Designer's Mental Model

Designer's mental model is simply defined as the designer's vision of system operation. In other words, designer's mental model describes/illustrates an ideal usage of system based on designer's intentions.

We, as designers, created a simple diagram that summarizes various features of StreetSmart, which is shown below:

StreetSmart will work by collecting data from the users. It will first collect information about the user such as background, preferences, and interests. StreetSmart will also collect individual reviews on certain places. From these two sets of information, the app will use an algorithm to link places to people based on their interests. The app will also use Google’s map services to allow travelers to view their location and the location of sites nearby.

We, the designers, believe that the features of StreetSmart available to users can be largely broken into 4 categories of features present on the homepage of the app: places, map, calendar, and journal. Each category, represented as a round edge rectangle in the diagram above, generally offers a service, represented as an ellipse in the diagram above, to users. If the previous sentence sounds confusing, please note the directions of the arrows in the diagram.

As an example, the journal features allow users to document. Users may document various types of objects such as diaries, photos, and videos, which are mentioned in rectangles sticking out of the "document" ellipse.

 Following a similar logic, the calendar features allow users to schedule, reserve, and track in order to complete the planning process.

 The map features increase the situation awareness of users by providing necessary information such as location, distance, and safety.

The features related to places engage users by providing recommendations on sites, hotels, and restaurants. This category of features engages users even further by promoting user interaction; while some users may provide reviews about certain destinations, other users receive assistance by selecting a destination based on preferences and reading through the reviews from other users.

The definition of breakpoint is miscommunication between the designer's perception and the user's perception. 

One possible breakpoint is regarding locational data. We previously stated that StreetSmart functions the best with the availability of various types of user data, and locational data is a part of that process because the app uses Google's map services when allowing users to view their locations with respect to locations of nearby sites. As a result, users may be concerned about safety issues based on access to personal locational data.

When discussing safety, StreetSmart promotes user safety in two ways: public safety & personal safety. As already mentioned, public safety is ensured by having a map feature that indicates nearby locations of high crime rates, recent incident occurrences, etc. Private safety is promised by disallowing any exchange of locational data amongst users. Only the StreetSmart app has access to the user's locational data in order to display the relative distance between the user and nearby sites on the map and track the path of previous travels, so the users are not able to share personal locational data with others even if they wish to.

Another breakpoint that we think is relevant is the problems that might arise with leaving reviews on businesses. Firstly, users might be writing long responses similar to the journal, which we do not want to be the case. The journal should focus more on describing your trip and talking about one's personal experiences that may have occurred whilst on the entire trip. The "places"/review section should be more tailored to providing other users with useful feedback that they can use to figure out if they want to go or not. Similar to the breakpoint discussed above, another issue that exists when users are utilizing the journal feature is their privacy. Users want to feel safe about typing their personal thoughts onto our app, and as a result, we need to communicate to them that they can trust us in protecting their information and not selling their data. 

Ecological

Travel typically consists of 3 parts: before, during, and after. Before travel is basically the planning stage. During travel is having fun and leaving as many memories as possible. After travel is keeping track of memories through objects like photos and souvenirs. StreetSmart is a significant design since a user may utilize StreetSmart during any of the 3 stages.

In order to experience and utilize StreetSmart, all the user needs is a phone. Although extra requirements like location access, microphone, etc may be helpful in order to make the most of StreetSmart through awareness and document purposes during the travel, not having those extra requirements does not limit a user from enjoying the key features of StreetSmart. The importance of the ecological perspective is that one of the strengths of StreetSmart is mobility- the location of the user does not matter as long as the user possesses a smartphone.

Interaction

When a user launches StreetSmart for the first time, the user is encouraged to complete a brief 4-minute survey of approximately 30 questions intended to identify the user's tendencies. The survey is mostly multiple choice questions where the user answers a question by tapping on the most appropriate option. Then, a list of destination recommendations appears. Once a user decides on a destination, the user can navigate through the destination area by switching over to the map display and swiping through the map. Additionally, various types of sites are explorable by applying filters. For example, when a user applies the restaurant filter, only dining options are displayed. The encouraged step after exploring the destination area is establishing a travel plan. This step serves as the transition between the map display and the calendar display because once the user spots a site, hotel, or restaurant they wish to visit, they can simply add a few buttons to reserve and add to the calendar.

Although this may seem like the user does things sequentially in the app, note that the opposite is true. Every single task is accessible from any page. Travelers do things spontaneously because they like to fill their schedules! So, when they are in one tab, they need to be able to do any other task like journaling, right away, for example. 

The next set of steps occurs during the actual traveling. At this point, the functions of various features are slightly altered. For example, the list of destination recommendations displays area-specific sites such as landmarks, hotels, and restaurants. The idea behind the calendar stays the same, except the user may swap parts of the travel plan if some options from the destination recommendation list sound more appealing. The map functions have altered slightly as well- while the map still displays key nearby sites, StreetSmart focuses more on user interaction by providing the distance to the desired destination and identifying unsafe nearby locations. The highlight of the travel is the journal feature. As the user travels around, the user has the ability to document the trip for future reference. There are multiple options: photos, videos, and diaries. Whichever option the user chooses, the user can leave a detailed record of a trip by assigning certain photos, videos, or diaries to specific locations within a travel path. The key takeaway of the interaction perspective is that StreetSmart has everything the user needs to preview and review a trip.

Emotional

Traveling well requires experience. Creating a plan can be an arduous process given the nearly infinite possibilities and combinations. Budget is another significant set of issues. Although travels are meant to be entertaining, some, especially inexperienced travelers, may be overwhelmed by the sites, hotels, and restaurants and end up having unpleasant memories.

From the get-go,  Users are invested in the app. They describe themselves in an initial survey and wait for suggestions. Upon entering a new environment, the user will lean on the app for the reasons discussed just above. The app will notify them and remind them of new tips to help them out. The suggested activities will be tailored towards them making them feel special. StreetSmart can then form a trusting relationship with the user based on great past suggestions. StreetSmart is here to lighten the load. Instead of the user having to find and select possible destinations, the destinations are selected based on user preferences and find their way to the user. Once a user selects a destination, the frequently asked questions sections will provide interesting facts about the destination to create excitement. When a user completes and saves a travel plan for future reference, a motivational statement like "Plan complete! Your last task is enjoying the travel!" brings a sense of achievement to the user.

StreetSmart Journal feature also brings back the user to the app when not even traveling. The app holds all their journal entries and recorded memories with photos and sound. They get to relive that moment on their special trip. As a result, the user may review a previous journey for the sake of nostalgia. Through these characteristics, StreetSmart attempts to deliver the message that travel should be an enjoyable, not frightening, process. Also, the app already sets up the journal entries once you start your trip so you have the incentive to write them. Journaling can be something people are too lazy to do in the current moment but regret not doing in the future. That's why it's important that StreetSmart makes it as easy as possible to encourage it. The more they journal or record their trip, the more the app will be integrated into their lifestyle.

Whenever a traveler thinks of travel, we want them to think of StreetSmart. A home for when they are away from home. An encouraging  friend with all the local knowledge you could ask for.

The designer's mental model has been analyzed in three perspectives: ecological, interaction, and emotional.

In terms of ecological perspective, the designer's mental model describes how the system operation participates in its ecology, or context of work.

In terms of interaction perspective, the designer's mental model describes how the system operates under user control.

In terms of emotional perspective, the designer's mental model describes the expected emotional impact of the system operation.

In summary, one metaphor to simplify the importance of StreetSmart is that StreetSmart is basically a travel counselor that guides a traveler on what to do during each stage of travel process.