Persona
Persona allows users to intuitively understand their image in the
algorithms of various Internet platforms.
The purpose of this App is to awaken people’s awareness of their
own information protection.
Convenience consumerism
Convenient online consumption has become a shopping habit for many people and has created a lot of distress: spending a lot of time browsing for goods, making impulse purchases, and paying for services they don’t need.
How it happened
There are many complex reasons for this phenomenon, but a major factor lies in the mass adoption of recommendation algorithms. By analyzing user data, the recommendation algorithm can recommend related products to each customer. These suggestions have a considerable impact on consumers’ choices. Recommendation systems may leave us questioning our own taste. We move from asking ourselves, “Do I like this?” to asking, “Should I like this?”
Interview / Quesitionare
Based on the previous survey results, I created a simple questionnaire that tried to reach some users with long-term online shopping habits and conducted remote interviews to gain a deeper understanding of these users’ thoughts and experiences during online shopping.
First Idea
HMW create a service that helps users to fight against bad consumption habits and save money?
Hey! Wait!
Although the first idea is in line with the needs and expectations of the user when I presented the research and ideas to my classmates and tutors, I received very important feedback: there are many similar tools to help users build habits but can not real solve the problem, so why not try to awaken people’s cognition of this phenomenon?
Second Idea
HMW create a mirror that reveals what the algorithm knows about their personal information?
How to reveal
The key point that people do not realize the seriousness of the recommendation algorithm problem is that it is invisible. Therefore, by revealing the process of how the algorithm generates user portraits (collecting information to classify users), users can be alerted.
I got inspiration from the process of making Persona — we conduct research on users, collect information, and make a Persona corresponding to the user. This process is very similar to what the algorithm does quietly behind the screen.
We can use an algorithm or AI to identify and collect user data to create a user portrait — the only difference is that this process will be visually displayed in front of the user, and users will see their own Persona.
Accounting
Users enter their shopping and activity information
In the process, you can gradually establish accounting habits
Algorithm
App generates user portraits based on the information
and display it to form sharp warnings
Portrait
Users view their own portrait and the formation process to understand how their data are used by algorithm and why the algorithm know what you like
Sketch / Wireframe
I drew the sketch directly on paper because the function is not complicated, so only have 3 key pages. I simply set the structure of the App and the functions of different sections of each page.
Visual style
I made 2 styles of high-fidelity pages. At the beginning, the style I made was like an old report, but then I thought that the app needs to remind users of the risk of data being used by Internet companies, so I made a dark-web style.
It is hard to choose so In the end I made 2 versions. I think it is better to leave the choice to users, they can change the style in setting. (The default is style 1, consider the style 2 can be used as night mode )
Outcome
Demo