Havn – Empower your safety journey with us
Project overview :
Havn is a protective app dedicated to empowering women by proactively fostering a secure environment, offering crucial support to those in need, and educating the public on promoting personal safety and well-being.
Current problem
- Despite advancements in technology, there is a significant lack of tools specifically designed to help individuals, particularly women, feel safe when walking alone or in unfamiliar areas.
- Many people experience anxiety and fear due to the potential risk of sexual assault and harassment.
- Current solutions are often reactive rather than proactive.
- This gap in technology leaves individuals vulnerable and without adequate resources to ensure their personal safety and security during their daily commutes and activities.
Our solution
To combat the pervasive issue of sexual assault, we have created “Havn.” This innovative app leverages technology to empower individuals and communities to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual assault.
Navigate Safely with HAVN
HAVN helps users navigate to their destination by providing the safest route available. The app analyzes real-time data and user reports to identify potential risks and suggests alternative paths to ensure users’ journeys are as secure as possible.
Emergency SOS Activation with HAVN
In an emergency, activating the SOS feature in HAVN will automatically call 911 and inform users’ trusted contacts. The app also navigates users to the nearest safe place, ensuring they get the help they need quickly and efficiently. With HAVN, users have a reliable safety companion ready to act when it matters most.
Escape Uncomfortable Situations with HAVN
HAVN offers users the ability to receive a fake text or call to help them get out of uncomfortable situations. Whether you’re on aHAVN offers users the ability to receive a fake text or call to help them get out of uncomfortable situations. Whether users are on a date or in a meeting they’d rather leave, they can simply trigger a fake message or call to create a natural excuse for their exit.
Design process
– Discovery –
What is the problem?
Sexual assault is a pervasive and alarming issue affecting a significant number of individuals annually, with devastating consequences for victims.
According to Rainn, a leading organization in the field, the statistics in the United States are staggering. On average, 463,634 individuals fall victim to rape and sexual assault each year. The data reveals a concerning gender disparity, with 90% of victims being women. Perhaps even more alarming is the frequency at which these incidents occur—every 68 seconds, an American experiences sexual assault.
This widespread problem not only inflicts physical and emotional trauma on the victims but also creates an atmosphere of fear and vulnerability in communities. The existing mechanisms to prevent sexual assault and support survivors may not be sufficient, leading to a pressing need for innovative solutions that can effectively address the issue.
Understanding the user
We conducted comprehensive user research, encompassing primary, secondary, and landscape research methodologies.
- For our primary research, our team engaged in interviews with participants to gain firsthand insights.
- In the realm of secondary research, we diligently scoured reliable online sources for data related to the topic.
- Our landscape research focused on identifying existing services addressing the problem.
The overarching goal of our research was to answer the following research questions
Research questions
- How do individuals define sexual assault?
- Where and why does sexual assault commonly occur?
- Who are the typical perpetrators of sexual assault?
- Are there discernible patterns or common factors?
- What support services are currently available for victims?
- What roles can bystanders play in responding to and preventing these situations?
- What existing products or services assist victims?
- What are the common preventative measures?
- What efforts are currently underway to reduce sexual assault?
- What challenges and opportunities does technology present in preventing sexual assault?
- What are the key factors contributing to the occurrence of sexual assault?
- How many women experience sexual assault monthly/yearly?
- What is the ratio of currently registered predators vs. projected/unregistered/in-hiding?
- How frequently are sexual assault cases reported?
- How often do individuals experience sexual assault?
- How many planned assaults have been successfully prevented?
- In which specific regions is sexual and physical assault more prevalent?
- Which demographic groups are most at risk for experiencing sexual assault?
- How many resources do people typically know exist for sexual assault prevention and survivor support?
- How many sexual assault cases are reported by bystanders?
Target audience
Our focus population comprises women in their 20s residing in major cities across the United States.
Primary & secondary research insights
– Identify pain points-
1. Fear of late-night vulnerability:
Women in their 20s living in major cities often experience heightened fear and vulnerability during late-night hours, knowing that the risk of sexual assault is statistically higher during this time.
2. Concerns in private or isolated settings:
The realization that sexual assault is more likely to occur in private or isolated spaces creates a sense of vulnerability and unease.
3. Apprehension at social events:
Knowing that sexual assault incidents are prevalent during social events can create apprehension and a heightened sense of risk.
4. Discomfort when walking alone:
The fear associated with walking alone, especially during the dark, creates a tangible sense of vulnerability.
5. Anxiety in dark streets:
The fear associated with dark streets highlights a pervasive concern about personal safety, particularly in poorly illuminated areas.
6. Unease with someone walking behind:
The discomfort individuals feel when someone walks behind them indicates a heightened awareness of potential threats.
Landscape research
We search for existing products or services that try to address this problem.
Problem statement & Persona
We collected the data from user research to create a problem statement and a persona representing the ideal user of the app. The persona helped us find the solution to deal with the user’s needs and frustrations.
Problem statement
Young women need a better sense of security and protection against sexual assault in their everyday lives because currently there is a lack of available preventative measures and resources, which leads to overall fear and anxiety.
– Nascent design –
User journey map
We created a user journey map to identify opportunities to improve the user experience.
How might we statement
Storyboards
Scenario one:
Trying to get home safely after a college party
Scenario two:
Navigating safety in the city
Scenario three:
Get the fake text or fake call to leave the uncomfortable situation
Scenario four:
Guiding the victim through the hard time
– Development-
Draft wireframe (key screens)
Paper prototype & usability testing
After sketching the wireframes, we proceeded to create a paper prototype and develop three essential scenarios and flows for usability testing during the class. These scenarios are outlined as follows:
- Scenario 1: You’re a 20-year-old woman leaving a late-night party, feeling uneasy due to the deserted, dimly lit streets. Worried about your safety, you pull out your smartphone to find a safe route home and to let your friend know you arrived safely.
- Scenario 2: You’re a 20-year-old woman leaving a late-night party, feeling uneasy due to the deserted, dimly lit streets, and you’ve just noticed someone following you. In a moment of fear, you pull out your smartphone and open a safety app.
- Scenario 3: You’re a 20-year-old woman at a party, and a man comes up to you, trying to make conversation. You don’t really want to talk, feel uncomfortable, and want to leave. He is persistent even when you say you need to go, so you pull out the app to get out of the situation.
The objective was to identify potential usability issues and gather valuable feedback from participants.
– Refinement-
1st Iteration
After conducting the usability testing, we iterated the design based on the feedback from the participants.
Visual design composite
Style guide
Mockups (Key screens)
High-fidelity prototype
After crafting the high-fidelity wireframes, we translated them into a high-fidelity prototype. The main user flows focused on three key actions: finding the safest route back home, activating the alert when encountering potential danger, and receiving a fake text to gracefully exit uncomfortable situations.
Flow 1: Finding the safest route back home
Flow 2: Activating the alert when encountering potential danger
Flow 3: Receiving a fake text to gracefully exit uncomfortable situations
Usability testing
We conducted a usability study with four participants, specifically targeting college students in their twenties. Utilizing a high-fidelity prototype and scenarios/tasks from previous tests, the study aimed to assess the app’s main flow effectiveness, evaluating functionality and user experience.
Findings and feedback
2nd Iteration
After conducting the usability testing, we iterated the design based on the feedback from the participants.
– Final design-
Final mockups (Key screens)
Final prototype
Flow 1: Finding the safest route back home
Flow 2: Activating the alert when encountering potential danger
Flow 3: Receiving a fake text to gracefully exit uncomfortable situations
Takeaways
Throughout the project, we realized that in designing this particular product, time plays a crucial role. As we explored ways to ensure our app enables users to find the safest route back home, get away from uncomfortable situations, and find the safest place when in danger, our focus remained on time efficiency to keep them out of harm’s way. Our app, made with their safety in mind, got some great feedback during user testing. Participants in usability testing and users who experienced our app expressed a willingness to use it, emphasizing that it makes them feel safer, reducing the risk of being harm.
In light of our limited time frame, I learned how to strategically prioritized key features and addressed the most pressing concerns identified by the majority of testers.
Moving forward, the team’s focus will be on further developing the support feature, incorporating real-world simulations in our testing process, and extend our efforts to address transportation-related aspects, aiming to further enhance the comprehensive user journey.