Communipus is a social app that allows college students to ask questions, share experiences, and find groups with no barriers. Users can post things about any topic to be seen by other students attending the same school, and others can react by commenting or liking their posts.
Interior Rendering
Interior Rendering
Exterior Rendering
Sustainable materials
Communipus is a social app that allows college students to ask questions, share experiences, and find groups with no barriers. Users can post things about any topic to be seen by other students attending the same school, and others can react by commenting or liking their posts.
Team
Duration
Role
Time
Individual
1 week
Designer, Researcher
Spring 2021
Communipus
DIY items
Using Mogic, users can get creative and design their own items. After finishing with their design, users can view the items in AR and get a sense of how they look in their rooms.
Redesigning items
Users can view their currently renting items under the “Collection” tab. From there, they can redesign the items and see what additional modules they will need upon checkout.
Returning items
When users need to return items, they can choose to drop the modules off in UPS Stores or request pickup service. Using Mogic Boxes and disassembling guide, users can easily pack their disassembled modules.
Credit Rewards and Carbon Saving
Users can see the credits they received and the carbon emission they saved by choosing Mogic instead of purchasing furniture. The credits can be used to pay for future Mogic services.
Entry point and public rooms
After entering Co-watch, users can see public Co-watch rooms. These rooms usually focus on certain types of content, and users can watch TikTok videos with other people.
Creating rooms
Users can create their own public or private Co-watch rooms and invite friends to watch videos together.
Live reactions
When Co-watching, users can react to the videos by typing comments or using quick emojis to be seen by others in the room.
Research & Ideation
Research & Ideation
Research & Ideation
Research & Ideation
Design Screenshots
Research & Ideation
We all know that online school experiences have not been great, especially for remote students. “I feel very disconnected to the campus community”, said a Freshman at Cornell University studying remotely in China. Communipus is a mobile app I designed to address this problem by bringing the campus community online.
Context
“My painting process is very physical and more like an evolving performance”, said Julie Harris. A purpose of EmoPen is to allow users create art as a physical, fun activity. The easy send-to-friend feature provides the users with immersive and engaging communicational experience.
Concept
Ideation shetches
Mood boards
Mockup iterations
From 5 user interviews and 10 survey responses, I learned that students have various college-related questions and want to share their daily lives with the school community, but they cannot easily do that because:
From 4 in-depth user interview, we learn that 1. There are limited resources to find cultural products, and all of the interviewees rely heavily on word of mouth. 2. Familiar products reduce stress. A couple of interviewees reported that they feel homesick at school, and cultural-specific products help alleviate this feeling. 3. It’s difficult and troublesome to look for products in local stores. Many interviewees who don’t have cars rely on Uber or public transportation to go to local stores.
They don’t have direct access to a lot of other students
They worry about the credibility of online information
The majority of existing college-related discussion forums are only about academic topics
Findings
TikTok provides relaxing and entertaining content to people, but many users feel “empty” and “guilty” after using it because…
they get disconnected to real-world when focusing on TikTok
they feel that time spent on TikTok was meaningless
People problem
Cornell Asian students need cultural specific products in order to feel more like at home, but they cannot do that well because:
They don’t have enough knowledge about where and how to get the products they need
It’s difficult and expensive for those without a car to go to different off-campus stores
People problem
Document Collection Page
Document Card View
Document Request Page
API Documentation page
Due to NDA, more details about this project have been protected. Interested in learning more for recruiting purposes? Please Email me to schedule a project presentation.
When observing interviewees use TikTok, I noticed that:
Users like seeing other people's comments on videos
Users prefer watching videos sent by friends first
Users like sharing videos with friends
Friends are important
Based on the insights generated from user interviews, we created an affinity diagram to organize problem spaces. We then used the diagram to brainstorm new design opportunities to solve the people problem.
Problem spaces
We proposed 15*4 technical & non-technical ideas. After discussing and combining some of our ideas, we came up with a solution that is both creative and impactful: a combination of a physical “market station” where students can buy and sell cultural-specific products on campus and an app where users can request, browse, and offer products.
Brainstorming
Before brainstorming for solution features, I identified a conflict between user needs and TikTok’s business interest: TikTok wants to keep users engaged with its content, while users try to avoid the feeling of wasting time on TikTok. How can I take care of both needs and make my solution most feasible and impactful?
Business vs. Users
After discussing with Maggie Ying and Zain Khoja (2 designers on Cornell AppDev), I figured out a balance: to design a feature that is both meaningful and engaging. This way, TikTok would keep users engaged in a meaningful way.
Finding balance
3 Solution spaces
85 Feature ideas
8 voted concepts
Brainstorming
3 Solution spaces
150 Feature ideas
3 voted features
Brainstorming
Market research
Analysis of existing popular online discussion platforms
Edstem
Pros
Many existing posts
Variety of communities that allow diverse content and discussion
Rich interactions: upvote, awards, comment
Cons
Many existing posts
Variety of communities that allow diverse content and discussion
Rich interactions: upvote, awards, comment
Reddit
Pros
Specialized content
Anonymous option reduces privacy concerns and encourages discussion
Authorized users and credible information from classmates and instructors
Cons
Very limited access to information: only viewable if in the class
Only course related discussion and information
How might we Make it easier for students to access their culturally specific products and services?
Communipus
A mobile app that turns the college campus into a real community
How might we embed more social values in the TikTok experience?
TikTok Co-watch
From the user observations, I learned that users care about social connections in TikTok, but TikTok currently only allows minimum interactions between users: sending messages and videos. I wanted to enable users to do more with the Co-watch feature.
EmoPen
The drawing device
I designed and built a physical device that can light up when a button is pressed, indicating "leaving marks" in the air. The device was used for user testings to gain feedback.
Information hierarchy
Information hierarchy
User Flow: Requesting an item
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User Flow: Filtering and searching
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User Flow: Offering an item
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User Flow: Requesting an item
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User Flow: Checking out
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Iterations: Public rooms and creating rooms
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I chose screen 6 because:
horizontal room cards allow users to focus on individual rooms
having the “create room” button on the bottom of the page makes it easier to click on
the “join room” button isn’t necessary since users can search to find rooms
Design decision
Iterations: Greetings before Co-watching
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I chose screen 6 because:
it focuses the most on the in-room conversation
it has the least visual distraction
it has the best usability and visual hierarchy
Design decision
Iterations: Reacting to videos
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I chose screen 6 because:
Even though the retractable emoji bar requires an extra step from the users, it can reduce the visual distraction from the colorful emojis and the possibility of false triggering.
Design decision
Concept video
EmoPen
The mobile application
The mobile app works with the drawing device to allow users to share their EmoPen drawings. The goal of the app is to create a platform for everyone to share mood in a creative way.
User Flow
Logging in
Users can easily create account and log in to their EmoPen account.
Sending drawings to friends
Users can send individual drawings to their friends in the chatbox.
Community page
Users can get inspired by artistic friends and give compliments to them.
Gallery and customization
Users can store artworks they like in a gallery and customize the theme color of the app.
How might we help college students save money and time on furnishing their temporary homes while minimizing waste and carbon footprint for the society?
Mogic
After extensive research and analyzing different ideas, we decided that instead of trying to encourage people to reuse/repurpose funiture, we should make the furniture easy to be reused. Therefore, we created Mogic, a sustainable, affordable, and customizable furniture-renting system.
Information Hierarchy & User Flow
How it works: a closed-loop system
Furniture design
Mogic furniture is designed in three main modular components: Countertop made in particle wood/chipboard/bamboo board with lamination cover, supporting units (e.g. table leg), and connectors.
Mogic’s choice of materials for countertop and supporting units includes bamboo board and particle board. Connectors are mostly made of metals for higher durability.
Manufacture
The modular furniture requires no other toolkits except for the connectors provided in the set. By removing the connectors, users will be able to turn the furniture back into the original pieces that come inside the box.
Connectors
Mogic’s packaging box is designed with a handle for the convenience of transportation and reduction of mailing fees. Inside the box, there are printed sections indicating where to put each type of module, so users can put the modules into the box accordingly.
Each Mogic package will come with instructions to guide users assemble and disassemble furniture.
Packaging
Making TikTok more social
Co-watch elevates the social value of TikTok by turning video watching into a more meaningful group event. I would love to test this feature in the future to see more users' reactions.
Impact
More users on TikTok
With Co-watch, TikTok can attract more users. It also makes TikTok suitable for more scenarios, such as virtual friend and family gatherings.
Design System
Demo video
Mogic app: Demo video
Design System
For more details about the research and design process of this project, feel free to check out my project paper.
Project paper
Gains
Reflection
Ideation takes efforts. When forming a new concept, it is critical to spend time on early-stage research and ideation before diving into actual designing.
Users think differently than designers. To design usable products, designers need to talk to wide ranges of potential users and get feedback from them.
Iterations come with feedback. It is critical that when designers make iterations on products, they constantly ask for feedback from peers and users to stay on the right track.
Future works
More digital design projects! In this project, my research and iterations focused mainly on the physical device. In my future works, I'm excited to focus more on the digital design process.
Be selective on research methods. To improve the efficiency of the design processes, I will choose the research approaches that best fit each project instead of applying all of them.
Gains
Reflection
Design solutions have tradeoffs. Sometimes the business interests conflict with user needs, and what designers need to do is to find a “sweet spot” where both needs are balanced.
Designing a feature is challenging. Designers not only need to design the feature itself but also need to consider where the feature fits in the existing product.
Design is not an assignment. There are really no correct answers or grades for design work. All that matters is how much users are benefitting from the design.
Feedback is important. To succeed, designers need feedback from users, stakeholders, and peers. They should carry the feedback along the design journey and constantly iterate based on it.
Future works
This is my first semester-long digital product design project. I learned and practiced the user-centered design methods, and I also made mistakes.
In the early ideation phase, I overlooked the importance of analyzing and researching the existing app, so I wasted a lot of time brainstorming features that already existed. I will pay more attention to early-stage research in my future works, so I know what is worthy to work on.
One thing I did very well in this project was asking for feedback and advice. Discussing concerns with experienced designers and stakeholders is crucial as it helps me jump out of the box and think from a different perspective. In the future, I will keep asking when I get stuck, and I will help others when they need my advice.
Allow public discusssion about all college-related topics
Build an online community that is not only for academics
Promote social connections through simple interface and easy interactions
Mission
Landing survey to learn about new users
Global screen showing all posts
Post details and creating new posts
Inbox and profile screens
Alternative theme color
Design System
Design System
For more details about the research and design process of this project, feel free to check out my project paper.
