Centennial College Safety Watch
Case Study
January 2022 - April 2022
Implementation strategy for revamping campus security and safety to make it as safe and trouble-free as possible for students, faculty, and staff.
ROLE
UX Strategist & Researcher, Content Planning
COLLABORATORS
Eyimofe Soremekun, Maria Gaete Oyarzun, Tsz Chun Leung
TOOLS
Miro board, Excel, Airtable
Project Background
The Centennial College Safety and Security Website and Watch App are designed to support students, employees, and faculty. The websites and app aim to promote community involvement in public safety and awareness of personal safety services. Our project goal was to increase reach among its target audience (students, employees, and faculty), and improve the overall user experience of the Safety and Security Website and Watch App. Providing the target users with a valuable online resource to enhance public safety and awareness of personal safety.
Current State Analysis
It was found that the Centennial College's Safety and Security website and its mobile application have important content, but they are unable to provide information directly to users. There are numerous inconsistencies and confusing content on both platforms, making them difficult to use during emergencies.
The Solution
In this project, it is important to maintain user engagement, ensure their safety, and provide them with useful information, answers to their questions, and establish relationships with them. Thus, the strategy and content planning are created to provide a deeper understanding of the factors that affect the user experience on the safety and security website and the Watch app. With this support, users will be able to find the services they need while working late on campus.
Define
As part of our design process, we have created a scenario where we put ourselves into our target users' shoes to help us plan priorities and ensure activities are goal-driven.
Our Scenario
“I’m working late on campus, and concerned about my safety, seeing I’ll be working way past midnight”.
If my purpose is to find out what help/support is available to me while working late, where can I found the content I will need…
Analysis
A Content Audit of Centennial College's Safety and Security app and website was conducted to determine if the content was helpful, organized, user-friendly, and maintain consistency.
The Mobile Watch App content audit snapshot
The Website content audit snapshot
Empathize
My research identified and analyzed the target users' behaviors and the situation when they are working and staying late on campus.
This allows us to restructure and organize our content in a more user-friendly manner by understanding the preferences of our audiences.
Persona
During my interviews with Centennial College students and staff, I learned more about their concerns and feelings about health and safety. Having conducted the interviews, I gained a better understanding of my target users' needs and pain points, and identify potential opportunities for the current app and website.
Evaluation
Content As a Conversation
Key pieces of information that will encourage users to come to the website or application to find out what help/support is available to the user while working late include:
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The Contact Information of the Safety and Security Department
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What Safety and Security Services are provided
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Where are these emergency services available on campus
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Working Hours of the safety and security services department
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Safety Department Staff on duty on the days I am working late
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The location of the safety and security department on campus
Best Parts -Watch App
Overwhelming Content
Missing Content
Inconsistency Between App and Website
Duplication
Recommendations
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A quick button to an emergency phone number in the safety app, on the first screen after opening the safety App. Instead of having users scroll to emergency contacts, the buttons could be moved to the landing page of the application for quick access, so it’s like a speed dial.
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On the website, consistency of contact information should be maintained so that users don’t get confused when seeing multiple phone numbers on different pages and wondering which to call.
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Provide a Geo-location monitoring feature on the app so that security is instantly notified in the event of an emergency. Users can use their voice or a tap to send SOS warnings, send audio and video clips automatically during an emergency, and get fake phone calls if they're in an uncomfortable circumstance.
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There should be a section with a clear title for example “safe at night” to provide users with more clear instructions on what services are available when working late on campus.
Lessons Learned
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We believe that with these recommendations, users will have a better understanding of what services are being offered by the college when it comes to their safety during late hours, and it would also make it easier for users to find and use this information.
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Developing a content strategy takes time and effort. We were able to accomplish our goals by empathizing with our users, understanding what they were looking for, and knowing how to engage them.
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The same applies to anything in life; we must be open-minded, willing to experiment, learn, and adapt.
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As a content strategist, my goal is to tell meaningful stories that engage users, build relationships, and add value to their experience.