UX/UI Design | Full time | Duration: 12 months | New Delhi, India
I worked from September 2016 to September 2017 as a Lead Designer in the India Mobile Experience team at Samsung Design Delhi, India. At Samsung I was part of several Samsung Mobile projects where I served different roles in the UX Process. Some of the projects and my role in them is displayed here.
Generation Z Design
Designing Samsung Mobile User Experience and Interface for Generation Z/ Digital Natives using research done across 9 Indian cities. The project plan for the research is as shown below
Research headed by Ridhima Jaiswal
The research project was carried out in collaboration with a design agency. As part of the team I carried out:
PESTEL Study (A PESTEL analysis is an acronym for a tool used to identify the macro (external) forces facing an organisation. The letters stand for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal): I was part of brainstorming and analysis of User personas and journeys. Identifying mobile usage touchpoints and gaps. This was a team exercise carried out through brainstorming.
Secondary Research: As part of the UX team, I carried out competition mapping with a focus on aesthetic trends, selling points, opportunities and technological specifications. Chinese brands competing in the same price category were the focus here.
Primary Research: I carried out primary research in 3 out of the 9 cities in India where the research was carried out. Delhi, Bangalore and Aurangabad. This research was carried out as a two person team from Samsung Design Delhi and our partner design agency.
Design Insights: Bringing together the primary and secondary research, I analysed macro trends and design insights both individually as well as part of the team.
Design Concept: Using the design insights, I was responsible for creating, prototyping and validating the Wallpaper Selfie which was later integrated as a feature in Samsung India smartphones. Furthermore developing a modern visual style for Generation Z visualised in the ‘Sardi ke khwab’ theme (Winter dreams Theme).
Secondary Research/ Competition Mapping
I carried out the Secondary research with a focus on the south asian market, specifically Chinese brands and models in direct competition with the Samsung India J series.
During Competition Mapping the mobiles were assessed in these areas:
Features advertised/Selling points: For instance ‘Oppo’ sold mobile phone with a front camera more powerful than the back camera marketing it as the best Selfie camera phone in the price category.
User Experience Design: Basic features such as planners, clocks, setting, camera functions were analysed.
Visual and interface Design: Several mobile brands like Vivo and ‘Oppo’ imitate the Apple visual design. Selling the ‘luxurious’ Apple interface for a much cheaper price tag. The AOD(always on display), start up animations, themes, widgets, Clocks, emojis, stickers among others were looked into.
Technical Specifications: Several Chinese brands pack hardware specifications much better than the Samsung mobile phone(in the same price category) at a much cheaper price.
Look and feel: Bevels, color options, finish, textures were focused on. Several mobile phones from Chinese brands imitate hardware design of higher end mobile phones albeit at an affordable price tag.
Samsung J Series, honor, Oppo, Mi, Vvo
Primary Research
Research headed by Ridhima Jaiswal
The primary research was carried out keeping the above areas in mind. We met 14 respondents in each city, theses respondents differed in age, marriage status, education and work. They were however all part of the so called Generation Z. A typical session involved:
‘Briefing Session
About the workshop
Rules and Guidelines
Respondents Introduction & Ice breaking
Individual introduction
Individual mobile phone details
Hangout places and comfort zone
Focus Group Discussions
Presenting Emerging Trends and discuss in group
Q & A on emerging trends
Individual Voting
Card Sorting & Collage
Pick a collage which you like the most
Create collage for your room which reflects your personality
Create your mobile phone
Guided Pen and Paper interviews
Questionnaire on Opportunities Mapping
Personal Interviews
Correlation with homework and deep dive
A look into their lifestyle
Mobile Phone usage in everyday life, needs and future expectations
Fly on the wall
Visit popular hangout places
Observe behaviour and activities of Gen Z
Take pictures off spaces, interiors etc.
Design Insights
The road map to gaining design insights
The research was carried out extensively both primary as well as secondary therefore all the insights cannot be drawn out here but one of the insights that was taken forward was the Wallpaper Selfie.
All the participants were given homework where they answered certain questions in addition to taking screenshots of their mobile Homescreen, mobile Lockscreen, their house, their favourite gadget, favourite corner in the house among others.
One distinctive feature that the Generation Z differed from Millennials was that while both groups celebrated their friendships, Generation Z did so in close knit circles. The celebration was kept private within a set of people. They did so through small groups, friends, internet packs among others. One distinctive way they did so was through their wallpapers. 70% of all our test subjects had their own selfie (or selfie with a friend, partner or parent) as their wallpaper.
Wallpaper Selfie
This observation in addition to ‘Selfies’ being a big trend at the time fit well with each other. Furthermore I noticed that in Samsung like several other phones existing icons or icons from newly installed applications would hide the subject of the wallpaper.
Therefore the idea of wallpaper selfie was born. A selfie that would be set as a wallpaper and would be celebrated. Celebrated by using digital image processing to keep the subject of the wallpaper free from icons or widgets. This would allow Samsung a special feature to celebrate the selfie trend by appealing to the emotional aspect of the feature.
Icons and Widgets move away from Subject in Wallpaper
Wireframes for Selfie Wallpaper feature
Visual Design for Generation Z
‘Sardi Ke Khwab’ / Winter Dreams
Theme for Samsung
Glocal: Global + Local
The Samsung UI Design for Generation Z needs to have a global appeal albeit using local motifs. Speaking to the youth through familiar symbols while interpreting them in modern and clean ways. Sardi Ke khwab brings together motifs of the past and putting on an international spin on it through muted tones and geometrical forms.
Moodboards
A combination of Indian textiles, popular motives as well as the latest in modern visual design formed the moodboard for the project. Geometric forms, delicate lines and attention to detail were the epithets followed in this exercise.
Moodboard
![Screenshot_20150325-190127.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598447074230-VBTMXRXS2F1E69PORAAL/Screenshot_20150325-190127.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190146.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446589843-0FCNUXB84S991F3WGRQO/Screenshot_20150325-190146.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190254.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446613200-6U4FVRKOL4521DQK26CM/Screenshot_20150325-190254.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190151.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446588619-FOADKQ6AWZZS7WMT5R2H/Screenshot_20150325-190151.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190304.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446613945-ZSH4J76WWF2NJ4D4ZMGV/Screenshot_20150325-190304.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190201.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446640050-0NTXTMA4R1W4AWLJOPJ2/Screenshot_20150325-190201.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190213.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446639069-63FTPIUBM42IAHG834X5/Screenshot_20150325-190213.png)
![Screenshot_20150325-190219.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f187fea33425d2358f46b4b/1598446641549-UVUAROZQXQQXQZJJ0YCE/Screenshot_20150325-190219.png)
Samsung Native Applications
Some of the applications where the design is applied
S Planner
Lockscreen
Homescreen
Icon Set
Dial Screen
Contacts
Message Screen
Iconography
Sardi ke Khwab icons vs Dream Samsung icons
Samsung Proposals
At Samsung Design Delhi, we worked on several commercial projects however as a product company a big part of the effort went into creating proposals for new features. Being a global brand not every proposal saw the light of commercialisation. The proposals however were always derived through latest marketing and user research, some of the proposals are shown here.
Camera
Audio Photo: India is a land of festivals. Groupfies maybe a modern term but no Indian celebration is complete without a picture of the whole family together. Samsung’s Wide angle photo allows the User to take wide photos however it takes multiple shots and adjustments before the perfect photo is achieved. These photo sessions are often accompanied by people making comments and laughter. The concept was for a picture to capture the audio in these photo shoots and attach them to the source of the audio in the picture. Making it a dynamic wholesome experience.
2. Beauty Mode: Samsung is equipped with beauty mode, however this beauty mode was a filter that allowed the user to try on different beauty products. Getting ready for a party? Don’t know what lipstick to put on? Simulate your makeup before you put it on. The feature was propositioned to be done in collaboration with high end beauty brands.
S Walk
There has been an increasing statistic of accidents owing to smarphone usage as well as taking photos in dangerous places. The internet even came up with a name for it: Killfies. Selfies that kill. This concept found the basis for S Walk, an application that makes users aware and cautious of their surroundings.
Samsung Transliteration Keyboard
Samsung developed a transliteration feature for indic languages, the initial version was catered to Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, the languages catering to the maximum percentile of language literate Indians. The feature was later user tested. I was responsible for the user testing as well as visual design in this project. The User testing was carried out in Mumbai in collaboration with Human Factors International.
Smart Glow
I was involved in designing the help screens for Smart glow as well as further ideations for new versions.
Samsung Shopper’s Delight
A shopping application that used Bixby to show virtual as well as physical marketplaces to the user. The application uses digital image processing to find products that a user photographs and matches it to similar products. The Generation Z research provided the insight that people like to buy similar products as their friends without wanting the exact same product. Therefore Samsung Shopper’s Delight offers similar products using the AI. I was involved in User validation as well as visual design for the application.
S Health & other native features
At Samsung I was also part of ideating for native applications like S Health, bringing in features that fit well contextually (Indian festivals, Indian marriage season) as well as with other Samsung products(Samsung headphones: Level, Samsung Air-purifiers).