Safety Navigation Midtown Atlanta
Our goal is to have a balanced approach that promotes empathy, safety, and community engagement for new residents whose primary mode of communication is walking.SAFEst is a user-centered mobile application designed to enhance personal safety during navigation by offering tailored route recommendations based on individual safety preferences. SAFEst empowers users to explore urban spaces with greater confidence by integrating real-time safety updates, personalized route options, and community-driven insights. From well-lit streets to busier pathways and business proximities (Herbert & Smith, 1997; Leyden, 2003), SAFEst considers various safety factors, allowing users to customize their journey according to what matters most to them. Additionally, SAFEst offers features like friend and family connectivity, emergency access, and community reports, fostering a sense of reassurance and support for every journey.
Background
What's happening in Midtown Atlanta?
“As a newly arrived student, I am looking forward to life here, but the crime rate in Atlanta also worries me.”
— from pre-interview
High Influx of New Residents
Many Criminal Cases in Midtown
Frequently Road Construction
*Small incidents will not be reported or appear on Google Maps
67.22%
Same house as last year
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2022
Moved from outside of Midtown
32.78%
Point2Homes, 2022
835
Midtown Aillance, 2023
Urbanize Atlanta, Dec 2024
Target Audience
Who are we going to help?
Primary User Group
New residents who are not familiar with the Midtown area
Stakeholder
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Businesses in Midtown Atlanta
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Government organizations/law enforcement
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Local community groups (Atlanta Run Club, Atlanta Social Club)
New residents come from different age groups, so their needs for the city will also be different
Initial version
So How Might We
help new residents of Midtown Atlanta stay and feel safe when navigating in the city?
There are many ways to navigate: driving, public transportation, walking...
Final version
So How Might We
help Atlanta Midtown's young new residents safely explore the city when they are on the pedestrian path?
Atlanta is notorious for its poor traffic planning, and Google Maps will map out the road routes, so we chose to focus only on the pedestrian walk.
Interview/Survey/Focus Group Research
What are our users saying?
01 Multiple Factors Contribute to Perception of Safety
02 Minimize Distractions While Navigating
03 Awareness of Location Increases Sense of Safety
04 Limited Feelings of Community Engagement
05 Preference for a Single Integrated Safety & Navigation Solution
Extra Acedemic Research
What is Safety?
Safety is subjective, so we decided to only focus on
Perceived Safety and Visual Complexity
Lighting and Reassurance
Neighborhood Safety and Physical Activity
Gender
Houselessness
User Journey Map
How the residents navigate now？
User Needs Chart
What do our users need & How can we help them?
User Needs
Design Implication
User needs to be able to choose what factors are the most important considerations when deciding on the safest route.
Customization and personalization when it comes to identifying safety factors are needed, as male and female users will prioritize different factors in their assessment of safety.
There is high desirability for communal aspects in the determination of safety
Users should have access to a walking companion in instances where they feel unsafe by themselves.
Users need the resources and opportunities to get connected with the community and meet new people.
There needs to be a focus on increasing awareness and support of community engagement.
Users should receive relevant safety information without being overwhelmed or scared.
Urgent data, statistics, and information should be presented in a way that is appropriate, relevant to, and considerate of the user.
Users need to have those in their trusted circle aware of their whereabouts in order to feel more safe when they are alone.
There should be a solution that automatically connects the user to their friends, family, and/or community and updates them appropriately.
Users wish to have one application over having multiple apps for different functions/features.
There should be a single multi-purpose solution that integrates both safety and navigation features in a seamless way.
Concept Sketchs
Transforming concept into system
Information Architecture
How does our system work?
Lofi protoype
How the solution is implemented？
Onboarding
Tutorial
Location sharing prompt
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Emergency occurs
Homepage
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Start searching
Info center
Friends Request
Setting
Style Guide
Design Elements
Typography
Color Pattern
Primary Colors
Secondary Colors
Neturals
Buttons
Icons
Cards
SAFEst
AI-Driven Onboarding System: Quick and Easy Adaptation for New Software Engineers
Try the prototype
*Loading may take 3s
Screen Explanation
How the solution is implemented？
Splash Screen
Our logo: Real-life road signs inspired us. Road signs help people navigate, and it‘s a street called SAFE.
Onboarding- Personalization Quiz
Personalization Quiz: There are different potential safety hazards in different scenarios, according to user's personalization of security.
By clicking on the image, users can see a larger image so they can identify the safety factors that are important to them.
Onboarding - Tutorial
Our app focuses on community, and we would like users to add friends, including inviting friends who are not using the app now to build a safety network, so we added this section as our tutorial.
Navigation- search & calculate the route
Navigation is another core focus for us, so when users finish the tutorial, or when they open the app, the homepage will be the navigation page.
Based on the factors they care about in the personalization quiz above, the scoring system will recommend the path that best suits them.
“If your friends have their location sharing turned on when you are viewing the app, you can see them on the homepage.”
Navigation- search & calculate the route
We respect user privacy. Before each navigation begins, a pop-up window will ask the user if they want to share their location with friends.
If users feel unsafe during their walk, they can call a friend.
A green dot on a friend's profile picture indicates they can answer calls (users can adjust this in settings)
If users feel unsafe during their walk, they can call a friend.
We need user feedback to improve or maintain our community and app
Navigation- search & calculate the route
If users no longer want to share their location with friends after arriving at their destination, they can turn it off.
Community & Safety Reports
Users can share various things in midtown in the community. This can better promote the relationship between users and have the opportunity to expand the users' safety network.
Users can only choose between community and safety report. We don’t want to confuse entertainment with serious safety issues.
Additionally, in sensitive security questions, if the user does not want their name (even as an id) to be used they can choose to be anonymous.
Safety nework with friends
Check the requests from others
Add/invite/search new friends
Safety nework with friends
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Users can modify permissions for sharing location with friends.
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Since the SOS function is a one-touch call, if the user prefers to talk to GTPD, or may want to call 911 directly, they can modify their preferences in the settings.
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User can redo their quiz whenever they want.
Usability Test
What do users think of our app?
Heuristic Evaluation
Users express their subjective opinions about the app
Improving Usability and Accessibility
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UI Elements Size: Feedback indicated that buttons and text were too small for comfortable use, particularly during route selection. Future iterations should increase button size and adjust padding around text to enhance usability and accessibility, ensuring alignment with WCAG standards.
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Clarifying Navigation: Users found the navigation icons ambiguous and the transition between screens unclear. Including labels or tooltips and implementing a clearer screen hierarchy can address these concerns.
Refining Onboarding Quiz
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Contextual Onboarding: Users expressed confusion regarding the purpose and context of the onboarding quiz. Adding an introductory explanation and a results summary that outlines personalized safety metrics can help users understand how their input influences the system's recommendations.
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Enhanced Feedback Mechanism: Incorporating visual feedback during and after quiz interactions, such as progress indicators and results visualization, would make the onboarding process more engaging and informative.
Customizing Safety Metrics
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​More real-time quantitative data sources. Users emphasized the importance of more detailed safety metrics, such as surrounding crime rates. Integrating real-time data sources for safety metrics and allowing users to prioritize specific factors (e.g., lighting, and pedestrian traffic) can create a more tailored experience.