ASMR Relaxation

A sleep and relaxation app

OVERVIEW

ASMR known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a tingling feeling created by certain sounds that provide relaxation.

MY ROLE

My role involves Business Analysis and User Experience design including user research, prototyping and test.

CHALLENGE

Although there are plentiful ASMR channels on youtube, the number of apps is limited. One of the top ASMR channels on YouTube requested an audio player iOS App that will attract ASMR listeners.

Approaching The Problem

Before starting the UX process, I will analyze the client’s business objectives. Because a good design is;

1. Viable: Design should cover business objectives. Communication with business executives or owners is necessary.

2. Desirable: Design should be human-centric. It can be accomplished with the design thinking process.

3. Feasible: Design should be doable in terms of technology. Developers should be involved during the project. I have a developer background to fulfill it.

Understanding Business Objectives

Aligning business objectives with user needs is essential. To achieve this, I engaged with client executives in interviews to uncover the company’s business strategy. Below information is gained from the business owner.

Value Proposition
Customer Segment
Revenue Streams
Cost Structure
Key Partners

Key Activities
Key Resources
Customer Relationships
Channels
Vision

Competitors
Market Share and Position
Technology
SWOT
Goals

Design Thinking Process

I used the below methods of design thinking while creating this app.

01

EMPATHY

Beginner’s Mindset
User Research
Affinity Diagram

02

DEFINE

Persona
Empathy Map
Customer Journey Map
Problem Statement
HMW Questions

03

IDEATE

Brainstorm
SCAMPER

04

PROTOTYPE

Paper Prototype
Mockup

05

TEST

Heuristic Evaluations
Moderated Usability Testing

01 EMPATHY

It is time to put myself in the user’s shoes.

Assume a Beginner’s Mindset

I did my best to set my assumptions and experiences aside for a better understanding of the users.

User Research

In order to understand the user’s needs and pain points, I used Quantitative and Qualitative user research methods.

Quantitative Research

ASMR Relaxation has a channel on YouTube under another name with around 100K subscribers. I collected very useful data from YouTube analytics of this channel such as demographics, geography, and engagement.

Qualitative Research

I conducted semi-structured interviews with users and channel owners. I aimed to learn;

User’s background
User’s relation with ASMR
User’s motivations
User’s pain points

Affinity Diagram

I organized interview results into groups based on their relationships.

Key Insights

User research was very productive, I gathered useful information from the process.

The Majority of followers are young people between the age of 18-34
Users preview the content before playing it
Users more likely to have an introvert personality
ASMR has positive emotional effect on people
Not only sounds but also vision is crucial
Users don’t like to be interrupted during the experience
Users expect a simple and quality experience

02 DEFINE

At the end of this phase, I will define a meaningful and actionable problem statement.

Persona

I created a persona from research data to understand user needs and goals.

Empathy Map

Considering the current state I used the empathy mapping method to visualize research findings.

Customer Journey Map

I used a customer journey map to see the relationship between the user and the app over time and across all channels.

Problem Statement

With all findings and data, it is time to create a problem statement.

People who relax with ASMR sounds need sound stream apps because they need to customize their ASMR preferences for a better experience.

How Might We? Questions

In order to get ready for the ideation session, I prepared HMW questions.

How might we provide simple and quality relaxation sounds?
How might we consume less device power?
How might we provide a better experience than YouTube ASMR sounds?
How might we provide ASMR without vision?
How might we customize their experience?

03 IDEATE

In the ideate phase, I generated as many ideas as I could. Solutions are filtered into the most practical and most effective ones.

Brainstorm

As I am the only designer in the team it is braindumping more than brainstorming. I selected the best solutions for the design.

SCAMPER

After braindumping, I used the SCAMPER method to be more innovative. It encouraged me to think from different perspectives. Taking YouTube, Spotify, and prospective ASRM app as an existing product. I tried to;

Substitute

What can I substitute or change in current ASMR products?

Spotify categorization, filtering options for all kinds of lists.

Combine

What ideas, features, processes, or components can I combine?

ASMR artists can upload their content, revenue sharing models like YoutTube. Skip preview features like Netflix.

Adapt

What part of the product should be changed?

Different types of subscription models.

Modify

What can I put more or less emphasis on in my product?

Only massage type ASMR content should be uploaded.

Put To Another Use

What else can it be used for?

As a wake up service. It can also be used to create an atmosphere at hairdressers.

Eliminate

What can I eliminate in my design?

Limited categories, simple functions are essential.

Rearrange

How can I change, reorder or reverse the process?

Rearrange the registration process. Let the users play up to 3 audios without registration.

04 PROTOTYPE

I turned my abstract idea into a tangible design.

Paper Prototype

This is a simple prototype after a few ideas were sketched. It helped me to prepare a mid-level mockup at the next step.

Mockup

I turned my sketched paper prototypes into lo-fi mockups to understand the design better.

05 TEST

I conducted tests throughout the design thinking process. In this phase, two kinds of evaluation methods are used to find major usability problems with my prototypes.

Heuristic Evaluations

I got feedback from design experts at DesignX Community and IxDF community. I validated Jakob’s Ten Usability Heuristics from Nielsen Norman Group. I also used IxDF’s Heuristic Evaluation Sheet.

Moderated Usability Test

I invited some users to my office to get insightful results. I also conducted some remote tests. I focused on both objective and subjective metrics from 10 participants.

Objective Metrics

Time on tasks
Number of taps effort
Number of confusions
Number of errors
Success rate
Failure rate

Subjective Metrics

When are the users stressed?
When are the users confused?
Are they satisfied with the app?
Were the tasks difficult?
How does the interface look?
The general opinion about the app.

CONCLUSION

How will I know whether my design is successful or not? How will the business owner be convinced? What will happen next?

UI and Development

I am responsible for Business Analysis and UX Design. That is why I didn't use any colors in my design. From this point, the UI designer will take responsibility. After all development phase will start. Test sessions are planned between all these phases.

Success Measurement

After understanding the customer’s business goals, we set KPIs. If these KPIs are fulfilled in the first year then we will consider the design was successful.

KPIs are based on Google’s HEART framework and Return on Investment value.

Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task Success
ROI of 20%

Roadmap

We aimed for a good enough design for the current phase of the project. After collecting data from real users we will enhance the design by adding or removing features.

NOW

iOS ASMR Streaming App

Created a User Experience. Next phase is creating User Interface and developing the app.

ROLES

Business Analysis / UX Research / UX/UI Design / Development

Q2

Android and Desktop ASMR App

Android and Desktop versions will be designed.

ROLES

UX Research / UX Design / Development

Q3 + Q4

Evaluate and Enhance ASMR App

Collected data will be analyzed and evaluated. Depending on KPIs we set, new design decisions might be taken.

ROLES

UX Research

What Did I Learn From This Project?

Although ASMR users have similar needs, they are not the same people. Different users have different priorities even some have extreme expectations. So I had to trade off some user needs.

There is a conceptual gap between the users and the business owners. Communication with both users and business owners was crucial. It also helped the business owner redefine some business objectives.

Testing is important throughout the project. I did not validate tests frequently so I had to iterate more which was more time-consuming. Next time I will keep this in mind.