Digital High Street
Connecting businesses and residents in a COVID world.
The Challenge
Lendlease's goal with Digital High St was to design a solution to help connect the residents and retailers of Darling Square during the COVID pandemic and into a Post-COVID world.
Digital High St is an App / Multimedia solution designed to encourage community connection and growth. Our target audience included residents of Darling Square, business operators in the local area and a lesser focus on commuters and tourists.
How do we create a sense of local community without physically interacting?
Project Context
- Client: Lendlease
- Team: UX Designers pitching app-based solutions
- Key Focus: Reconnecting small businesses with residents
- Outcome: Two pillar solution (App & Local Visuals)
Research & Insights
Interviews
I utilised attitudinal research methods, interviewing 5 residents and 2 business operators who lived in or managed similar high-density buildings.
Questions for residents focused on neighbour interaction and residential social groups. For businesses, I explored how they engage customers and how COVID changed their operations.
Key Insight: People want to know their neighbours better but don't know how to connect. The service needs to show real benefit over being "just another app".
Surveys
90% rate neighbour interaction 5/10 or lower.
75% wish to be more involved.
Assumptions
Community needs active management and clear value.
Voice of the Community
Direct quotes from resident and business interviews.
"Running a community group myself I found people go for whatever is easiest. If they're unless they're already in the app, they often forget about it"
"All the resident Facebook groups I've been in have been dead"
"I've learned about local business promotions from my building Facebook Group"
"There's a lot of travelers and internationals in my building, it makes it hard to find community as every leaves"
"I've tried to organise social events for my building before, but it's hard to get engagement"
"We were able to use our group to order food from the local businesses instead of using Uber Eats"
Meet the Personas
The Connected Student
Adam is a student operating a start-up in the area. He's youthful, hyper-connected, and focused on networking and audience building.
- • Networking & audience building
- • Hyper-connected
- • Local start-up focus
The Community Explorer
Jackie focuses on finding new places nearby, connecting with locals, and joining events that interest her.
- • Finding new places nearby
- • Connecting with locals
- • Joining events
User Journey
I focused on Jackie's morning routine as she moves through Darling Square. This helped identify moments where the service could improve her experience.
Key Insight: Residents have many contact points but also many distractions. A mixed media system allows for passive engagement during transitions (e.g., in elevators).
Goals & Concept
Goals
- • Leverage existing platforms
- • Show local services/events
- • Prioritise simplicity
The Two Pillar Concept
A collection of social media services (Facebook, Meetup, Instagram, YouTube) and local screens utilising 1 cohesive brand to engage and connect people.
By identifying when users are open to info but free of distraction, we select the best ways to engage them.
Wallboard Concept
Part of my deliverable recommendations included a wallboard experience to showcase content and engage with people in the local area using Darling Square's existing information displays.
The wallboard concept was designed to allow residents and visitors to experience the cultural value of their community. Research showed that community involvement is key to keeping communities alive; showcasing helps people see the value and engage even passively.
Design Rationale: My Journey Map demonstrated that residents are most likely to passively engage with this material while moving through transit areas and in elevators. The infotainment system drives engagement for both local businesses and artists, while info banners allow users to pursue further details at their own pace.
Wireframes Mark 1
My first 'more detailed than necessary' wireframe focused on content sharing and location discovery.
Key points:
- • Sharing focus: Prioritizing content distribution with deep linking to existing services.
- • Discovery: Exploring ways to show local business detail.
Feedback & What is "New"?:
- • Key action takes people out of the app too early.
- • UI doesn't make good use of space.
- • Difficult to see how the app adds unique value to users.
"To the cutting room floor with you!"
Initial Mark 2 Wireframes
For this iteration, I went back to the drawing board and re-created the information hierarchy to focus on what Digital High St can offer that is unique and benefits the user's life.
Key points:
- • Personalisation: User customised & algorithm-driven elements.
- • Socialisation: Profile system added to enhance connection between users.
- • Ease of Access: Navigation focusing on key access points.
- • Curated Detail: More local content and detail.
- • Local Economy: Adoption of community aspects like Buy & Sell.
Feedback, Insights & Improvements:
The Mark 2 wireframe was tested amongst the team to gather insights:
- • Combined & siloed views for content.
- • Emphasis on connecting people.
- • Taking the best from existing technologies.
UI Design & Polished Prototype
My intent in the UI design was to keep the content as the focal point, using a design system that feels native to modern mobile users.
Key Points:
- • Dark/Light Mode: A design that works in both modes was important to make users feel the app aligns with their preferences.
- • Inspiration: Used elements of Microsoft's Metro design language and Google's Material Design.
- • Colour: Current market branding was scaled back but used as a deliberate accent.
- • Organisation: Content is siloed between tabs, while profiles deep-link to connected services to reduce overhead.
Refinement Goal: Keep the content as the focal point. Maintain a visceral interaction (like the Pop-Out feature) to help users keep their bearings.
Key UI Feature: Pop-Out
Posts 'POP' out of items in the feed, harkening back to Apple's 3D Press UI. This causes a visceral interaction, segmenting the UI to help users maintain their bearing.
- • Encourages interaction
- • Keeps content and people as focus
- • Floating elements provide depth
Final Words
Digital High St is a 2 Pillar solution: An App to connect people and an outdoor visual showcasing system to engage the community.
Members of the community who are unaware of the service still feel the effects by just being in the space, while those who engage can showcase their work and businesses.
Interested in more details?
I'm happy to provide my final presentation for detail on each screen and the deeper app experience.