YOLANDA XING - Aako Mobile

Aako Mobile mvp Case Study

Summary

Aako is a startup creative tech company. Aako’s mission is to change how people connect with the world and each other. We create a novel Social Media solution by fusing AR with Geo-Spatial Interaction and a Blockchain-powered reward system.

Time

Dec 2023 - July 2024 | 8 months

Role

UIUX designer

Responsibility

UX research, Sketching, Wireframing, User Analysis, Mobile UI Design

Problem

GenZs are DISSOCIATED from REALITY from digital media.

We now live in a hyper-digitized world flushed with instantly accessible and over-polished content. It takes sincerity away from us, making connections weaker than how we used to connect. We are stuck to an endless scroll, consuming all our energy and soul.

Design a platform to strengthen users’ connections to their physical environment, rekindling sensory engagement and meaningful interactions.

Solution

we created Aako, a geospatial social media platform where users post "Echoes" — AR voice memos or stories — to foster local exploration and deeper connections with physical spaces.

Playful Interactive Post, Echo

Present-Location Restriction
User-Friendly AR Experience

Research / Competitive Analysis

I conducted extensive competitive analysis on applications that touch on similar concepts/goals as our product

No Competitors had an Actual Entity of what a POST is.

Although posts are the main interactive component of social media, no competitors had the entity of what a post actually is. They are composed of text and images and likes, yet missing a representation.

Research / User Surveys & Interviews

Conducted surveys with GenZs and 15 in-depth interview. Questions covered from user behavior, potential concern, to market oversight. Creating user persona and user journey. Together with the competitive analysis, we see both opportunities and challenges for our product.

Opportunities

User Motive

Geolocation restrictions not only fail to decrease user engagement but also enhance focus on the app, fostering quality usage time and improving long-term retention.

Unique Feature

Our interactive posts stand out by offering immersive and gamified experiences, with a virtual entity that creates a strong sense of belonging for users, reinforcing "echo" as our core feature.

Market Potential

Aako fills a gap in the market for hyperlocal solutions, enabling users to build meaningful social connections within their local communities.

Challenges

Define Echo

An interesting and engaging post entity that serves more than audio.

"Game" Balance

Balancing user freedom to explore with the authenticity of location-based connections

AR Accessibility

Augmented Reality (AR) is unfamiliar to many users, creating a barrier to adoption and usage.

UX / Challenge 1 / Define Echo

Understanding User Behavior

Our initial focus on voice memos conflicted with user survey findings, where NO participants identified audio as their most-shared content type on social media. This directly challenged the audio-centered vision for Echos.

Approach:

conducted experiments to assess the effectiveness of audio and evaluate the type and quantity of information needed to convey meaning effectively.

enriched visual elements of echo and shifted focus to engaging gamified interactions while retaining voice memos as an optional feature.

perform A/B Testing and Usability Testing to users to make sure our experience made sense.

ECHO

As a result, we created our post entity called Echo, an interactive memory bubble with clear hierarchy of information of text, audio, and visual. "Voice memo" feature has became one of several optional features, alongside other forms of audio such as music and video, enhancing user engagement and accessibility.

*This also match with our future development in XR.

UX / Challenge 2 / "Game" Balance

Balancing Exploration and Authenticity

Empowering users to explore freely while preserving the authenticity of hyperlocal connections was a delicate balance. Features like remote content access risked undermining the app’s core mission of encouraging real-world interaction.

Approach

Conducted 3 rounds of user testing to find the ideal balance between exploration and location-based authenticity.
Designed an in-app exploration feature that opened new possibilities while applying thoughtful constraints to maintain mission integrity.
Implemented positive feedback systems to encourage users to explore their local area and expand their activities.

Magic Carpet

While all Echos remain hidden upon arrival to preserve authenticity, I introduced the Magic Carpet tickets — a purchasable feature allowing users to "fly" and explore distant Echoes. This not only maintained the hyperlocal connection’s authenticity but also provided a revenue stream for the company.

Magic Carpet

UX / Challenge 3 / AR Accessibility

Introducing AR to a Wider Audience

While AR was central to our vision, it remained unfamiliar and intimidating to many users. We needed to make AR features approachable, engaging, and accessible without overwhelming new users.

Approach

create storyboards and user journeys to imagine how user use AR practically.
Included tutorials and tooltips to introduce AR concepts gradually, making the learning process seamless.
Using familiar design elements from traditional social media to reduce the sense of alienation.

AR Tutorial

Simplified AR features were adopted incrementally during user testing, boosting user confidence and engagement. A tutorial for interacting with AR Echos was introduced immediately upon login. Descriptive instructions are also provided during echo creation.

selective screen from onboarding tutorial and echo creation to demonstrate optimization of AR

UI / Iterations / Design improvement by me

UI /Final design (selective)

UI / Style guide

Next Step

Engineering development of mvp design (expect beta in Jan 2025)
Store page with customizable item.
Achievement and reward system.

Reflection

Mindset Over Process:
While making abundant of iteration is important to trigger ideas, what's more important is the Design thinking. Early on, we focused heavily on visuals but quickly realized the importance of prioritizing user flows and functionality. By focusing on solving real problems, this allow us to approach design with empathy and creativity, aligning decisions with user needs and our mission.
Constraints Fuel Creativity
Startup environments lack predefined rules, but we turned this into an advantage by building our own constraints. These constraints, backed by theory and experience, guided discussions and decisions, preventing us from losing focus. Limitations sharpened our thinking and allowed us to make mission-driven, innovative choices.
Optimizing Design for Development
As a developer working on design, I ensured optimized Figma files reduced developer handoff time by 30%. We created an organized design system and UI component library, complete with padding and restrictions. By making all pages responsive, the app seamlessly adapts to any device size, enhancing development efficiency.

access to design file upon request

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