RightAvenues - NYC Noise App

RightAvenues creates a community that facilitates reporting noise complaints seamlessly and fosters a sense of community enabling users to share their experiences with their neighbors.

Role

Sole Product Designer
- UX Design
- UI Design
- Interactive Prototype
‍

Team

‍Nayeon Kim
(Product Designer)
‍
Jimin Park
(CEO, Researcher)

Tools used

Figma, ProtoPie, Miro

Duration

2 months
(July-Sep, 2022)

DEFINE Problems

Background

Many New Yorkers are suffering from noise pollution

New York is one of the noisiest cities in the world due to its high population density and urban development. New York City witnesses nearly 8 million noise complaints annually, highlighting the urgency of addressing the noise pollution problem.

No proper digital space focused on noise problems

Although many digital products address the issue of information asymmetry in various fields, none of proper space exists to tackle the noise problem and build a community for the people suffering from noise problems.

Goal

How might we help residents of New York City live in a quieter environment?

Targeted user group

New Yorkers who experience a high level of pain from noise problems

Persona

Insights from the Preliminary Research

We conducted user research by engaging in conversations with potential users. Following the interviews, we categorized their current behaviors related to the problem into two distinct groups.

The first type involves more proactive behavior, where users actively report noise disturbances to facilitate actual improvements in their neighborhoods. The second type seeks to identify quieter neighborhoods for residence.

Based on these observations, we envisioned that our app could offer significant benefits in two key areas: Convenient noise reporting and Accessible noise information. With these core values guiding us, we proceeded to outline the specific problem details.

Problem Details

We interviewed several New Yorkers and activists living in different neighborhoods in New York. They were suffering from various noise categories, from helicopters to music and party noise. After the interviews, we could define main problems like below.

1. Not user-friendly 311 reporting system

People frequently resort to the 311 system as a means to register noise complaints. However, the existing 311 reporting system, a service offered by many cities and communities that allows residents to report non-emergency issues or concerns to their local government, is overly complicated for users. It often requires them to provide unfamiliar details, such as helicopter types and purposes, resulting in a time-consuming process when submitting a complaint.

Current 311 Report system (Web)

2. Scattered information and outdated updates

To find a quiet living area, people can obtain information through the government's open data website. However, it is difficult for people to see information regarding the noise in their neighborhoods since much of the data are scattered based on the noise category. Even though the NYC government opens its data, it is not accessible and is not updated in realtime.

NYC 311 Complaints - Open data

3. Feeling of helplessness

Many people experience a sense of helplessness and stress as they feel that their problems are not resolved and they are not being empathized with.

Opportunities

After identifying the main problems, we pinpointed some areas where our product could be of assistance. Consequently, we established three primary goals to focus on delivering.

Make The Noise Report Process Seamless

We make a goal that people can finish reporting the noise in one minute in our app, making it easier.

Offer Visualized Neighborhood-based Noise Data

By offering transparent and accessible noise data for neighborhoods, users can compare noise levels objectively and find a quiet neighborhood that suits them.

Build A Noise-focused Community

By openly discussing their concerns and stresses with neighbors, they can empathize with one another.

design the solution

Features of Minimal Viable Product

To expedite time to market and collect feedback for future development decisions, we launched the app with only the essential MVP features, including 'Noise Data' and 'Easy Report.' The implementation of the 'Community' feature was deferred for a future release.

Noise Data

Provides users with visualized statistics on noise complaints by neighborhood and borough.

Easy Report

Enables users to conveniently report noise to the city's 311 system via our app.

Community

Offers a space for users to share their noise-related experiences and information with one another.

1,2 - MVP Features for the initial launch / 3 - feature for the next release

Select Noise Types - Agile approach

We selected three noise types to release on the initial version. We used an agile approach to select the noise types that would provide the most value with the least resources and attract early users post-launch.

Noise types - Selected / Non-selected

Reframe the IA of 311 report process

Our first objective is to simplify the 311 report process for users through our app, as they perceive it as being too complex. We began by mapping out the user journey and categorizing the required and optional information with color codes.

Color codes

2. Party/Music Noise

AS IS (Current 311 Report Process)

Click to enlarge the image

TO BE (Reframed process)

Click to enlarge the image

deliver the product

Using the Sprint method, we were able to launch our app with MVP features in just 2 months.

Design Guide (Initial version of Design System)

Before diving into designing the interfaces, I initially crafted a basic design guide that defined key components such as colors, typography, and button styles through Figma. This aided rapid prototyping and idea exploration, and was shared with the developer for smooth collaboration. Throughout the product development process, we progressively improved and polished the design guide, gradually transforming it into a more comprehensive design system.

Iteration with User Testing

During the design iteration phase, our team engaged in user testing using interactive prototypes created in Figma and ProtoPie. We conducted these tests via Zoom with potential users who expressed interest in our upcoming product launch. We began by providing an overview of the concept and then observed how participants interacted with the prototype. Following the observation, we conducted brief interviews to gather insights. These interviews revolved around our concept, features, usability, and any aspects we were curious about based on their interaction.

Home UIs while iteration

Insight from the users

After the tests, we synthesized the feedback provided by the participants. As a result, we identified the necessity to enhance the Home page with a strong focus on user-centric design principles.

Final Output

Empathy Map

After interviews, we created empathy maps to understand

Noise Clusters Nearby

It enables users to view locations where a high number of noise complaints have been reported, and report the noise on a map directly.

Noise Complaint Data

It quantifies and visualizes noise complaint data by noise category and neighborhood, allowing users to easily identify quiet neighborhoods that suit their preferences at a glance.

Also, by aggregating and organizing the complaints in the app, people can leverage the data to drive actionable initiatives and facilitate meaningful improvements in the city's noise landscape.

Seamless Noise Report

Reporting to 311 gets much easier. The process has been simplified by reorganizing the order more easily to understand and making some questions filled out automatically in our system.

Real-time Hovering Helicopters

By showing the location of hovering helicopters and their information in real-time, users can report the helicopter floating nearby noise more easily.
Also, users can share their feelings or tips about the noise with other neighbors.

impact

2 MONTHS

Time duration
to launch the MVP

5th

Ranked on
Product Hunt

33.3%

Retention rate
within 40 days

TAKEAWAYS

Implementing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

In just 2 months, from ideation to design and development, we successfully released the product. This experience allowed me to learn valuable skills in prioritizing features and working under tight deadlines to bring a product to market quickly. Additionally, it taught me the importance of effective communication and collaboration with team members to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. Overall, this project provided me with a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the fast-paced world of product development and launch.

Visualizing complicated data in a user-friendly way

As the product manages various data types, I also communicated closely with the back-end engineers, discussing available data for users. Considering the complexity of the data, my focus was on ensuring that the information was presented in a way that met the users' needs and was easy to understand.

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NAYEON KIM
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