Increasing women's recreational use of Nigerian public spaces

TIME
5 months from may 2022
MY ROLE
UX & UI design,
user Research
type
personal project
INTRo

Unsafe public spaces

Sexual harassment in public spaces is an everyday occurrence for women and girls in every country around the world.  It happens in both rural and urban settings, and in many aspects of the public sphere including streets, public transportation, and parks.

There is also a lack of built infrastructural support that could help women feel safer and more comfortable in public spaces. This reality reduces women’s and girls’ freedom of movement and their enjoyment of cultural and recreational activities, which impacts how they show up in public spaces.

the focus

Making outdoor activities relevant

With this project, I wanted to explore ways that women could participate openly in the lives of their friends and acquaintances while considering their unique, individual traits and situations.

The goal was to increase socialisation and network building of women in outdoor spaces in the way that their male counterparts do, by utilising a principle which women have used for decades: safety in numbers and a unifying purpose.

USER RESEARCH

Understanding the limitations

When it comes to leisure and free time, many societies relegate women’s activites to the home and to the care of children.
A 2022 study done by Sadeghi, Ali Reza and Sina Jangjoo in Iran showed that “there is a significant correlation between the number of times women are present in urban spaces and their marital status and age.”

With this in mind, I decided to work around the responsibilities of care that many women are likely to have by putting the focus on community and a supportive environment.

Women tend to avoid going out alone to avoid violence and harassment.

Hamid, G.M., & Taha, S.Y. (2022) An Exploratory Study of Women’s Use of Public Spaces in Greater Khartoum, Sudan.
interviews

Discovering user needs with 29 participants

I started by conducting research to find out what people thought about when they heard the word "recreation." Interviews involved women ranging from 21 -  50 years old, residing mostly in Nigeria, with some in the United States.

what participants thought about "recreation"
what participants engaged in for recreation
Key Finding

There's a disparity between what women want to do and what they actually end up doing for recreation.
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Interestingly, many of the participants in the study wanted to have more socialising activities such as painting, hiking, and visiting places but were limited by fatigue, money, lack of friends with similar interests and/or spontaneity, or just plain, old laziness. 

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At the end of the day, most resorted to watching TV, movies, sleeping and walking.

personas

Analysing interview insights & themes

While interviewees were open to having more novel and exciting recreational outdoor activities in their routines, one central theme and barrier for most was having friends to do these activities with.

There are a number of factors which research participants wanted to know before signing up for an activity. 
Those factors include but are not limited to:


- The age group of the people attending an activity
- The budget for the activity
- How active they would have to be to participate meaningfully
- The skill level required
- What day of the week and time of the day it is
- Whether it is inclusive of children/pets

After analysing all of these participants, I was able to identify two personas.

Open Ore (Primary)

"It's hard to make friends as an adult and I would join a physical activity club like rock climbing or swimming but I'm so bad at it that I don't start."

Pain points
Workarounds

Open to outdoor activities but often has no space, time, means (distance), money, or friends to play with.

Defaults to activities involving screens, and one or two activities involving eating, partying and pets.

Wants to partake in more activities than they do but gets discouraged by planning, responsibilities or care work eg pets, children, dependents, chores.

Packs the basics for the weather

Homebody Halima

"I love the idea of swimming and doing some other sports but I can barely bring myself to leave the house if it isn't for food."

Pain points
Workarounds

Needs time for herself

engages in solo activities like swimming and reading

journey mapping

Identifying opportunities in the user journey

I decided to go with Ore as they were more open to new friends.
By mapping Ore's journey and feelings as she engages (or does not engage) in recreational activities, I was able to identify areas that could be improved upon to enhance and create a better experience.

Considering the constraints and needs of the target audience, I brainstormed solutions that prioritised finding a supportive community and putting information front and centre to enable better planning.

Action
Sees others in reality or social media
Plans an activity to go to
Prepares for activity
Shares activity
Feeling
Feels connected
Feels lonely
Feels left out
Feels overwhelmed or anxious
Feels excited/anxious
Improvement
Feeling of approval/satisfaction
Task
Reaches out to friends to plan the same or similar activity

Shares events to friends via social media
Looks for others interested in going
Plans logistics, contributions & responsibilities

Checks in on everyone who said they were going

Thinks of outfits to wear
Shares photos and media on social media
Improvement
Enable people easily see and identify with activities that interest them
Remember to invite people who may be interested
Transparency, participation, and carry-along in the planning process
Documentation and reminders of past or similar future events
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

Women with care responsibilities

Analysing the leisure ecosystem, we identified an opportunity to reduce this effort in acquiring affordable items for backpacking trips.

Here, I narrowed down the problem by asking questions such as:
How might we make it easier for women to choose outdoor leisure activities? How might we secure these spaces for outdoor activities? How might we ensure time for people to bond outdoors? How might we include people with care responsibilities?

Analysing the leisure ecosystem, we identified an opportunity to reduce this effort in acquiring affordable items for backpacking trips.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

What can we learn from others in our space?

Competitors like Faaji App and Backdrop were focused on recommending spaces or activities that people could find for their recreational pleasure. While Faaji app has a strong Discord community, these recommendations are often not inclusive of women who had care responsibilities.
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Many people also share event and activity plans in Instagram DMs, however people have to create groups and activities on a case by case basis, eventually resulting in dead groups and forgotten connections after the activity.

Faaji App
Backdrop
Instagram DMs
Hana
Find activities tailored to personality
Find vetted and unique recreational spaces
Recommendations based on profile and location
Great mobile experience
Strong community

Introducing Hana,
A mobile app for women seeking outdoor, leisure experiences with new friends

How might Ore find new experiences on Hana?

Discover activities

On the home feed, Ore can see what their friends are up to, see what's happening in spaces around them, and also join the clubs they are interested in. Users can also access ongoing discussions on activities they had joined at the top of the feed.

Choosing an activity

Here, Ore can see event needs and can choose to bring an item to contribute to the activity, which increases the feeling of belonging.

Join an activity

Since one of the needs from the research was to enable people find spaces and events that accommodated their unique situations, I went for a more detailed approach in presenting activity information.

Here, Ore can see the requirements or constraints of activities before deciding to commit to them.

Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.
Create Activity

With Hana being targeted to small, user-generated activities, Ore is also encouraged to create her own activity using default templates or templates from the community.

Discover activities

On the home feed, Ore can see what their friends are up to, see what's happening in spaces around them, and also join the clubs they are interested in. Users can also access ongoing discussions on activities they had joined at the top of the feed.

Choose an activity

Here, Ore can see event needs and can choose to bring an item to contribute to the activity, which increases the feeling of belonging.

Join an activity

Since one of the needs from the research was to enable people find spaces and events that accommodated their unique situations, I went for a more detailed approach in presenting activity information.

Here, Ore can see the requirements or constraints of activities before deciding to commit to them.

Primary hostel persona - A hotel operator speaks to two new guests carrying backpacks over the hotel counter. He has a friendly attitude and a smile.
Create Activity

With Hana being targeted to small, user-generated activities, Ore is also encouraged to create her own activity using default templates or templates from the community.

iterations

Feedback from potential users

After the first prototype was completed, I proceeded to validate the developed idea with users, refine the product based on the feedback gotten, and retest the app for ease of use and accessibility.

Trust was an issue for some and the app did not convey any verification measures.
This project initially started out with the focus being on enabling women to use outdoor spaces more freely, but after studies, I realised more women wanted to freely hang out with their friends of any gender, however they prefer, knowing that they were safe.



With this feedback, I developed a comprehensive audience specification list for users to specify the gender, age, and other factors in order to tailor their events and activities to their requests.

Expanding network model

Since trust was a huge issue, I decided to focus on implementing a network model based on degrees of separation, providing the opportunity to strengthen bonds vs make new connections each time an activity is created or shared. Users can toggle between these groups in their schedule.

Save the date

I also included the ability to post a date that people can add to their calendars, which can be updated when further details become available. These updates are added, tracked, or changed in their schedule.

Users can toggle between viewing their schedule for the day, and the updates or activities recently joined or upcoming.

Explore Flyers

Adding flyers of events around the user's location was an addition to help users easily create their own spin-off activity inviting acquaintances, friends and close friends.

Here, Ore can see events around her in a more fluid way according to her interests, and easily share with her network.

Expanding network model

Since trust was a huge issue, I decided to focus on implementing a network model based on degrees of separation, providing the opportunity to strengthen bonds vs make new connections each time an activity is created or shared. Users can toggle between these groups in their schedule.

Save the date

I also included the ability to post a date that people can add to their calendars, which can be updated when further details become available. These updates are added, tracked, or changed in their schedule.

Users can toggle between viewing their schedule for the day, and the updates or activities recently joined or upcoming.

Explore Flyers

Adding flyers of events around the user's location was an addition to help users easily create their own spin-off activity inviting acquaintances, friends and close friends.

Here, Ore can see events around her in a more fluid way according to her interests, and easily share with her network.

art direction

UI Design

I analysed various outdoor images to get a colour combination that would inspire people to go outdoors. I later settled on yellow as the primary colour of the project (Hello, sunshine!), and blue and purple to communicate the feeling of day and night time.

With the typography, I wanted to communicate the feeling of play with responsibility which I implemented with a combination of Sk-Modernist and Plus Jakarta Sans.

#56ACFD
#FFFF7E
#FAF8F7
#5658FD
key learnings

Here's what I learned

Through this project, I coame to understand the value of observing what is not said . Listening is truly an active skill! What started out as a project to ensure only women are more encouraged to use public spaces ended up being a project that encompassed everyone in making public spaces more accessible to women.

I had a lot of fun researching and understanding what was important to potential users - more than just the use of public spaces, it became obvious that friendships that encouraged exploration were crucial especially for adult women who may have responsibilities that preclude them from the friendships they desire.

At the end, I was left excited about the possibilities and I hope to make this live in the nearest future.