Ami Kubota

Facilitating independent wayfinding for visually impaired guests using Voice UI

Westfield Century City is a beautiful, large (1.3 million-square-foot) outdoor shopping mall in California. Since the complexity of the mall layout, shoppers get lost all the time. However, there are interactive directories that Westfield Century City provides for guests to guide the navigation. We wondered, what if you cannot see, and therefore cannot use the interactive directories? Our research and interviews show that they feel unwelcome to those large shopping malls because of a lack of accommodation. While they prefer a conversational assistant, some hesitate to ask a staff because visually impaired guests like to take time, and not all employees at a mall or a store are familiar with the speed. They don't want to feel awkward, which leads them to ask a companion from friends and family members. However, scheduling was another pain point. They cannot go to the shopping mall anytime they want.

We reached out to Wayfinder Family Services in Los Angeles, YouTuber, through our networks, and talked to 8 visually impaired people. We were able to go to a mall and some of the participants, which helped us understand their needs on a deeper level. What interested me was the most was completing tasks individually would boost their confidence. We also learn that they go to a large shopping mall like Westfield to see a movie, visit pop-up events, or go to restaurants. Understanding how they use apps and phones was also interesting. We learned that leaving texts on the UI or alt image is essential because they use a screen-reading program to read the screen, and some legally blind people like to screenshot the screen & zoom up to read the texts.

Our solution was Wes, a conversational UI navigation system. With Wes, the user can access it anytime, and the guests can walk around independently. Wes informs where to go and even when to make a turn by using inside geolocation. Moreover, Wes delivers environmental information, such as if the user is passing by a water fountain. The amount of information is adjustable as considering both users. One wishes to hear only direct guidance to arrive at a location quickly, and other who wants to enjoy the additional environmental information to feel entertained.

Designing a student community platform to help and guide first-generation community college students connect to college resources and the school community in more fun and flexible way.

Research shows that 70% of community college students in California fail to graduate or transfer, and first-generation college students (FGCS) stats show they are at a high risk of dropping out. The main issue is a lack of guidance. FGCS's parents are unfamiliar with college experience and its process. This leaves the students to need to figure out everything themselves. Because FGCS are unfamiliar with the college process, they often don't know how to navigate resources, what resources are available, or how to ask for help. FGCS also frequently have jobs that are not related to their major to help their financial needs, making it difficult to access school offices and office hours that are only available in the daytime and weekdays. Balancing out a busy schedule between jobs, private life, and college life also leads them to be unavailable to communicate with school peers and connect to the community, which links them to feel like outsiders and disconnected from the school community.

What interested me from our research besides the pain points above was how students value personal connection and relationships. They are willing to help their friends and family, and they feel more motivated to connect a service if that is more personal. At the same time, some of the topics they need help or advice can be very personal. Not many people want to reveal "I need help" in front of classmates, especially regarding financial and housing topics.

Wonderland, a student community platform. College is where people share knowledge. In Wonderland, students can ask and answer questions to each other, anytime and anywhere. Wonderland also allows students to post and comment anonymously, as an option, for sensitive topics. The game-like interface on the homepage and customizable avatar are designed to welcome students warmly while having fun. We tested our low-fidelity prototype made with the classic Mario map, but the map could be developed based on the collaged map in the future prototype. We tested our prototype with the users, and the feedback of having an anonymous option and game-like UI was most the most valued in the concept.

Embedding video feed: prototyping and testing the App’s new feature

Call of Duty companion App is for Call of Duty players to stay connected to Call of Duty world. The app's top feature is called Stats. It helps the players to track and analyze their game play. What can be a new feature? From the initial research process, we proposed adding a vide tutorial feed to the current App to Activision Call of Duty design team. Then, we were challenged to visualize our concept by creating a prototype using Figma. How can we add a video watching experience to the App that makes sense and always positive to the players?

To make sure we add the video feed to the App meaningful way, we conducted Heuristic Evaluation, reviewing sitemap, and did card sorting to learn the current App's structure, tone and behavior before creating wireframes. Then, we tested our prototype with Call of Duty players. At the test, I was surprised many participants know a lots of the video creators for Call of Duty videos. From the testings and our initial research evidence that Call of Duty players like efficiency and having control. They are also willing to give feedback and eager to learn information that can affect or improve their game performance. They test participants saw a value of the video such as they told us that a video of patch note (list of new update on the game) or tips of how to customize a weapon can be very helpful because they usually have to look up online themselves. Call of Duty players also told us that there are so many different types of players and weapon, and even videos. For example, game play and tutorials are different type of videos. How can we help players to find a video that is meaningful to them quicker and more effectively?

We created a specialized filter system for call of duty players to help them find videos that are more meaningful to them in more efficient way. Now, the players can find the video by type of video, game level, gameplay style, and even weapon of choice. Because we also learn that players value giving and reviewing other players feedback, we added voting system for the video as well. While some asked for the ability to read and write video reviews, we opted for upvote and downvote buttons instead, to minimize unwanted toxic commentary.