O-KAM Pro
An app redesigned for the Chinese security camera brand “Rraycom“ for the 300,000 customers in the U.S.
#Industry Project #Team Project #Cultural Difference #Localization
Under the tide of globalization, VStarcam, located in Shenzhen, China, is an enterprise venturing into the overseas e-commerce market and seeking brand enhancement. The company’s security camera brand “Rraycom“ connects with an app named “O-KAM Pro“ and now wants to enhance its user experience to seek a larger overseas market.
Designers play an important role in this plan. Within a 9-week timeframe, a group of 6 interns redesigned the app, and tailored it to the 300,000 users in the U.S.
Roles
I led a team of 3 designing “main pages”, with the process of user research, ideation, prototyping and usability test. Specifically redesigned the Homepage and Livestream pages.
Problems
It’s challenging for security camera customers in the U.S. to use the app directly translated from its Chinese version.
Techniques
Secondary Research, Competitive Analysis, Questionaires, User Interview, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Test
Objective
An app redesigned for the security camera users in the U.S. to have a more flattening structure and simple visual style.
As for the workflow, we conducted the user research and defined the strategies together, then broke into two design teams for “Main Pages” and “Other Pages”. I’m the leader of the “Main Pages”.
“Main Pages“ Design Team
01 Context
Localization of product design is challenging for users of different nationalities and language habits.
Unlike professional security systems that require a monitoring service, self-monitoring cameras allow users to monitor their own spaces through connected apps.
In the U.S., they are commonly used in homes and small businesses for real-time alerts, motion detection and remote control. Users receive notifications directly on their smartphones, check live feeds, store footage in the cloud without third-party involvement.
Professional CCTV monitoring
Self-monitoring
By the end of 2027, 18 million homes in the United States will have self-monitoring security systems, which is a positively growing market.
However, the mobile app usability poses a challenge for Chinese companies seeking for more U.S. customers.
02 Primary Research
Questionnaire + Phone Interviews : The current app doesn’t perform well for U.S. customers’ emotional needs due to the poor usability.
To better understand our customers, we designed the questionnaire together and sent them to 100+ U.S. customers through a link in text messages. The phone numbers were provided by the customer service manager from VStarcam.
20+ responses were collected after one week,
7 agreed to have a phone interview for further inquiries,
After analyzing the replies, we listed some important data as below：
We learned from the primary research that:
Most customers monitor not only their properties, but also their kids, pets and the elderly through our products, there are emotional needs beyond monitoring;
U.S. customers feel the current app is confusing with too many entries on each page. They spend more time navigating what they need;
Among the overloaded information, U.S. customers would like to prioritize the camera’s vision & related info upon launch, which is the thing they mostly care about.
03 Secondary Research
Cross-Cultural Research : Direct translation from the original Chinese version causes information overload for U.S. users.
Realizing that we are designing for U.S. customers and we all grow up in the Chinese social environment, I proposed to do a cross-cultural research on app design between China and U.S.
I mainly referred to the article and summarized key points as following:
“Why are Western apps more minimalistic than Asian apps?“ by Bas Wallet, posted on Medium on Nov 12, 2023, one month before our project.
And summarized key findings in a comparative way :
Competitive Analysis
Keeping the cultural difference in mind, we continued analyzing the app platforms of the competitive products, through Apple Store, Google Play and other online app stores :
We concluded that in terms of the camera app design, U.S. customers prefer :
Flattening information structure : help easily navigate and make an intuitive user flow;
Clear visual hierarchy : has better usability with one focus section on each page;
Real-time features : like two-way communication and customizable buttons for remote control are necessary;
but dislike :
interfaces with a fair proportion of each section, too many entries and no focus.
These findings reinforced our cross-cultural research insights.
05 Define
Problem Statement
🧶1. U.S. customers struggle with the intense information and weak visual hierarchy on the Chinese app interface ;
🧶2. U.S. customers’ emotional needs beyond security monitoring are not given much attention to in the experience design.
Design Strategies
🚀 1. Make U.S. customers master the app intuitively through redesigning the app’s visual hierarchy, especially the frequently used interfaces, such as Homepage, Livestream and Messages;
🚀 2. Improve U.S. customers’ stickiness with our product through highlighting interactive features to make it a medium for emotional connections.
06 Design & Iteration
Information Architecture
At the beginning of design stage, we drew the overall information architecture as below. Then we broke into two teams to design the prototypes.
Because I led the cross-cultural research and proposed some drafts to the project manager, who approved my concepts, I took on the role of leading the design of “Main Pages“, the most frequently used interfaces.
Current Version
Ideation
Within the design team, we met weekly to iterate our low-fi wireframes for three times. Here I mainly show iteration details of my design :
08 Prototyping
After using the design system from Rraycom’s software department, we finished the hi-fi prototype in a consistent visual style. Here are more details of my design part :
Homepage & Livestream
Overview of All Prototypes
