Selected work
safeHer: A safety platform for women by women
Data Driven Change (D3C)
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
January - June 2024
Team
1 Researcher
2 Product Managers
3 Designers
4 Developers
5 Advisors
Context
At the University of California, Davis (UCD), women navigate a campus shadowed by safety concerns, from poor lighting to alarming incidents like stabbings and indecent exposure. Compounding these challenges, there are no dedicated resources to support female students as they find their way through college life.
Objective
While UCD offers various mental, physical, and financial resources, they are scattered across different channels and lack personalization, making it hard for students to feel connected. Our goal is to create a secure digital platform that consolidates these resources, making them more accessible and fostering a supportive community for students. To achieve this, we plan to enhance user experience through intuitive design, streamlined navigation, and a focus on community-building, ultimately amplifying voices, raising safety awareness, and inspiring change.
User research
Full Research Report
Our initial step, as a team of 10 women, was to sit down and talk about our own experiences living on and around campus, especially during some of the most fearful times such as the time Davis had a serial killer on the lose. We then delved into desk research to solidify our hypothesis and moved onto surveys and individual interviews.
Constraints We Faced
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Resources: All the resources available to students were scattered around the internet, leaving students unaware of some resources.
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Safety: We didn’t have the resources to provide 24/7 monitoring of the platform and wanted to ensure user privacy.
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Team Size: Sole designer for 3 months; limited developer experience delayed progress, requiring team expansion.
1st iteration
View Prototype
Initially, we planned to create a mobile app that would assist users during emergencies. However, after realizing the potential legal and logistical complexities surrounding emergency services and liability, we decided to explore alternative solutions.
Usability Testing
View Prototype
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Interaction Feedback: Lack of upload feedback; back button and sticky nav bar needed.
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Prototyping Suggestions: Users wanted more context and emotional connection before uploading content (e.g., testimonials)
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Visual Analysis: Users liked smooth transitions but were confused by the lack of clear titles.
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Navigation: Buttons too small; users requested larger fonts and clearer labels.
Branding
Our initial goal was to appear reliable and informational, using minimal colors and a sans-serif font. However, we realized this lacked differentiation and failed to create a safe, relaxing space. So, we rebranded with softer, more vibrant colors to stand out and foster a welcoming environment.
2nd Iteration
With the rebrand, we embraced more creativity and held brainstorming sessions to design a fun, safe, and resourceful centralized hub. This process inspired the development of two new features: the Rant Bot for anonymous venting and a dedicated teams page.
Usability test issues uncovered
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Interaction Feedback: Users want more interactive features to improve navigation and visibility of options.
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Scrollability: Users felt overwhelmed by large images and text, indicating a need for size reduction.
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Navigation: Users find navigation challenging unless options are available in the nav bar.
Finalized designs
After 6 months, a brand redesign, and a new AI feature, we were finally ready to present our product to users.
Home page and Navigation
Usability testing informed our decision to streamline the homepage, emphasizing key features to effectively communicate our value to users.
Rant Bot - AI
Inspired by ChatGPT, we created a Rant Bot that prioritizes privacy by providing generic responses, allowing users to vent anonymously without storing any data.
Resource + Research Page
We centralized resources for women in Davis and Yolo County, highlighting key support and providing research to demonstrate that they are not alone and have accessible resources.
Art + Story Sharing Pages
Users reported that they use FLUID on the go, particularly for field mission support. It was important that FLUID continue to be accessible on
mobile.
Get in touch with me at
saniafadai02@gmail.com