Sobrii is a lifestyle app that is geared to help those in recovery from addiction or those individuals who chose to live a clean and healthy lifestyle. The app is scalable to be a community where users with similar interests connect, discuss their shared interests, and participate in activities.
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Research, analysis, concept design, logo design, branding
Category
Lifestyle
Someone who is struggling with addiction needs a strong support system. Speaking to someone may help prevent a relapse and it could even save the individual's life.
While conducting early interviews with potential users (individuals with varying years of sobriety), all of them expressed how important it is to have someone to speak with. Having to wait for a reply or speaking with a person you are meeting for the first time when in crisis is detrimental.
Focusing on the communicating with a sponsor feature. Allowing the user to find an available sponsor and being able to reach out to them in a variety of ways. Voice call, video call, direct messaging, and email.
I conducted interviews with three participants who are in recovery programs and would be ideal Sobrii app users. In addition, I conducted an online survey to see how generally an app like Sobrii may be received.
Competitive Analysis
I began by looking at three potential competitors in the Lifestyle/Recovery space.
I was looking for Key Objectives, Marketing Strategy, their Overall Strategy, and Bottom Line. I developed a SWOT profile for each. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
None of the competitors I researched had a communicate with sponsor immediately feature.
Putting Data Together
From interviewing and researching the target market of potential users
of Sobrii, two personas were created. Meet Mike and Alice.
User Journeys
In order to identify the users pain points, user journeys for Mike and Alice were created. Empathizing how they might achieve their goal and show opportunities for improvements to the app.
Usability Testing
Bringing the sketched wireframes to a mid-fidelity level helped to flesh out the elements and I was able to make it a working prototype to begin testing.
I conducted video testing which I was able to record and review later more in depth. I was lucky I was able to have a couple of my original interview participants back to do prototype testing.
Methods of Communication
At first I wasn't sure that Sobrii needed to have all the typical methods of communication. If a user is on their mobile anyway, why won't they just call that way? Or text? Or email?
The answer is security and anonymity. Individuals using Sobrii would have a one-stop shop for all their recovery/sober lifestyle needs. They don't need to go through their contacts and see who is a sponsor and who isn't. They know that all the sponsors within the app are people they can reach out to.
Promotional Video
To get buy-in from stakeholders and to get the whole team on the same page about what the app is about, I produced a video. Some animation is stock and a good portion of it I made. I voiced the narrator and hired actors for the other VO. Seeing it as a fully formed concept in this from brings it to life!
I had an idea of what the Sobrii app was going to be like from reading the business requirements. However, I learned through user interviews what was really important and I went in a different direction. I had thought that Sobrii would be a community app where users would find places to enjoy activities together without drinking and find support with one another. That is still something to be developed and is valid. Research lead me to the heart of the app which is connection with someone when you really need it.
Additionally, there is always more than one solution to solving a design problem. Going through the design process of Empathizing, Prototyping, Defining, Testing, Ideating, and Refining—I had created a design where features worked functionally and feedback was good. I needed to change the overall look to meet accessibility standards. It was important to think about the demographics of those using it and making changes to colors and sizing of buttons and touch targets.
Sobrii has potential to becoming the number one resource for those who are in recovery and live day by day.
