Embr Labs: An Interactive First Experience

Client Testimonial:

“Working with Ken was a great experience. He quickly developed an understanding of our product and user pain points. He worked effectively with his team to move through research and design of a prototype within only a 3-week period, a prototype we plan to move forward through user testing and development. Ken has both strong communication skills and an ability to deliver high quality, high fidelity designs due to his attention to detail.”

-Heather Ritchie, Head of Product at Embr Labs

Objective

Embr Labs tasked our group with creating a 2-minute interactive experience to help users understand the benefits of the Embr Wave Bracelet. The device is designed to make users feel up to a 5 degree temperature shift based on how thermoreceptors in the wrist communicate with the brain. We set out to design a mobile experience that would quickly communicate the benefits and allow people to try out the device in a comfortable, informative, and on-brand way.

Project Overview

UX Design Process

We maintained constant communication with Embr Labs throughout our process. We relied heavily on Slack and Google Drive to share documents, ideas, and feedback. We received a style guide to follow for our designs.

The Problem

Upon their first interaction with the product, some users struggled to understand the benefits of the device and were nervous about how the technology worked. Many users indicated that they felt the benefits of the device after wearing it for one week or more. Embr Labs wanted to improve their rate of return and app usage stats, but they ultimately wanted a way to quickly show the device to people and wow them in the process. We sought to explore these pain points and design an experience that would manage expectations around what the device could offer (in a very short amount of time).

User Interviews and Customer Data

Client meetings indicated a need to identify subgroups for users of the device; many of the biggest proponents were suffering from a variety of ailments including Reynaud’s, Menopause, MS, or other conditions. We were presented with a large volume of customer data, and we performed 11 user interviews for the product. Our questions targeted benefits received as well as pain points in using the device. We were able to draw conclusions from the data during the Affinity Mapping and Synthesis phase.

Affinity Mapping and Synthesis

The group performed two separate Affinity Mapping exercises in Miro; one for interviews with new users we ourselves performed, and one for the existing customer data provided by Embr Labs.

Problem Statement

People encountering the Embr Wave for the first time need a way to understand the benefits and functionality of the device so that they can have that ‘a-ha!’ moment of realizing that this device can make you feel better through a temperature shift.

Solution

We believe that by creating an interactive experience that is a quick-tour of the Embr Wave, first-time users will understand the benefits and functionality of the device and can have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment of realizing that the Embr Wave can make you feel better through a temperature shift.

We will know this to be true when the rate of return drops and sales go up.

Proto-Personas

We compiled common themes from our data into three main Proto-Personas, which helped inform our design decisions.

Customer Journey Maps

We wanted to look at the entire journey from a user’s first point of contact with the physical product to a later stage when they have more experience and understanding of how it works. We created Customer Journey Maps for our three Proto-Personas. Click images for more detail.

Feature Prioritization

Research and client meetings indicated that our users needed the following features for a brief interactive mobile demo:

1) Demonstrate and explain how to use the Wave and how to put it on.

2) Show the pulse of the device, to explain that warming or cooling sensations come in waves.

3) Give people the option to experience warming or cooling. (Some people can not tolerate the opposite, based on medical conditions.)

4) Have a series of illustrations/animations showing how the Embr Wave works.

5) Describe how people integrate the Wave into their life experiences without claiming any medical cure or treatment.

6) Prompt the user to check in with how they feel at the beginning and end of the ‘quick-tour.’ This also has potential for Embr to collect data on its users about their changes in mood over the course of the experience and longitudinally.

Sketches and Design Studio

We engaged in a rapid ideation process to quickly create designs based on the features we prioritized.

Rough sketches helped us move into the user flow and wireframing stages

Screen Flows

Data-Driven Design

Before even beginning the experience, users needed a way to navigate changing screens and understanding their progress in the demo. Tapping the sides would flip forward or backwards, and dot navigation indicated progress.

We heard some users say they were nervous about when the first wave was starting, so we built a small message alerting the user that the wave would begin.

Users reported wanting to understand how the device works before putting it on.

Tests revealed that people were apprehensive to have someone else control their temperature experience, so we built in a control throughout the demo so they could fine-tune their comfort level.

Users were also unsure about their status in the demo, so we incorporated dot navigation to show their progress.

Users were invited to do a self-scan to create a baseline around thermal comfort and mood. Then, after using the device, they check in once again with how they’re feeling. The before and after are noted on the screen and Embr Labs is able to collect data around differences in before and after using the device.

In order to manage expectations and lower return rates, users are told how it may take up to one week before the maximum benefit of the device is achieved.

At the end of the experience, users are given the opportunity to return to the beginning or visit the Embr website.

Prototype

We designed our screens in Sketch, applied animations using After Effects, and ran the prototype in Flinto

Future Considerations

The following elements would benefit from further iteration and testing:

Consider reordering sequence of screens to have educational slides about how technology works come before user first puts device on wrist.
Develop content for 10-minute demo, as the experience we designed was for a 3-minute session. Many users mentioned wanting to have an experience lasting longer than the short version. Having a longer pause for mindfulness should be tested.
Add an animation that shows how the effects of device affect entire body after the message goes to the brain.
Change the anatomical arrows from red to purple. People had strong associations between red arrows and blood testing.
Move the device a few inches down the wrist to indicate proper position.

Project Takeaways

This 3-week sprint held lots of valuable lessons for me. We found out that FDA regulations prohibit any claim of medical benefit or cure for specific conditions, so we spent some time designing screens we couldn’t incorporate into our prototype. Our scope of work was probably larger than it should have been. While we executed on a robust and high-fidelity prototype that included animations, we could have benefitted from fewer screens and features in favor of more usability testing. Dieter Rams’ “less but better” recommendation in design comes to mind. Our research will undoubtedly prove valuable to Embr Labs, and they plan to move forward with incorporating our designs into an actual demo in the near future.