Sunnies: A Case Study

4 min readJan 15, 2020

A comprehensive weather app that shows what kind of skin protection the user needed throughout the day based on their Fitzpatrick Skin Type.

Brief

Problem: Aside from general weather information such as temperature, wind, and humidity, existing weather app also informs UV Index of the area, but does not emphasise or inform the user on its effect. User need a way to find clear and comprehensive information about the UV Index, how strong it is, and what type of skin protection is needed during various UV Index based on their respective Fitzpatrick’s skin type.

Proposed Solution: Creating a weather app based on a person’s Fitzpatrick skin type to determine what kind of skin protection user need throughout the day. The interface will be obvious, coloured according to the weather, and simple to use, thereby accessible for user of all age.

Process

I used Challenge-Based Learning as a research method for Sunnies. I made guiding questions related to weather, UV Index, skin types, and skin protection. Once I categorised and prioritised those questions, I used online databases, journals, qualitative, and quantitative analysis to answer those guiding questions. After all of the guiding questions are answered, I used the conclusion to create a synthesis that brings me to my solution.

Then, I did Low to High Fidelity Prototyping and User Testing to test flow of the app. Insights and suggestions from users were noted for subsequent iterations until the desired UX and UI design was achieved.

Lastly, I code a part of the app where it shows the UV Index (data taken from Health App in the iOS) in correlation with the protection measures (“you might consider using…” as a part of presentation to my mentors.

Challenge Based Learning

— Quantitative Research Goals

Discover if user know their respective Fitzpatrick skin type
Discover if user use skin protection daily and why they do / don’t
Discover what feature does user want in a weather forecasting app
Discover which app the user currently use and why

— Results

91% of users does not know their respective Fitzpatrick skin type
63% of users does not use any skin protection on a daily basis
45% of users want to have a feature that shows what kind of protection at what UV Index
83% of users user use default weather app in their smartphone

— Competitive Analysis: SWOT

Synthesis of Findings

Through a series of questions, a person’s Fitzpatrick Skin Type can be determined to analyse their sunburn “ability” and the amount of skin protection needed at different UV Index throughout the day. Knowing how many minutes until sunburn create a sense of urgency to use skin protection during High or Extreme UV Index.

Therefore, I created a weather app that is personalised to the user’s Fitzpatrick skin type that shows:

a) UV Index

b) Minutes until sunburn

c) Suggested skin protection.

Prototyping & User Testing

These iterations focused on the main features: ability to see UV Index, “Minutes to Sunburn”, and the suggested protective measures in case of Moderate to Extreme UV Index.