CASE STUDY: SEVA
Pictured: Mobile app inside one of the sanitation units.
This project covers the iterative design + testing process of an on-demand maintenance application for Caltech's onsite wastewater treatment technology.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Team
Cody Finke (Lead Developer/Investigator)
Michael Hoffmann (Principal Investigator)
Clément Cid (Investigator)
Anastasia Hanan (Research)
Funding Partners
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Vodafone
Disney R&D
Problem
Our target user is a non-engineer in India that may have low levels of technical expertise and/or literacy.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
In 2015, our team won first place in the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Challenge ($300K).
We designed, built, and iteratively tested our app in three different rounds.
Patent for Technology: Self-Diagnosis and Maintenance Guide for Non-Sewered Sanitation Systems
TIMELINE
KEY FINDINGS
Our tech will only be successful if we can also provide a maintenance plan.
Low cost maintenance may require building information for users with low technical skill and diverse literacy rates.
The greatest challenge for design will be around identifying parts (pictures and parts may update independently) and information design for over 122 regional languages in India.
DESIGN SOLUTION
APP DESIGN AND TESTING PROCESS OVERVIEW
V1 DESIGN DECISIONS
Material design aesthetics for simplicity, longevity, and android majority
Images not video for data usage (no longer as relevant)
Symbols match IRL parts to in APP images
V1 USER TESTING
Methodology:
On site interviews (in sanitation units) with partners in two locations near Coimbatore, India.
Beta prototype in Invision.
Translator fo non-English speakers.
Main goal:
Can users complete the basic flow?
V2 DESIGN
V2 USER TESTING
Methodology:
Remote user testing. We did initial testing via usertesting.com, but felt that users were too "trained" (we got too positive of responses). As an alternative, we instead sourced participants ourselves and completed testing using lookback.io
Main goal:
Testing navigation through information architecture by asking users to complete tasks.
V3 DESIGN ITERATION
OTHER WORK:
Ethnographic Research
Phase 1 was completed in 2014 and helped inform app design above
Hardware design:
©anastasiahanan