LG Mobile Ecosystem Design Research
I worked as a UX researcher in a group of 10, conducted quantitative user research on millennials’ mobile phone usage and living habits. Project funded by LG Electronics, US.
Scope
UX Research, User Mapping, Data Visualization, Storytelling, Rapid Prototyping
Team
Ava Chun, David Haff, Jack Murphy, Keiza Samosir, Kristine Yang, Meichen Wei, Mikayla Bacani, Monica Huh
Duration
5 months
Overview
Process
Limitations
Tools
Quantitative Research, Adobe Creative Suite, Solidworks
As a researcher for LG Electronics, I conducted surveys to identify the latest technological trends, wants, and needs of millennial users. I developed concepts for mobile accessories tailored to various living scenarios, gaining valuable insights into how digital technology is transforming product design. Through collaboration with designers and engineers, I generated innovative concepts based on comprehensive survey data and analytical skills. My work contributed to LG Electronics' success and helped the company remain at the forefront of product innovation.
Time, Stakeholders, Capacity of Teams, Business Budget
Outcomes
Allocated 6 user scenarios of millennial mobile users and translated research findings into 29 storyboards and hi-fi mockups.
Research Background
OVERVIEW
According to a recent study by Experian, mobile usage is 14% higher for millennials than older consumer groups. They spend a lot of time texting and checking their social media profiles, as well as interacting with mobile apps.
For this project, we want to investigate millennial mobile usage, how technology is coordinated in their day in the life, and define future trends of mobile accessories based on our user research.
Kickoff
With the rising competition among competitors, LG was seeking potential opportunities to create an ecosystem between devices and enhance its user experience to another level. We were tasked to scrutinize millennial users’ mobile usage and living habits, especially focusing on college students, allocating their needs and wants holistically, and coming up with design proposals for future product development.
Before delving right into user research, we mapped out the project scope and research flow to give ourselves a better sense of direction:
Define user demographics
Scenario documentation
Emerging trends + user needs and wants
Forecast future trend
New concept ideations
What’s in Your Bag?
The first thing to do is to get to know the users through data. To better understand user habits and living rituals, we surveyed 40 college students to see what millennials bring with them on daily basis. From our observation, the most common items are the followings:
Laptop
Phone
Chargers
Notebook
Water bottles
Wallet
Keys
USER RESEARCH #1
To have a thorough understanding of millennial mobile users, our next step is to look into their phone usage. We first looked into 20 individuals’ photo albums with their consent, in order to examine their general interests and motives to use phone cameras.
USER RESEARCH #2
We also asked if we could take a look at the storage memory on their phones to analyze millennials’ phone memory allocation. Based on our findings, we found that the total storage capacity left on their phones has a median of 32 GB. The data also shows that photos take up the most storage space.
What’s on Your Phone?
From the research, we found that the majority uses phone cameras to document their lives with family and friends. Some suggested that given it is a built-in camera on a mobile phone, they wouldn’t expect to take a pixel-perfect photo, but it could be a bonus if a phone could simulate the quality of a DSLR. To our surprise, we also noticed that it is common for millennials to have more than 10k photos in their albums.
User photo album screenshots are blurred for privacy and confidentiality
Collected Data Analysis #1
USER SURVEY-JOB TRENDS
Moving forward, we conducted a series of user surveys to have an in-depth understanding of millennial job trends, day-to-day routines, and personal preferences of their mobile usage.
We first interviewed 26 individuals about their current jobs and what their working routines are like. While 18 of them are currently still in school, almost 70% of them heavily rely on computers/laptops for everyday work despite working on-site or home setting; some also have devices provided by the companies.
Collected Data Analysis #2
USER SURVEY-LIVING TRENDS
After having a better grasp of the current job trend, we also investigated millennials’ living situations; pinpointing some of their pain points and desires.
Among 26 individuals, more than 70% have 2 roommates or more, and most of them still prefer to have ownership of their personal tech devices. However, 72% of the individuals share kitchen supplies with their roommates and families, which seems to be a common and acceptable norm. The biggest problem of sharing space is cleaning, as nearly 40% of respondents reported it in the survey.
As for leisure and entertainment, they value quality time outside of work. The range of activities includes dining out, grabbing drinks, or long-term plans like traveling. Amazon Prime is the most popular subscription with 15 out of 26 individuals subscribing to it.
USER SURVEY-ACCESSORIES TRENDS
Collected Data Analysis #3
We also wanted to know our stakeholders’ preferences on their mobile accessories and the style of their devices. We surveyed 50 individuals this time and 98% of the responses indicate that they prefer a subtle presence of their devices. Furthermore, the data shows that more than 80% of this sample population has music listening devices, either earbuds (wireless or not) or headphones. 70% of users also mentioned that they bring chargers with them when they go out.
USER SURVEY-APP USAGE
Collected Data Analysis #4
Our data shows that the average amount of apps on daily use is no more than 7. Cloud storage is also not a trend among the millennial user group, and Google map is the most popular navigation app compared to others.
Observation Breakdown
USER NEEDS & WANTS
Based on our data from quantitative research and user survey, we took a deep dive and analyzed the most popular tech devices and accessories among millennial users, as well as broke down their living situations to pinpoint their desires and frustrations. These insights are valuable for us to map out user scenarios later on in this research process.
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Phone:
Walking, biking, class, working out, commuting
Laptop:
Class, cafe, work, home
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Phone:
Communication, alarm clock, photography, banking, entertainment, social media
Laptop:
mail, work, banking, entertainment, social media, communication
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Phone:
Earbuds, headphones (wire & wireless), chargers, USB cords, tablets, portable chargers
Laptop:
Headphones, chargers, sleeve/bag, hard drive, mouse, flash drive, portable speakers, tablets
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Leisure:
Eating/drinking out, watching shows & movies, exercising, resting
Living goals:
Living alone, having fewer roommates, traveling
USER MAPPING
Design Scenarios
After holistic research on millennial mobile usage and day-to-day life, we identified 6 living scenarios to explore different design opportunities for mobile accessories. From there, we came up and proposed potential opportunities with 29 storyboards and hi-fi 3D mockups to the LG design team.
*Due to the NDA, I have omitted confidential information in this design proposal. Here are some final storyboards with quick 3D mockups and user scenarios. All information in this proposal is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of LG.
SCENARIO #1
Living & Home Space
SCENARIO #2
Fitness & Commute
SCENARIO #3
Work & School
SCENARIO #4
Camera & Entertainment
SCENARIO #5
Social
SCENARIO #6
Travel
Embrace ambiguity
As an Industrial Design veteran, my mantra was all about making stuff. However, instead of diving straight into the prototyping process, I learned to be patient and break down research questions this time. Our most valuable insights came from cafe-hopping interviewing users and whiteboarding. The specifics of the flow started piecing together as we used data to back up our design proposals.
Have lots of fun
I ended up bonding a lot with my team, which is something I did not expect from a freelance job. I had a lot of fun working in such a big group and have made some precious friendships along the way. This project was my first attempt as a UX researcher and I loved the opportunity to participate in an early research cycle and put the user’s voice first. It has changed my perspectives on design and has been the value I’ve carried with me since then, which further inspired me to create human-centric design in the creative field.
Intro to UX Research
THOUGHTS & RETROSPECTIVE
Special Thanks
LG Electronics Design Team
Pratt Institute, School of Design
Dana D’amico, Visiting Assistant Professor, Industrial Design+UX Research
