Delightful moments for good sleep
Client: Kokoon Technology
My role on this project: Freelance Product Designer
THE CLIENT
Kokoon Technology are a team of scientists and product designers building a platform which delivers measurable wellness and performance improvements to any user. Through the help of Sleep Sensing Headphones sleep data is captured and shown on the mobile app that is built to support on this journey to better sleep and better health.
I’d like to acknowledge the team at Kokoon as they have been absolutely amazing to work with. I loved working collaboratively with them to build a product that makes a difference in people’s lives.
THE BRIEF & CHALLENGE
Kokoon wanted to increase the number of customers using the mobile app. What they noticed is that the majority of customers were not making the most of the experience after buying the headphones.
Hypothesis
With this challenge in mind, Kokoon conducted user research and usability testing, and realised that users weren’t clear about the importance of using the app and they saw this as a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than a core element of the whole Kokoon experience.
We came up with the hypotheses:
⚡️Re-designing the onboarding experience, making it more empathetic and easy-to-digest would inspire people to finish the onboarding, contributing to them understanding that the app is a core part of their sleep experience.
⚡️Having delightful moments that accompany the user throughout the whole Kokoon journey would create excitement around the app. From the anticipation of waiting for the headphones to arrive…to the unpacking experience and the app onboarding.
⚡️Re-designing the way people browse and find content would create excitement for users not only around the type of content available but also the possibility of having customised content based on what is important to them.
⚡️Displaying data in a way that doesn’t overwhelm people and instead works around their routine would inspire people to continue to use the app in the morning to check their data and build new habits.
TOOLS
Slack, Figma and Miro (since working with these tools, team-work has never been better)
Discover & Define
PERSONA (Developed by the Kokoon team) & empathy map
Heuristics & User Research
When I joined this project, Kokoon had already interviewed users and ran usability testing with them to understand why people wouldn’t use the app after buying the headphones.
My job was to review the research, connect and empathise with the persona (shared above), and capture the key insights from the user interviews/usability testing sessions.
To empathise with the user I built an empathy map and reviewed all the video interviews, which helped me gather key insights to bring forward for the define-ideation phase.
I also took some time to dive into the experience, try the headphones myself, and review the journey of the app.
Some key insights from this review and research:
⚡️People stick to what they know and like. So if they like a soundscape, they find it very hard to try something else!
⚡️After landing on the app, people loved browsing content on other apps and didn’t think of Kokoon as providing a complete experience. They returned to their favourite content, mainly on YouTube.
⚡️In the onboarding experience some key moments weren’t addressed and/or not considered as important. There was no mention or engagement in the app while users waited for the headphones to arrive. I saw these as being critical moments for the whole experience.
⚡️The contrast of the colours used was often too low and some of the text was too hard to read.
⚡️When asked for personal information there was no copy to explain why that information was needed.
⚡️When landing on the main ‘browsing’ page, the experience was lacking excitement and after users tried the first soundscape they often did not return to the app.
Out of these research insights we explored some assumptions and questions/considerations:
🎯Encouraging people to create a sense of purpose/goal would help them in building habits.
🎧The app experience needs to be fully integrated into the purchase experience of the headphones. It has to be clear upfront that when you buy the headphones, the app is part of the experience and you’re missing something if you aren’t using the app. Highlighting the value that the Kokoon app offers is necessary to inspire users.
💤What happens to the headphones and app when someone wakes up in the middle of the night? What kind of experience does Kokoon want to offer to them, aware that screen light and cognitive load might have a negative influence on their sleep?
📈How do we present data in a way that isn’t overwhelming and yet ignites new habits? How do we communicate poor sleep performance data to someone who is already dealing with a lot of pressure and upset around sleep?
From these assumptions and questions we identified some How Might We….
How might we 'move' users from 'needing' the Kokoon headphones in the acute phase of insomnia to them 'wanting' to use the headphones for 'fun' or interest and maintaining good sleep patterns?
How might we have people feel confident that they can achieve their goal through the app (improving sleep and transforming their lives)
How might we encourage people to move from thinking that they are 'tricky sleepers' to ‘I can do this and will solve my problem?’
Review of the whole journey (a look at the service that Kokoon provides)
I facilitated a workshop with the aim of co-creating a blueprint that could capture both ‘front and back-stage’ of the Kokoon experience. This helped us highlight the critical moments in the journey:
Waiting for the headphones to arrive, and the time needed to charge the headphones when they do arrive.
The first experience with the headphones.
How data is presented to the user in the morning.
Key actions⏭
📦When users receive the package with the headphones, the welcome card needs to invite users to download the app straight away explaining the benefits and specifically taking the user through the onboarding journey step by step
🔋There are some critical moments in the app that were not tackled. The app needs to have some delightful moments to keep the user engaged while, for example, they charge the battery of the headphones or while they wait to receive the headphones.
📧Email marketing activities can be a great way to keep the user excited about the experience they are about to embark on. Sharing a glimpse of what the experience is about and reconnecting to why it’s important they make the most of the Kokoon app.
THE USER JOURNEY MAP
Ideating - Low fidelity wireframes
Task analysis & user flows
Confident of the insights gained in the research phase, I started working on exploring a potential flow for the new onboarding.
✋A challenge that I encountered straight away was that the onboarding had to include questions about the sleep habits of the user. So, aware that a good onboarding is one that doesn’t last forever and keeps the user engaged, it’s been really important for me to break it down into small phases and use different content and interaction strategies to keep the users engaged and never overwhelmed.
Solutions explored in the flow
Have users download the app straight after purchase. This will create excitement while users wait for the headphones to arrive.
Connect the ‘physical' experience of reading the instruction on the card that accompanies the headphones with the digital experience of the app (that has already been downloaded).
The first part of the onboarding talks about benefits of Kokoon. Features are there to help users with their sleep but are not the ‘core’ focus.
The second part of the onboarding is more active: users are asked to create their Kokoon space with white noise of their choice and a key soundscape.
First version
User is asked to choose background sound, coloured noise and set their schedule BEFORE the headphones have arrived
✅ Good to keep the user engaged
❌ Users don’t get to use the headphones to listen to their default soundscape during the set-up
❌ Users might not feel the urgency to go back to the app once the headphones arrive
Second version
User is asked to choose background sound, coloured noise and set their schedule AFTER the headphones have arrived
✅ Users have the best experience of sounds with the headphones
✅ Anticipation and excitement is built through the wait
❌ Users can’t set up their profile until the headphones have arrived
FINDING A MIDDLE GROUND
We ran some testing on our low-fidelity designs and these are the insights we got that helped us move forward with our ideation phase
People want to be able to have access to app as soon as possible - so onboarding should be short
Not everyone wants to set a schedule or a ‘buffer time’ so these need to be optional.
Users are very happy to be able to choose what type of coloured noise upfront (and not have it defaulted to white)
People want to experience a sense of 'reward' after completing phases of set up
We need to manage the expectation about the battery upfront so that people know that they will need to charge it
People didn’t understand the difference between Kokoon space and Kokoon the app. This led us to understand that we need to introduce the concept of Kokoon space.
People liked the ‘how do you feel?’ feature
There is a real need to have a space for people to save external content (from YouTube or any other platform)
Lighthearted and friendly tone of voice is important
Asking for permission when introducing new topics is key
Kokoon space should be in the navigation so it's easy to amend when needed
It’s important to explain why we collect questions and what to expect
While they are waiting for the headphones, users want to have access to the app!
Ideating - High fidelity wireframes
Sharing kokoon’s benefits
Taking the user through a fully integrated experience
Simple but delightful interactions to guide the user as they set up their headphones and use the app for the first time
Setting your Kokoon space
An exciting way to set and customise their Kokoon space and an immersive experience into their favourite soundscape
