Opky is a concept proposal drafted for 460degrees’ Melbourne Wallet idea in association with Swinburne University of Technology Smart Cities Research Institute. The project was part of my capstone unit at Swinburne University and involved working in a team of 3. The team explored both physical and digital ways on how to implement a Melbourne Wallet which ties in a digital wallet and self-sovereign identity solution.
An initial survey and semi-structured interviews indicated 57% of the participants had not used a digital wallet, 33% of which said they did not think it was secure enough. However, participants expressed wanting more control over their digital identity and agreed that it would make them feel more secure knowing who has a record. This shows that there is a need for a digital wallet product that integrates self-sovereign identity capabilities.
The design phase involved the following stages; sketching, low-fidelity, medium-fidelity, and high-fidelity prototypes. At each stage, an evaluation or user testing was undertaken to further refine the design before presenting the preferred solution to the client.
The team explored many different concepts on how the expectations and requirements could be developed into a product. A fingerprint scanning token design was chosen for its high feasibility, convenience and security with fingerprints being unique to each person. It would also provide the most convenient customer experience for its ability to act as a handheld digital wallet offering familiar interactions to users that did not require any changes to infrastructure. Then, facial recognition would serve as an extra layer of security for more privacy-sensitive scenarios such as transactions with the health, government and banking sectors.
A lab usability testing session utilising the token was conducted with 3 users with the following tasks:
Due to technology, time limitations and the focus on replicating the product’s planned form and size, it was not possible to create a high fidelity prototype with lights or vibration as a feedback system. As a compromise, the Wizard of Oz technique was applied during the user testing sessions;
The purpose of the mobile app is to allow users to personalise settings for Opky, grant default permissions, manage payment options, keep track of purchases and data access, and add additional information to Opky. As the users include all ages, the design of the app has been carefully considered and includes interface metaphors, interaction widgets and user experience elements.
In addition to the mobile app, a prototype of the user interface which would be used at places such as government services, medical institutions, educational institutions and banking firms. For testing purposes, the prototype used claiming a payment benefit at Medicare as an example. The prototype includes the process of how a user would select credentials to grant, connecting their Opky, and confirming their identity through iris recognition. The design of the interface is very minimal to ensure users are not distracted when they are sharing sensitive information.
Ideally the team would have liked to undertake further user testing on the apps and refine the design further, however, due to time constraints and focus on the physical product, this was not possible.