Personal Project
Unobtrusive messaging app for genuine conversations, and staying in touch without the expectations of social media norms
My role
Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Developer
Mission statement
UNOBLI is a space for sending one-way notifications which don't lead to a full chat. This encourages genuine message sending, free of reply expectations. It is meant to incite the same types of messages one would send in a posted letter.
Video made by me, Adobe Animate & illustrator
Research
Qualitative
60% of the subjects said they would often want to send a message to check up on someone, but didn’t as they feared it would spark up a longer conversation. 68% said they would use an app where they could send someone a notification which couldn’t be replied to in the likes of “Olivia wants you to not worry, she is doing well”
Do you ever delete social media off your phone?
Do you ever delete social media off your phone?
Yes
No
Sometimes
Do you ever feel fatigued or overwhelmed by your social media presence?
Yes
Sometimes
Other
No
Often
This project aims to address the proven need for slow, genuine direct messaging, which avoids typical design trends made for faster-paced conversation.
Informational architecture
Defining the full path
Branding Exploration
the final brand identity shows a specific colour palette and illustration style that ensured consistency and familiarity throughout the application. UNOBLI (you-know-blee) is short for unobligated, as it encourages the intentions of being a platform where one is unobligated to answer.
High Fidelity wireframes
Development and testing
Development
The functioning prototype of this project was therefore a simplified version of the hi-fi prototypes. It was developed in React Native using a Firebase database
Users were successfully able to add friends, send them notifications & send them letters
Testing
Users downloaded the testing version for 10 days, using Testflight for IOs.
The users reported an overall positive response to the usage of the application. Many left heartfelt feedback as they had benefited from UNOBLI during the lockdown and heavy coursework periods.
The majority stated that they used it to send messages which simply did not require a response. This could be wandering thoughts, just a reminder or touching base with friends. The second most popular option was that it felt like a way out when their life situation became too overwhelming, due to work, university or other factors.
When asked how it felt to receive notifications that didn’t expect a reply, 100% replied it was freeing and nice, as they could simply enjoy the message.
100% said they would use it more frequently if the application was developed.
