OPTi: Personal Data In Hand
Design Experiment / User Research / Hardware Prototyping / UX Design
Solo Project / 2019 / 8 Weeks
Personal data sharing process is described as an action through “digital windows”. Companies are trying to peer through our windows to observe every move on purpose. But shutting the windows may on the other hand block potential fresh air of benefits. The solution may be to provide individuals with control over which windows are open, how wide, for how long and for what purpose.
A better ecosystem should be built by collective advance in policy, safeguard technology and people’s awareness. GDPR has pushed forward the trend of returning the power over personal data to individuals. However, how many of us bother to read through even one privacy policy and get alerted all the time? From a design point of view, there are opportunities to rethink how people interact with their personal data, being truly empowered and prepared for the future of the mass data economy.
Experiment: Luzo Bank
LUZO Bank issues a special card. Every time before you pay in a store, it tells you what personal data the company is collecting (or ask to collect) from you, where it gets the data and whether they’re sharing your data with others. You can switch data sharing on and off. In turn, you will get a discount from the store according to your choice…
Key Insights
People are more likely to give out their data if they understand the purpose. People are more likely to give out their data if they understand it will be used in a de-identifiable and anonymous way.
02 Visualization and interactive behaviour help develop a sense of control
If people are given the chance to actually DO the choosing(physical interaction), they feel more confident that they are in control of their data, compared to clicking “agree” without reading the privacy policies. They may even trust the company more.
03 People have different choices for similar data in different situations, requiring granular control
People have a different understanding of their personal data even within one type of data(e.g. interest), they may only want to share some of it, not others. A general description may cause confusion.
04 People still cannot understand the conversion of data and money value
Questionnaire
Key Insights
01 Wide concern about sharing data
People consider purchase data important mostly because it reveals their income and interest. They believe companies should demonstrate the purpose of collecting their data. “My interest, my income…and even whereabouts of me!”
02 Willingness to eliminate certain consumption data
More than 60% report they want to erase some purchase data used for profiling. “…when I buy something really private.”
03 The willingness to share data varies according to the purpose
People report different degrees of willingness when they are asked to share their purchase data for a different purpose.
04 People are not satisfied with the state-of-art targeted recommendations
People are aware that the current recommendation according to their purchase data is not accurate for multiple reasons.
Different Attitudes Towards Data Sharing
Secondary Research
Design Object
Empower customers with granular data control by simple interaction language and help retailers build a healthy data-driven business.
Ideation
Introducing OPTi
Designed with an understanding of how “informed decision” could influence people’s sense of control and trust in the companies, OPTi aims at creating more meaningful and efficient interaction with customers’ data.
OPTi Payment Terminal
OPTi Payment Terminal provides a universal interface for the companies that opt in OPTi Solution to communicate their data requests and options to their customers by the friendly and iconic visual language. After configure generally their data sharing settings, the customers get visual feedback on how their data is being collected and used, and are able to granularly control their data sharing settings for individual purchases.
OPTi App
OPTi App is consumers’ portal for managing their personal and behavioural data generated from purchases with the companies that opt in OPTi Solution. Designed with the same visual language, OPTi App enables the user to configure their data sharing settings. The user can access and manage the integrated purchase data clustered by location, time, purchase categories, etc. Through the App, companies can ask the user to license their integrated data to better provide customized services.
