Danger was rare. Feeling unsafe wasn't. We designed for those moments in between.
My Role
Design & Research
Collaborators
Iris Cai, Laura Pedrosa, Patricia Yu
Problem Space
Most safety solutions are designed around emergencies. You're either safe, or you need immediate help.
In response to the rise in anti-AAPI harassment during COVID-19, we researched how women experienced safety while commuting alone. We found that actual danger was uncommon, but feelings of unease were frequent. Participants described situations where something felt off, but not serious enough to call 911 or alert bystanders. They lacked a way to communicate concern without triggering a full emergency response.
Solution
For our semester project, we designed Commutable, a commuting safety app that helps women stay connected with trusted contacts during solo commutes. Through scheduled check-ins, users can share whether they feel safe, uneasy, or unsafe throughout their journey. These updates give trusted contacts visibility into a user's location, destination, and changing sense of safety, making it easier to follow a commute and offer support without requiring users to repeatedly check in or escalate concerns before they're ready.
Key Insights
from Research
We conducted surveys, diary studies, and Instagram polls with women who regularly commuted alone in large cities. We found that participants wanted a way to communicate concerns before a situation became an emergency. Many described manually checking in with friends or family, but these interactions relied on remembering to send a message and often lacked context about their exact location or destination.
User Testing
Check-in Alerts
We tested three safety check-in methods: lock-screen notifications, interruptive pop-ups, and a button-combination shortcut. Participants overwhelmingly preferred lock-screen notifications because they offered quick interaction without disrupting their commute. Since most participants were commuting while tired or distracted, they wanted seamless safety features that didn't add cognitive load or extra steps to remember. Conversely, the shortcut was hard to recall under stress, and pop-up alerts felt overly intrusive for non-emergency scenarios.
Refining
User testing validated our check-in system, where users could opt into reminders throughout a commute. Participants felt the experience reflected how feelings of safety can fluctuate over time and appreciated having opportunities to provide updates without needing to remember on their own.
Testing also uncovered an opportunity to improve the flow. Participants wanted an explicit "I'm safe" option so they could reassure their support network after previously reporting a concern. We added this response to the check-in model and explored automatic commute detection to reduce the need for manual trip tracking.
Solution Adoption
As we explored potential solutions, we found that long-term adoption would be difficult if users had to actively remember to open a dedicated safety app before every commute. To address this, we explored how the experience could connect with tools people already rely on, such as navigation and workplace messaging platforms. This allowed us to think beyond the app itself and consider how safety check-ins could fit naturally into existing commuting behaviors.
