Unlocking the future with IOT Real estate
SALTO Case Study
COMPANY
Block.a
ROLE
Cognitive Researcher, Usability Tester
EXPERTISE
Psychology Research
YEAR
2023
Project Description
Block.a, a tech startup in the real-estate landscape aimed to revolutionize apartment hunting and listing processes worldwide by introducing the world's first wide-spread self-touring IOT solution. But the company was struggling dealing with disgruntled users who failed an ostensibly easy task of unlocking a SALTO smart lock using the phone. As head of customer support I dedicated my personal time and my academic resources to investigate the source.
Challenges
How do we translate a spontaneous phenomenon spread across NYC into a lab setting to perform usability tests.
Background
Users look for vacant apartments using the dedicated app. They show up and must use their phone to unlock the apparatus. Then they must turn it. The phone has concise instructions with a short animation and even a fail-safe video tutorial. Somehow issues were still very prevalent.
Process
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including research, planning, testing, statistical analysis and deduction phases.
This project was a solo endeavor with the support of a Ph.D mentor and a faculty advisor.
Research & Planning
Deep dive into cognitive sciences literature to better familiarize myself with problem solving challenges. With help from faculty advisors we created an experiment using a mounted door demo.
Experiment
Convenience sample of college students. They were timed on a task and observed for errors. Meta-cognition (PSI) survey administered to test for thinking attitudes and their influences on completion time.
Analysis
Statistical analysis using excel. Data visualization and pattern analysis using JASP.
Results
The experiment's results did not support the hypothesis. That can be chalked up to a myriad of confounding variables hard to control for. But we did not come out empty handed. A unique phenomenon was observed - a small portion of users were significantly worse at solving the problem than anyone else by a wide margin.
A follow-up experiment, should one take place, would investigate specifically those 'slow solvers' to gain more meaningful insight as to why some people struggle with the device. Considering the evidence, it is worth investigating under the assumption that the same type of users, or whichever circumstances they specifically encountered, can be generalized to reach real-life conjectures on why people failed to use the apparatus.
The research was submitted for review by a panel and was approved for presentation at 2023's annual Psychology Honors Research Conference.
