Mobile App Design
Enhancing Women's Safety with Instant Emergency Response
HerAlert is a mobile safety app designed to provide quick and reliable emergency assistance for women in risky situations. By simplifying access to help through a one-tap emergency button, HerAlert empowers women to act fast and feel secure in moments of distress.
| Team
Brian
Cynthia
Derrick
Saqeef
| Timeline
Mar - Jun 2024
| My Role
Lead UX Designer,
Interaction Designer,
UX Researcher
| Tools
Figma,
Overview
Safety Shouldn't Be Complicated
For women, walking alone or traveling in unfamiliar areas can be a source of anxiety. In moments of distress, accessing help should be instant and effortless. However, many existing safety apps are too slow or complicated, making it difficult to get immediate assistance when it matters most.
SOLUTION & MVP
Rapid Safety, When It Matters Most
In moments of distress, getting help should be instant. HerAlert provides a one-tap emergency response, real-time location sharing, and a secure but fast-access system, ensuring women can act quickly and feel safe anytime, anywhere.
One-Tap Emergency Alert
Immediate contact with emergency services
Community Safety Forum
A space to share safety advice and experiences
Live Location Sharing
Sends real-time updates to trusted contacts.
Emergency Resource Hub
Guides on handling different crisis situations
Empathize
Identifying user needs and challenges
User Persona
Based on our research findings, we have prioritized women who frequently commute alone or find themselves in vulnerable situations as our primary user group, focusing on their need for quick access to safety resources and emergency support.
HOW MIGHT WE LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE PERSONAL SAFETY TOOLS MORE INTUITIVE AND EFFECTIVE FOR EVERYDAY USE?
Define
What do women need to feel safe in vulnerable situations?
Secondary Research
To validate our approach, we examined studies on women's safety concerns
The data highlights how abuse is often multi-faceted, with many victims experiencing more than one type of violence, reinforcing the need for comprehensive safety tools and intervention strategies.
Regardless of race or ethnicity, women feel significantly more unsafe at night while waiting at public transport stops or stations. The data shows a consistent trend across all racial groups, reinforcing that nighttime vulnerability is a universal concern.
Reddit discussions confirm women's deep safety concerns, highlighting fears of harassment, trafficking, and abduction. Many take extra precautions, yet feel their concerns aren’t taken seriously
Ideate
Creating Safety Solutions for Women in Risky Situations
Storyboard
I created a storyboard to illustrate a real-world scenario where a woman feels unsafe and needs immediate assistance. This helped visualize how our app could provide quick access to emergency support.
Information Architecture
I structured the information architecture to ensure a rapid user flow
Prototype
Transforming ideas into tangible user experiences
Sketches
After defining our research, MVPs, and flow, my team created sketches
Usability Testing
We tested the prototype with four target users to assess its usability and overall experience.
❌ User mentioned how having a lockscreen can be detrimental.
❌ The user thought that tapping the emergency hotlines button would make the call and wouldn’t have thought to go to another screen
❌ The user finds the “tap to see more“ confusing at the emergency screen.
✅ The user appreciated the community support aspect compared to social media platforms.
Implementing Feedback
Added a left arrow for having a sliding animation to make a call
Positive Feedbacks
Pain Points
We changed the authenticity factor from having a lockscreen to a face authenticator
Change “Tap to read more” to “View Emergency Info”
High Fidelity
Reflection
Enhancing the User Experience
What I learned
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I learned that when users are in distress, every second matters. The simpler and more frictionless an interface is, the more effective it becomes.
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Usability testing showed me that what makes sense to a designer may not make sense to users. Real-world feedback helped me refine and simplify key interactions.
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HerAlert reinforced that the best designs are invisible—when users can act without thinking, that’s when UX succeeds.
Future Iteration
The next step in improving HerAlert is understanding how emergency responders and trusted contacts interact with safety tools. Identifying what drives quick responses and what obstacles exist will help refine the app’s effectiveness. Future iterations could introduce features like audio/video capture for evidence, a fake call function for discreet exits, and AI-powered safety alerts to enhance real-time protection.