UZoom Interactive Video Chat

UZoom is a video marketplace where users can request live video from local guides all around the world.

Overview

UZoom allows users to request a live video stream from another user anywhere in the world. With UZoom, users can experience sold-out sports events, tropical destination, and neighborhood tours. The two users can talk, message, and give gesture-based instructions (arrows, focus-boxes, etc.) The person requesting the video pays for the other user’s time and both users rate each other for the experience.

UZoom was already available as an iOS application. I was tasked with quickly designing the Android application and contributing to new features on iOS.

TEAM

UX/UI Designer - Mia Donnell
Chief Experience Officer - Mindy Nies
Product Manager - Suja Vaidyanathan

Tools Used

Illustrator
Sketch

The home screen on the Android application.

Process

I began my process by creating the core screens for Android based on the pre-existing iOS App.

Android and iOS have some key differences in both interaction and layout, and some of the major changes included restructuring the navigation and utilizing Google Material's Cards component to organize content.

My design process was as follows:

Research iOS and Android crossover apps - I looked at other applications that had iOS and Android apps such as Lyft, Uber, Instagram, and YouTube
Create wireframs with different variations for the core screens
Present wireframes and flows to Experience Officer and Product Manager
Create high fidelity mockups and present to Experience Officer and Product Manager
Once approved save developer-ready files for overseas development

One of my favorite games to play when exploring various screen layouts is called “Crazy Eights”. I fold a piece of paper into eight sections and challenge myself to come up with eight different layouts or scenarios. Below is an example of how I used… — One of my favorite games to play when exploring various screen layouts is called “Crazy Eights”. I fold a piece of paper into eight sections and challenge myself to come up with eight different layouts or scenarios. Below is an example of how I used this game to explore various navigation options for UZoom.

Variations on the navigation for Android.

Android Menu Design

I created variations for the menu design based on common patterns for Android. At this time the hamburger menu was the most used pattern and that is what the team and I decided to go with. This was because one, the menu was quite extensive and two, most of the actions that take place in the app are on the “Where To” screen and the other menu items did not need as much emphasis.

Showing the iOS navigation and final Android navigation side-by-side.

A map that I created of the Android experience.

Communication And Gesture-Based Commands

One of the most interesting aspects of the app is the video call. The video call features had already been defined, and I worked with the Experience Officer to create the UX/UI for the interactions on both iOS and Android.

Talking - Users can mute/unmute their microphone depending on their preference for voice communication.
Messaging - Users can type a message which shows up as an overlay on the video for a determinate amount of time.
Gestures - The user who requested the video can swipe up, left, right, or tap on a point of interest to show a gesture overlay. These overlays tell the user taking the video where to go.

Users can talk, message, and use gesture commands to tell the local guide where to go and what they want to see.

RETROSPECTIVE

I believe that the designs for Android were successful and most importantly met the deadline for delivery to the overseas developers. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project because of its unique interaction and gesture-based challenges.