Design process
Research
In our project we concentrated on users, who have just ended their relationships. Using secondary research methods we discovered that they:
- No longer want to see photos with their ex-partners on their phones
- Don’t want to go through all the photos they have with their ex in order to delete them
- Would like to keep some photos but without the person they don’t want to be reminded of
After that we researched psychological consequences of separation, phases people go through after a break up, what methods could help them to cope with it and if deleting an ex-partner is a good idea. Based on all the above we created a persona.
Brainstorming and Ideation
Based on determined users’ goals and our research we came up with following features for the app. These features aim to provide support for the users when they are dealing with break up and help them to cope with their emotions. The app:
- Removes a particular person from all photos and restores background
- Gives an opportunity to remove a person permanently or for a certain time only
- Has three variants of interfaces that change based on user’s emotions
After that we determined a structure of an app and outlined AI models, that are going to be used.
We also implemented a concept of balance to determine poses that would look strange (unbalanced) if a person would be removed from a photo. Unbalanced poses can be determined based on center of mass and contact surface locations. If the perpendicular line, drawn through the center of mass falls on the contact surface, the pose is considered to be balanced.
Prototyping
After creating low-fidelity prototypes, we conducted user testing and implemented feedback in the future design iterations. Some users liked the simplicity of the app, but some would like to have more control over the outcome, so we added a range of settings. In the final version of the prototype users could choose to delete entire picture if there was little to no background seen or the user was covered too much by his ex-partner, to keep a body pose after deleting ex-partner or to have it been repositioned to restore a balance.
When starting the app, the user is asked a few questions to personalize the interface based on the user’s emotions. There are three interface variants that differ in color, icons and language style that is used to approach the user. According to psychologists one should not suppress his emotions, but to recognize and accept them. The app helps to do exactly this, that’s when a user feels sad, his interface turns blue, angry – red and happy – orange. Background is colored in light green and is the same in all interfaces to maintain consistency.
