Oasis - Enjoyable family conversations made easy.

Household members grow a virtual environment together & play communication games, inspired by family therapy sessions. 

Overview

Oasis is an App that encourages enjoyable conversations amongst family members on a regular basis. It uses conversation games and emotional reflections to help families collaborate with one another.

This project was part of my capstone subject for my Masters of Interaction Design at UTS. I utilised the Lean UX design methodology over a span of 9 weeks to complete this App.

MY ROLE:

UX Researcher & Creative Lead.

Problem solving, ideation, market research, user interviews, data analysis, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, branding & pitching.

APRIL 2024

“I don’t feel comfortable communicating with my family because i’m not used to it…”

— Participant 1

Background

80% of research participants claimed to experience communication barriers with their family members.

With analysis of 40+ reference products, I noticed a huge gap in the market for family wellbeing Apps.

Existing family apps provide only immediate satisfaction that start and end within the digital space.

No long-term communication habits are formed using family Apps as a tool to facilitate this offline. Therefore, Oasis guides family members to nurture their conversations with their loved ones within their physical space at home.

Investigation

  • 1. Market Research

    I cross analysed 40+ family bonding, gaming and communication apps . Measuring the pros, cons and takeaways from each.

  • 2. User Interviews

    Interviewed 10 participants aged between 18-35 to gather qualitative and meaningful data on user pain points, needs and experiences.

  • 3. Data Analysis

    Using Affinity Diagramming, my team and I collaborated in sensemaking of the data collected from interviews.

Established two project goals:

Using the data and pain points of users gathered during the ‘investigation’ phase to develop our project aims.

1. Increased participation in family conversations.

Measured by the frequency and duration in which the family interact with Oasis’ communication games.

2. Improve emotional clarity of overall family emotional state.

Measured by the data collected from post-game reflections and visual feedback on the ‘family emotion tree’.

Defining the MVP

I encouraged my team to sketch down all their ideas in the form of wireframes.

This helped to identify how we can link the project goals (mentioned above) to feasible app features. Through evaluating the pros and cons of each feature we identified the following key user stories:

1. Conversation Starter: Users activate a game that displays unique, conversation prompts. Each family member takes turns to answer a prompt.

2. Emotional Reflection: Users are prompted with a post-game survey in which they can express their feelings. This data is displayed on a shared ‘Family Emotion Tree’.

3. View Impact Over Time: The family shares a virtual island that grows when the family spends time together in conversation.

4. Feel Rewarded: Users earn rewards after every conversation game. These rewards can be used to purchase items for their shared island.

Designs

This project had many interface iterations. Starting from pencil and paper sketches, then medium and high fidelity screens on Figma. I was the creative lead for this project, defining the playful UI and developing custom assets. I wanted to go for an inviting and creative interface that was fun for families of all ages to use.

Family Island

Users share an island with their family members - all joining the island from their own devices and collaborating to customise the environment.

Conversation Games

Family therapy conversation starters that are redesigned as digital games to be played collaboratively. The games are activated when family members phones are in close proximity.

Rewards Gems

Users earn gems after every conversation game. These gems can be used to purchase items and island upgrades in the in-app shop.

Family Emotion Tree

Each family member can see their collective reflections added onto a virtual tree, helping families understand their overall emotional state as a family.

Heuristic Evaluations.

I moderated 4 heuristic evaluations to pin-point usability errors in the interface and usability of Oasis. This included usability testing through recruiting external participants and internally within the team. I then displayed the data into a table that evaluated every feature, highlighting problems, improvements and actionable design improvements.

Video Walkthrough

This video highlights the final prototype UI and functionality. I created the script and storyboard, whilst also pitching the project, with my team helping with the editing and acting.

Key Takeaways

Playful Apps must be backed up by research to be impactful.

This project was quite creative, which helped us stand out against the crowd - we event presented at the 2024 Technology Showcase at UTS! I realised that to be successful in a highly playful project is to continually refer back to the project goals and focus on real impact - asking myself “Is this design decision going to truly help the users?”

Strict project deadlines means delegating tasks wisely.

My team is from highly diverse backgrounds, with some team members in the field of business, games design and UX research. As the team lead, it was essential for me to ensure each team member was contributing their unique strengths into this project that aligned with their professional experience.