Home > Hashtag Windsor
Overview
Hashtag Windsor is a mobile app prototype designed to help local businesses in Windsor, ON financially benefit from local tourists. It helps local tourists to discover and explore the abundance of local businesses that are underused in this city. Its goal is to connect local tourists and local businesses.
Inspiration
A few years ago, I decided to spend a night in Windsor, ON and soon after I noticed that I have a love for the city and wanted to think of it as an alternative spot to live a quality life and to be away from the crowd of Toronto.
So I started to look deeper and searched for jobs and housing and noticed the huge problem there! Poor Economy and unemployment rate!
I still would love to move to Windsor in the future. This has made me think about how I can help the quality of life in general in Windsor and how I can make it better!
I became interested in exploring the alternatives that impact local businesses' growth in Windsor, ON.
I believe Windsor has a lot of potentials by which a traveller can experience a quality trip. Its beauty, nature geographical situation, being close to the U.S.A and the kindness of Windsor dwellers are a few examples of its unique characteristics.
The question is how these significances of Windsor, ON could help local businesses to grow. How to redirect small businesses’ efforts to take advantage of local tourism in Windsor, ON?
The Problem
Local Small businesses suffering from market loss and Unemployment in Windsor, ON.
Small businesses in Windsor have been struggling for some time now with a variety of challenges. Small businesses are increasingly battling costly leases and rents, taxes, salaries and expenses, and hydro costs.
Statistics Canada pointed out Windsor as a small city with high numbers of poor neighborhoods where more than 40% of their population are classified as ‘low-income’.
GM plant closures which affected 2,522 hourly workers in Canada and 500 workers in Windsor, ON, have been considered the main cause of the city’s poor economy.
This is not the first time Windsor, ON has been affected by “The closure”. The first GM investment in Windsor was a body plant in 1919 and operations grew over the years to create billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs in Windsor, ON.
The company once employed more than 7,000 workers in Windsor.
Mayor Eddie Francis says this kind of closure is always a sobering time, and city officials are "deeply concerned" about the 500 workers whose jobs are disappearing.
"It's millions of dollars worth of business that will not be done in Windsor," said Galbraith, sales manager at Cavalier Tool and Manufacturing.
The Solution
Several methods have been proposed to combat the poor economy in Windsor. ON. There are many studies and of course, so many methods and solutions to protect and support small business recovery processes in this city.
Local tourism is what I would like to emphasize and consider as one of those solutions. It’s one effective sector that can help the mentioned damage.
Tourism in general boosts our economy, employs thousands of people, enriches our businesses, and pays for important public services, such as education and law enforcement. Tourists contribute to sales, profits, jobs, tax revenues, and income and employment in the regions.
A Local Tourist, who has a different touristic goal, is someone who wants to go beyond the tourist traps but knows that there are reasons those attractions are so popular. A Local Tourist wants to eat and drink locally, shop at local boutiques, listen to local bands, and view local art. The idea is to attract local tourists to the areas where small businesses are struggling.
DESIGN THINKING PROCESS
1. EMPATHIZE
User Interviews
I have conducted interviews with six individuals and gathered several insights into the experiences of those affected by this or similar problems. Interview participants were selected according to the following criteria: - Small Business Owners
- Traveler
- Between the ages of 25 and 65
- Experienced travelling spontaneously in the past year
2. DEFINE
Pain points:
- From a small business owner's point of view, local tourists’ money should be redirected from rich and famous tourist spots to local and domestic businesses in Windsor, ON. It could be used more effectively elsewhere in the city where small businesses and industries suffer. The locals, who don’t live in specific tourist areas such as Detroit River, miss out and suffer a relative decline.
- From a tourist point of view here is what prevents them from spending money on local businesses:
1. Not to be familiar with the area and the culture, history, and directory of businesses around.
2. To be ripped off by not publishing prices of goods in local stores.
Here are five topics I learnt from this interview:
People are attached to their smart devices such as cell phones and iPads! Applications and digital products and services are a great common source of confidence for tourists. They would rather search online than ask actual people.
People are mostly confused and wander when they are in new places. It takes time to understand the directions and interesting spots. They normally end up wasting a lot of time doing nothing. (Need for a time management/ Daily planner tool)
Converting Sightseeing tourists to local tourists is a doable task if there is a user-friendly platform through which tourists can get the information they need and plan their day.
People feel anxious about being ripped off and lied to by local stores. Local tourists are normally travelling within a certain budget and they would appreciate discounts or rewards as well as the honesty and fairness of the seller.
People are mostly in love with shopping and accumulating points or rewards or credits or vouchers!
Persona Creation
Here is one persona which is formed based on interviews and insights. He represents my users - Business owners and local tourists- whose characteristics have helped me significantly to move forward with my design structure.
3. IDEATE
Solutions
The possible solutions to overcome the above-mentioned concerns of a local tourist are:
The app I am working on is to provide a platform for small businesses and tourists where they can be linked together. This app will draw local tourism traffic to local businesses by providing local tourists:
Providing Small Business Directory for each neighbourhood in Windsor, along with local parks, rivers, lakes, and local cultural events- history of small and family businesses, private art galleries, etc.
Provide the local tourist with a time management/ daily planner tool so they can get the most out of their visit.
Offering local tourists coupons, rewards, points, freebies and discounts to increase the tendency of spending money on local businesses
Windsor, ON, has a lot of potential to generate revenue from local tourists. Small businesses are closing down. Action is needed if Windsor’s local economy is booming and this city remains presentable and a safe place to visit.
Here is how Jordan ends up skipping his initial plan for discovering local businesses and instead, he goes visit famous Windsor sightseeing spots such as Casino and Museums:
Task Analysis
Based on the main pain points we have talked about earlier, I believe the task of purchasing should be established as the core task since it’s targeting the core problem: Struggling local small businesses suffering from market loss and unemployment in Windsor, ON.
Mapping out this core task has helped me to find out my design strategy and to see how the design elements would flow together within the app.
Information Architecture
Check out the first stage interactive prototype here.
4. PROTOTYPE
Being on the right track!
I always tend to simplify things. I would always map a process before making any major decision especially when it comes to solving a problem or visualizing and designing something, a step-by-step process which guides me through the entire procedure. Here is what I relied on throughout this prototype project.
Wireframe
Here are Grayscale wireframes that are made for the main screens of the purchasing task. They have been tested with users.
To transform these grayscale wireframes into lo-fi and hi-fi screens, I had to apply Colour, typography, and photography gradually.
They have been tested a few other times during this process and feedbacks have been considered and the screens have been refined.
5. UI Design Elements
Choosing UI elements that are contributing to the prototype and the way it looks is always an important step of the design process. A few users have been asked to give their feedback and insights about particular design elements.
Colour
Thinking about Windsor, ON and its characteristics and nature, I chose a few solid colours such as blue and navy and green.
During a test run, people were asked what these bring into their minds without them being informed about the app “Hashtag Windsor” and applied their feedback to the project by changing the hue of the colours to have some deeper, more vivid Dark Blue and purple. I also added some very soft and light blue to my palette. I think the Detroit River has the main role in my colour selection.
Wordmark
Hashtag Windsor was chosen as the name of the app because it says everything! We want to promote and draw attention to Windsor which is one of the oldest cities in Canada, established in the 17th century.
The test resulted in choosing the typeface “Cooper” for the word Windsor and “Tw Cen MT” for the word hashtag.
According to the participant’s feedback, emphasizing the historic side and belongingness of a place is what typeface Cooper has brought into The word “ WINDSOR”. On the other hand, the simple and minimal typeface “Tw Cen MT” on the word “hashtag” won’t damage the Heaviness and depth of the typeface Cooper.
Card Design
Simplicity is one main way of delivering information fast and efficiently. A very clear picture of the product covering half of the card helps with visibility and information. A simple but featured typeface “Trebuchet MS” has made the name of the product stands out and relate to the picture immediately. The minimal typeface of "Runda" helps to deliver more information but at the same time, it does not take any attention from the product name.
Accessibility
All content was tested and redesigned to be legible at a WCAG 2.0 AA level.
Reflections
Here is what I learnt from dealing with challenges in the process of transforming a concept of solution into a hi-fi prototype:
“I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn”
It can be very tricky sometimes to keep yourself on track by focusing on what the user needs rather than what you as the designer like! That’s where testing is important!
Not all the steps of the UX design are fun! There will be challenging times of frustration and knowing what you are doing! Embrace it!
Interacting with participants and conducting interviews professionally could be challenging if you don’t follow the procedure! It is not personal!
I learnt I am in a business where I really need to love the problem and understand it! This is my main job and I am proud of it!
It’s very easy to make things more complicated and it’s really hard to keep them simple!
Data is gold! Be a good listener. It’s all about the prototype test circle!
It’s more efficient and time preserving to address several aspects at once and approach the task holistically rather than finishing them one after the other.
Credits
All media and materials have been borrowed from Google images and used only for educational purposes, with no intent to profit from the work displayed:
The first interview has been conducted in a class in a college; participants were part of a temporary public group in Facebook specifically for this project.
Picture- Solution-: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/people">People photo created by bearfotos - www.freepik.com</a>
Sticky Notes: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/paper">Paper vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>
Sticky notes: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/paper">Paper vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>
Chart : <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/infographic">Infographic vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>