Hojeong Chung Works

Intro

Overview

Research

Development

Final Design

Future steps

Sleep Dream

UX Consult · Company project

Personalized Sleep Solutions

through Radar Sensor and Smart Pillow

AI Hatinroo Sleepdream collects biometric data through radar sensors, analyzes it using AI, and provides a personalized sleep solution by integrating with a smart pillow. In an era of an aging population and single-person households, People Multi Co., Ltd. holds a vision of preserving human dignity.

The company has tasked me as a personal designer to increase the connectivity between the software display and hardware product for the release of Sleepdream version 2. The goal is to ensure it is intuitively usable by the current middle-aged and senior customer base, with a focus on consulting related to information visualization.

Time Frame

August 2024 - September 2024

(10 weeks)

Project Role

Company Sponsored Project

/ Sole Designer

Deliverables

User research, Wireframe,

System design,

High-fi interactive prototype

Tools

Figma, Figjam

Outcome Overview

Sleep Analysis
Comprehensive Data of
Sleep Analysis
Sleep Analysis Report consolidates biometric and sleep environment data, presenting it in daily, weekly, and monthly reports with detailed analyses for each category.
Device settings
Visually Understanding Status
Device screen provides a visual display of the device connection status and includes a connection test to help users quickly resolve issues and confirm the device is functioning properly.
Friends
Remote Health Monitoring
Looking at Friends screen allows users to track sleep patterns of friends and family, enabling users to check on their loved ones' well-being from a distance.
Sleep Analysis
Comprehensive Data of
Sleep Analysis
Sleep Analysis Report consolidates biometric and sleep environment data, presenting it in daily, weekly, and monthly reports with detailed analyses for each category.
Device settings
Visually Understanding Status
Device screen provides a visual display of the device connection status and includes a connection test to help users quickly resolve issues and confirm the device is functioning properly.
Friends
Remote Health Monitoring
Looking at Friends screen allows users to track sleep patterns of friends and family, enabling users to check on their loved ones' well-being from a distance.
Sleep Analysis
Comprehensive Data of
Sleep Analysis
Sleep Analysis Report consolidates biometric and sleep environment data, presenting it in daily, weekly, and monthly reports with detailed analyses for each category.
Device settings
Visually Understanding Status
Device screen provides a visual display of the device connection status and includes a connection test to help users quickly resolve issues and confirm the device is functioning properly.
Friends
Remote Health Monitoring
Looking at Friends screen allows users to track sleep patterns of friends and family, enabling users to check on their loved ones' well-being from a distance.
Sleep Analysis
Comprehensive Data of
Sleep Analysis
Sleep Analysis Report consolidates biometric and sleep environment data, presenting it in daily, weekly, and monthly reports with detailed analyses for each category.
Device settings
Visually Understanding Status
Device screen provides a visual display of the device connection status and includes a connection test to help users quickly resolve issues and confirm the device is functioning properly.
Friends
Remote Health Monitoring
Looking at Friends screen allows users to track sleep patterns of friends and family, enabling users to check on their loved ones' well-being from a distance.

Research

Background

According to the National Health Insurance Service, the number of sleep disorder patients in Korea has increased by 28% over the past five years, with treatment costs rising by 86.8% since 2018.

Committed to "enriching people's lives," PeopleMulti developed SleepDream—a sleep solution featuring a smart pillow with radar sensors to address sleep deprivation. The product quickly gained popularity, attracting over 100,000 visitors to the online store in just two weeks.

Amid the enthusiastic response, users left feedback centered around the following issues:

Following issues

Uncertainty about clearly recognizing it as a sleep solution.

The app was difficult to use, unfriendly, and lacked sufficient information.

Users did not fully understand the product's purpose as a sleep solution, and the 40-60 age group found the app complicated and difficult to use due to low digital literacy. PeopleMulti sought my professional consulting as a sole designer to address these issues and improve its UX/UI design, drawing on my previous experience providing UX feedback for their other product.

As a result, the project aimed to simplify information delivery and redesign the user experience to better suit the 40-60 age group, ultimately achieving the goal of providing an effective sleep solution.

Problem Overview

Problem

Proposed Solutions

Gap on Communication in Functions

The app currently lacks a mechanism to communicate the status of functioning features to users. As a result, when functioning issues occur, there is no way to inform users within the app, leading to uncertainty about whether the product is functioning correctly.

Improve Integration between App and Hardware

Introduce a real-time status monitoring system within the app that provides clear notifications and a dedicated dashboard for feature functionality updates, along with troubleshooting steps for any detected issues.

Complicated User Experience with Cognitive Overload

The app’s excessive information and misaligned UI/UX confuse users and fail to meet their expectations, making it difficult to use intuitively.

Simplify the App and Organize Information Hierarchy

Simplify the app’s interface by prioritizing key information and aligning the design with user expectations, ensuring a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

Clarifying Content Direction

The app's content direction is ambiguous, and it lacks clear alignment with the goal of providing a deep sleep solution. As a result, users are not experiencing the full benefits, leading to confusion about the app's purpose and functionality.

Aligning User’s Expectation with Device’s Functionality

Align user expectations with the product’s purpose by revising in-app content to clearly communicate the pillow’s role in enhancing sleep quality, and provide educational resources such as tips to highlight its benefits as part of a comprehensive sleep solution rather than just an anti-snoring device.

Research Methods

To develop a comprehensive understanding of the target audience and the problem space, I conducted stakeholder interviews, analyzed customer service inquiries, and performed a competitive analysis.

Interview

Conducted interviews with marketing and Customer Service Department to identify existing problems

Analysis of CS Inquiries

Analyzed all phone call consultation inquiries received since the launch of SleepDream to identify the common issues faced by customers.

Competitive Analysis

Analyzed competitors offering sleep solutions using pillows to assess the current market solutions

Research Highlights

Interview Highlights

As an initial step in my research, I conducted interviews with internal stakeholders to understand the feedback they receive from customers. I focused on the Marketing and Customer Service Teams, as they interact directly with customers and gain firsthand insights into their reactions. These interviews specifically explored the challenges these teams face when addressing app-related customer inquiries.

I recall an instance when a customer reached out with a question about the control box. They noticed it had changed from green to yellow but didn’t understand what it meant.
Since there was no guidance in the app to address this issue, they had to contact customer service for assistance.
Problem
Users often call customer service due to insufficient information in the app, including questions about where to find specific details.
Insight
The solution needs to remove ambiguous information, guide user behavior to address concerns directly, and reorganize its information hierarchy to align with customer expectations for easier navigation.
When customers faced issues during the device connection process and reached out for support, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t effectively guide them to the appropriate part of the app for a solution. Their lack of familiarity with the device and uncertainty about its expected functionality prolonged the phone calls and made troubleshooting more challenging.
Problem
The absence of in-app device status information makes it impossible to diagnose customer device connection issues, as neither support staff nor the customers themselves can identify the source of the problem.
Insight
The lack of visual information to guide the customer service team hinders their ability to resolve issues step by step, leading to a lack of trust in the device.
I've received feedback from users regarding the monthly sleep report. Many found it difficult to navigate, with the explanations being overly detailed. The small text and color choices made it challenging to focus on the key insights. Users also mentioned that having separate pages for daily, weekly, and monthly reports was confusing. They were frustrated with repetitive interaction with the back button and scroll through the app to find sleep data for specific days.
Problem
While the customer service team lacks visual information to guide step-by-step issue resolution, leading to diminished trust in the device, the app itself provides too much information, overwhelming users and making it difficult for them to focus.
Insight
Users experience confusion and discomfort due to both a lack of accessibility for visually impaired individuals and cluttered information within the app, ultimately leading to lower satisfaction.
Our product is designed for better sleep, yet many customers still perceive it as a snoring-eliminating pillow. This seems to stem from our initial choice of advertising the product with a well-known actor, famous for issues that they were going through with snoring, as the product model.
Problem
Disappointed customer reviews reveal a disconnect between the product's marketing as a sleep solution and its actual effectiveness in reducing snoring, which was the primary expectation for many buyers.
Insight
The product's ultimate purpose does not align with customer expectations.
I recall an instance when a customer reached out with a question about the control box. They noticed it had changed from green to yellow but didn’t understand what it meant.
Since there was no guidance in the app to address this issue, they had to contact customer service for assistance.
Problem
Users often call customer service due to insufficient information in the app, including questions about where to find specific details.
Insight
The solution needs to remove ambiguous information, guide user behavior to address concerns directly, and reorganize its information hierarchy to align with customer expectations for easier navigation.
When customers faced issues during the device connection process and reached out for support, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t effectively guide them to the appropriate part of the app for a solution. Their lack of familiarity with the device and uncertainty about its expected functionality prolonged the phone calls and made troubleshooting more challenging.
Problem
The absence of in-app device status information makes it impossible to diagnose customer device connection issues, as neither support staff nor the customers themselves can identify the source of the problem.
Insight
The lack of visual information to guide the customer service team hinders their ability to resolve issues step by step, leading to a lack of trust in the device.
I've received feedback from users regarding the monthly sleep report. Many found it difficult to navigate, with the explanations being overly detailed. The small text and color choices made it challenging to focus on the key insights. Users also mentioned that having separate pages for daily, weekly, and monthly reports was confusing. They were frustrated with repetitive interaction with the back button and scroll through the app to find sleep data for specific days.
Problem
While the customer service team lacks visual information to guide step-by-step issue resolution, leading to diminished trust in the device, the app itself provides too much information, overwhelming users and making it difficult for them to focus.
Insight
Users experience confusion and discomfort due to both a lack of accessibility for visually impaired individuals and cluttered information within the app, ultimately leading to lower satisfaction.
Our product is designed for better sleep, yet many customers still perceive it as a snoring-eliminating pillow. This seems to stem from our initial choice of advertising the product with a well-known actor, famous for issues that they were going through with snoring, as the product model.
Problem
Disappointed customer reviews reveal a disconnect between the product's marketing as a sleep solution and its actual effectiveness in reducing snoring, which was the primary expectation for many buyers.
Insight
The product's ultimate purpose does not align with customer expectations.
I recall an instance when a customer reached out with a question about the control box. They noticed it had changed from green to yellow but didn’t understand what it meant.
Since there was no guidance in the app to address this issue, they had to contact customer service for assistance.
Problem
Users often call customer service due to insufficient information in the app, including questions about where to find specific details.
Insight
The solution needs to remove ambiguous information, guide user behavior to address concerns directly, and reorganize its information hierarchy to align with customer expectations for easier navigation.
When customers faced issues during the device connection process and reached out for support, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t effectively guide them to the appropriate part of the app for a solution. Their lack of familiarity with the device and uncertainty about its expected functionality prolonged the phone calls and made troubleshooting more challenging.
Problem
The absence of in-app device status information makes it impossible to diagnose customer device connection issues, as neither support staff nor the customers themselves can identify the source of the problem.
Insight
The lack of visual information to guide the customer service team hinders their ability to resolve issues step by step, leading to a lack of trust in the device.
I've received feedback from users regarding the monthly sleep report. Many found it difficult to navigate, with the explanations being overly detailed. The small text and color choices made it challenging to focus on the key insights. Users also mentioned that having separate pages for daily, weekly, and monthly reports was confusing. They were frustrated with repetitive interaction with the back button and scroll through the app to find sleep data for specific days.
Problem
While the customer service team lacks visual information to guide step-by-step issue resolution, leading to diminished trust in the device, the app itself provides too much information, overwhelming users and making it difficult for them to focus.
Insight
Users experience confusion and discomfort due to both a lack of accessibility for visually impaired individuals and cluttered information within the app, ultimately leading to lower satisfaction.
Our product is designed for better sleep, yet many customers still perceive it as a snoring-eliminating pillow. This seems to stem from our initial choice of advertising the product with a well-known actor, famous for issues that they were going through with snoring, as the product model.
Problem
Disappointed customer reviews reveal a disconnect between the product's marketing as a sleep solution and its actual effectiveness in reducing snoring, which was the primary expectation for many buyers.
Insight
The product's ultimate purpose does not align with customer expectations.
I recall an instance when a customer reached out with a question about the control box. They noticed it had changed from green to yellow but didn’t understand what it meant.
Since there was no guidance in the app to address this issue, they had to contact customer service for assistance.
Problem
Users often call customer service due to insufficient information in the app, including questions about where to find specific details.
Insight
The solution needs to remove ambiguous information, guide user behavior to address concerns directly, and reorganize its information hierarchy to align with customer expectations for easier navigation.
When customers faced issues during the device connection process and reached out for support, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t effectively guide them to the appropriate part of the app for a solution. Their lack of familiarity with the device and uncertainty about its expected functionality prolonged the phone calls and made troubleshooting more challenging.
Problem
The absence of in-app device status information makes it impossible to diagnose customer device connection issues, as neither support staff nor the customers themselves can identify the source of the problem.
Insight
The lack of visual information to guide the customer service team hinders their ability to resolve issues step by step, leading to a lack of trust in the device.
I've received feedback from users regarding the monthly sleep report. Many found it difficult to navigate, with the explanations being overly detailed. The small text and color choices made it challenging to focus on the key insights. Users also mentioned that having separate pages for daily, weekly, and monthly reports was confusing. They were frustrated with repetitive interaction with the back button and scroll through the app to find sleep data for specific days.
Problem
While the customer service team lacks visual information to guide step-by-step issue resolution, leading to diminished trust in the device, the app itself provides too much information, overwhelming users and making it difficult for them to focus.
Insight
Users experience confusion and discomfort due to both a lack of accessibility for visually impaired individuals and cluttered information within the app, ultimately leading to lower satisfaction.
Our product is designed for better sleep, yet many customers still perceive it as a snoring-eliminating pillow. This seems to stem from our initial choice of advertising the product with a well-known actor, famous for issues that they were going through with snoring, as the product model.
Problem
Disappointed customer reviews reveal a disconnect between the product's marketing as a sleep solution and its actual effectiveness in reducing snoring, which was the primary expectation for many buyers.
Insight
The product's ultimate purpose does not align with customer expectations.

Inquiries Highlights

As the next step in my research, I analyzed 523 customer service inquiries received through phone calls to identify key issues customers faced not only with the product but also with the app. This analysis provided valuable insights that guided the direction for redesigning the app's user experience.

Main Problems

Lack of supporting process of helping out customers

Customer’s Product Perception Gap

Lack of App Interface Optimization

Need of Multi-Account Accessibility for Family Data Management

Insights

Current app experience leaves users feeling confused and frustrated due to insufficient explanations when issues arise. Features within the app does not provide solutions to resolve these problems.

Customers perceive the app as an anti-snoring pillow rather than a deep sleep solution, and therefore expect the product to primarily address snoring relief.

The current app UI does not meet user needs, and the way information is presented and structured does not align with user expectations. Additionally, it fails to address accessibility issues, such as color blindness, leaving various customer needs unmet.

Users value the ability to manage and monitor multiple accounts simultaneously, especially for family members, and feel restricted by the current single-account viewing limitation.

Design Opportunity

Enable testing features that allow customers to independently identify and resolve issues on their own.

Ensure that the app's direction as a sleep solution is clearly communicated, repeatedly display related messages to customers.

Redesign the app using a design style optimized for senior users and reorganize the app's information hierarchy.

Develop a multi-account management feature that enables users to view or compare data from multiple accounts seamlessly within the app.

Competitive Analysis Highlights

As the final step in my research, I conducted a competitor analysis based on the design opportunities identified from the customer service inquiries and interview analysis. To address the app's current issues, I explored existing solutions in the market, focusing specifically on how other products collect and display data retrieved when customers use a tangible device. This provided valuable insights into industry best practices and potential strategies for improvement.

I looked into the competitive landscape, I realized that the demand for quality sleep is steadily growing. However, most competing products focus heavily on features that address snoring. As a result, it seems that SleepDream is also being perceived primarily as a snoring pillow among customers.

Reflecting on this, I realized that SleepDream should not just focus on snoring, but emphasize the broader concept of quality sleep. Beyond the goal of reducing snoring, the underlying need for many users is to improve their overall sleep quality.

Additionally, after seeing some competitors offering sleep quality score features, I thought this could be a great addition to SleepDream. By providing users with a clear way to assess their sleep quality and offering actionable insights to improve it, we could position SleepDream as more than just a snoring solution. It could become a smart choice for overall quality sleep.

Research Conclusion

Although customer expectations for the product may vary, they ultimately use SleepDream to alleviate sleep disorders and improve the quality of their sleep.

Lack of Problem-Solving Information

Users are unable to identify what issues are occurring with the product or how to resolve them due to insufficient and unhelpful information

Mismatch Between User Expectations and Product Goals

Users expect the product to alleviate snoring and help them sleep better, but they do not recognize that the product itself is a sleep solution.

Design Not Tailored to Primary Users

The app's primary users struggle with navigation due to low digital literacy, and the design does not account for visual limitations caused by aging.

Presence of Caregivers

Given the product’s focus on health monitoring, there may be a separate person responsible for monitoring the user's sleep, creating a potential user that product user and the person managing their data.

Development

Developing Solutions

Through extensive research, including user interviews, analysis of customer inquiries, and competitive benchmarking, I have identified key insights that have informed the development of design principles focused on addressing user requirements. These principles will provide a framework for maintaining a cohesive user experience across all design iterations.

Reinforce Sleep Solutions function

Provide comprehensive biometrics data and information on restful sleep to help customers improve their sleep quality.

Providing Feedback to Effectively Resolve Issues

Introduce a customizable feature with clear, step-by-step instructions that enables customers to perform tests tailored to their individual needs.

Existing Condition Analysis

Before diving into the design development, I focused on analyzing the existing condition of the experience by creating a site map to accurately identify the functional pain points that users currently experience. Through this analysis, I aimed to prioritize the improvements for each feature and find ways to enhance the user experience in a more intuitive and efficient manner.

Site Map

Insights from Analysis

Prioritizing Features and Enhancing Visibility for Sleep Solutions

It is necessary to enhance the visibility of the Sleep Solution feature and prioritize functionalities to provide users with tangible value by more clearly interpreting the collected data.

Strengthening Information Integration and Designing a Unified Dashboard

it is crucial to strengthen the integration and correlation of information, and design a unified dashboard that allows for a comprehensive analysis of sleep quality.

Improving Information Architecture for Intuitive Navigation and Efficient Access

It’s crucial to enhance the information architecture by establishing consistent categories and clear hierarchies, while also ensuring that information is effectively grouped for easy and quick access, allowing users to intuitively navigate and find what they need.

Enhancing Device Interaction and Providing More Useful Device Management Features

There is a need to enhance the interaction between devices and the app, and provide more useful device management features to improve the user experience. For example, improving real-time monitoring, device interconnectivity, and offering smoother problem-solving options.

MVP List

Based on the insights gathered from the sitemap, I have prioritized the feature design and outlined functionalities that can be quickly implemented. These are the features selected for the UX improvements, aligned with the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach. This version incorporates the idea of focusing on the key features to be implemented based on the MVP, while also referencing the sitemap insights as the foundation for decision-making

Structuring Framework

User Flow

Based on the prioritization from the MVP list, I have reorganized the user flow and, in line with development principles, made the Sleep Solution feature and device connectivity status clearly visible.

Wireframes

I went through several rounds of low-fidelity wireframes to find a layout where the Sleep Solution would emerge as the core feature. After refining and iterating on the initial designs, I was able to progressively develop them into higher-fidelity wireframes, which allowed for a more polished and functional layout. This iterative process helped to ensure that the Sleep Solution was not only visually prominent but also intuitive and seamlessly integrated into the overall user experience.

Final Design

Home
Enhanced Sleep Solution Features
The "Last night brief" provides a summary of how well the user met their sleep goals and offers insights into the sleep environment from the previous night. Additionally, it provides feedback based on AI analysis and offers sleep tips to help improve overall sleep quality.
Feedback
Tracking your sleep patterns from last night's sleep
Tips
Offering articles that provide valuable insights
for better sleep
Last night brief
Reviewing last night brief and
understand your sleep quality
Sleep Report
In-Depth Sleep Pattern Analysis
This feature provides a detailed breakdown of sleep patterns by time, offering a comprehensive analysis of each sleep phase throughout the night. By examining sleep duration, quality, and fluctuations, users gain valuable insights into their sleep behavior, helping them make informed decisions for improvement.
Detailed Analysis
Providing detailed insights by analyzing sleep stages, sleep-dream operation patterns, snoring patterns, sleep environment data (e.g., temperature, humidity, air quality), heart rate, and respiratory rate.
Friends
Multi-Account Monitoring for Family and Friends
This feature allows users to effortlessly manage and monitor multiple accounts, making it easy to keep track of the well-being of loved ones, even from afar. By comparing sleep data across different profiles, users gain a sense of reassurance and connection, helping them stay informed and offer support to family and friends.
Invite friends and family
With their consent, add friend and family accounts to monitor activity and ensure their safety online.
Test Device
Enhanced Device Connectivity Testing
This feature strengthens device connectivity by adding test functions for smart pillows, radar sensors, and control boxes. Users can now visually check the status of each device and troubleshoot any issues independently, making it easier to ensure optimal performance and a better sleep experience.
Device connections
Provides a clear overview of device connections, allowing users to quickly troubleshoot and fix connection issues.

Visual Identity

Accessible

Usable by everyone

Clear

Easy to understand

Intuitive

Easy to use

Typography

By employing SF Pro, a typeface known for its clean, modern aesthetic and exceptional readability, I aimed to create a clear and intuitive user experience, minimizing visual fatigue and ensuring comfortable reading for extended periods.

SF Pro

Regular, Medium, Bold

Let Sleepdream fill your nights with deep sleep.

Colors

The existing color palette of Sleep Dream did not fully account for the diverse visual needs of users. To address this, I adopted colors that comply with web accessibility standards. The main color remains in the blue spectrum, with graphics and UI components using AA-level accessible colors, while text colors are selected to meet AAA-level accessibility. This ensures that all text colors comply with AAA standards, and graphic colors meet at least AA-level accessibility.

Web accesibility

Primary blue

#3F7DF8

Green

#06A194

Violet

#AF5DE9

Navy

#445AA1

AAA

Web accesibility

blue_txt

#144FC4

Enabled

#0072B2

Warning

#D55E00

Black_1

#161D34

Black_2

#454A5D

Icons

The existing symbols were difficult to interpret, failing to provide sufficient information to users and causing confusion.

To address this, I have made the functionality more clear and intuitive.

Future Steps

PC Dashboard Development

To enhance the product’s overall quality, the next step will focus on developing the PC dashboard, which was previously a lower priority in the MVP model. The dashboard has the potential to provide more precise and valuable insights, but previous iterations were hindered by excessive information that detracted from its core functionalities. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary data, align the dashboard more effectively with the app, and offer users more detailed, actionable insights that will help them better manage their sleep.

Improvement of Physical Device and Customization

While this consulting project has focused primarily on the app, the next phase will also include improvements to the physical device. In Version 2, we aim to introduce customizable options at the device level, enabling users to personalize their experience even further. This will ensure the device works in harmony with the app, providing a more integrated and tailored solution for users.

@2024 HOJEONG CHUNG