SafeHood

Project Overview

WHAT: SafeHood is a mobile app that helps users stay aware of local safety issues and make informed decisions about their daily routes and activities. It provides real-time incident alerts, community-reported safety data, and safe-route recommendations, making neighborhood safety accessible, actionable, and reliable.

WHY: Many people want to feel safe in their neighborhoods but often lack real-time, trustworthy information about local safety risks. Crime statistics are often inaccessible, outdated, or hard to interpret, leaving users anxious and unsure about their surroundings. SafeHood addresses this gap by giving users timely, actionable safety insights and empowering communities to share and verify information collaboratively.

HOW: SafeHood empowers users through:

• Real-Time Alerts: Community-reported incidents and official updates delivered instantly.

• Safety Maps: Visual representation of high-risk areas and safe routes.

• Community Engagement: Users can report incidents, verify alerts, and contribute tips.

• Gamified Contributions: Points and badges for reporting and verifying incidents encourage active participation.

Success metrics:

• Incident Awareness: 80% of users check at least one alert daily.

• Safe Route Adoption: 50% of daily trips use app-suggested routes.

• Community Participation: 40–50% of active users report or verify incidents.

• User Satisfaction: average rating of 4.5/5 on safety confidence and usability.

• Retention Rate: 60% of users remain active after 1 month.

Target Audience: SafeHood is designed for urban residents, college students, commuters, and parents who want to feel informed and confident about neighborhood safety.
Industry: CivicTech / SafetyTech
Timeline: 6 weeks (2023)
My Role: UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Notion, Google Maps API (simulated for prototype)

DESIGN PROCESS:

Empathize:
During research, I conducted interviews and surveys with urban residents, college students, parents, and delivery workers to understand their safety concerns and daily routines. I mapped pain points and emotional triggers—like anxiety about walking alone at night, confusion about local crime data, and mistrust of official reports—through personas and journey maps. This empathy-driven approach ensured that design decisions, from alert notifications to safe-route suggestions, directly addressed real user fears and needs.

Define:
Problem: Individuals want to feel safe in their neighborhoods but lack accessible, real-time, and trustworthy safety information.

Goal: Design an app that empowers users to stay informed and make safer choices through real-time alerts, interactive safety maps, and community-driven reporting.

Ideate:
Lo-Fi Wireframes:

Prototyping:
Since this is a high-fidelity prototype, Google Maps API was simulated using:

• Map screenshots as the background for relevant areas.

• Interactive overlays and pins for incidents and safe routes.

• Color-coded risk zones to indicate high- or low-risk areas.

• Animated lines and arrows to simulate safe-route navigation.

• Pop-ups and micro-interactions to show incident details or route steps.

This approach demonstrates realistic map functionality and user flows without writing backend code.

Hi-Fi Mockups:

Testing:
Participants: 6 (2 young professionals, 2 college students, 1 parent, 1 delivery driver)
Tasks:

• Check latest incidents in their area

• Plan a safe route home

• Report a safety concern

Findings:

• Users felt overwhelmed by too many notifications → implemented customizable alert filters

• Visual map clarity was essential → added color-coded risk indicators

• Users wanted recognition for contributions → added points and badges system

Challenges Faced and Reflection:
Designing SafeHood taught me that safety apps must provide reassurance without inducing anxiety. I realized that clear visuals, intuitive maps, and subtle notifications can guide behavior as much as functional features.

Challenges included balancing alert urgency with calm presentation, visualizing crime density without overwhelming users, and gamifying reporting without incentivizing false data. I overcame these by iterating on map designs, user flows, and contribution rewards, conducting multiple usability tests, and simplifying dashboards to highlight critical information first.

Most importantly, balancing user emotional needs with technical feasibility strengthened my strategic UX thinking, teaching me to design experiences that are both impactful and trustworthy for real-world use.