excited to see the addition of the water information. They were already aware of the global water crisis.
After informing the other three users about the water crisis, those users felt that it was essential to move the water information higher in the hierarchy.
Four out of the five said that they felt inspired to use this app based on the colors and aesthetic.
All users found the design to be easy to navigate because it was very familiar.
All users felt that this new water info is needed as a standard, but are apprehensive that people would take it seriously without the local governments bringing it up as an existing issue.
Final Iteration
Key learnings: Daily weather is the user's primary focus, so I kept the daily weather at the top of the hierarchy. User's read the information on a need to know basis of their current location. They feel the water information is important depending on where they are, but they don't personally feel a sense of urgency to conserve water because the government hasn't said anything about issues with water scarcity.
Design Features
Instead of moving the water information up, I made the 10 day forecast an option to be opened or closed to avoid any feeling of information overload as shown in the third mockup of the New York video. Also, I added a line graph to display the water levels for those who are more visually inclined as shown in the first prototype in the San Diego video.
Retrospective
Limitations and constraints: The lack of funding put restrictions on the amount of people I could survey and test on. Remote testing has a great deal of troubleshooting and poor internet connection. Also, I was not able to test the phone app in person due to the pandemic, so the experience of testing a phone app on the computer changed the experience in that way.
Solutions: Persistence, empathy and patience are the solution.
Next steps: I would like for this information to become a standard. If I could meet a developer who could make it possible, then the next step would be to work with them.
Why I'm Passionate About Water
