KaiOS
SMART FEATURE PHONE
| 2017-2021 UI / Prototyping / Data Analysis
Internet for everyone. The best of smartphones with affordable devices.
My contribution to this project are UI design, data analysis, and creating prototypes in UX and UI mockups to help convey interaction and design ideas.
Devices More People Can Afford.
KaiOS makes the internet accessible through light and affordable mobile technology. Our platform brings 4G/3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, apps, and other advanced features to phones that are affordable and easy to use.
We already enabling over 160 million phones worldwide. KaiOS exists to empower people around the world through technology and enables the first-time internet users to transform and build a better tomorrow together.
AWARDS
Meet the Apps.
WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, and 1200+ other apps available on the KaiStore. Users can find out what’s trending on the other side of the world. Know what friends and celebrities are up to.
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Color Palette
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Interface Design
Internet Speed
In many emerging countries, the internet speed is not ideal, so I designed an interesting dynamic loading page to let users know what's in KaiStore while waiting.
Small Screen with Plentiful Content.
Although the screen of the feature phone is not large, the problem is improved through design, changing the soft key to floating buttons and properly using the layout, so that 11-13 items can be seen in the first page.
More Browsing, More Usage Time.
Adding the "YOU MAY ALSO LIKE" feature in the bottom of the detail page to make it easier for users to browse related apps, and increase the usage time and click rate.
Editor's Choice
In addition to placing advertisements to increase revenue, promotional banners can also provide users with selected apps, so that users can enjoy the fun of the KaiStore more.
Simple Mode
Make It Easier.
In the research, we found that first-time users often press the wrong key on the home page. For example, users would press the Left Soft Key to launch a Shortcut Apps but trigger the Notices, which confuses them. Or users don't know how to get started because no object is focused in the home page.
Intuitive Interface
There are too many keys to be memorized, which is not friendly to first-time users, so I designed a simple mode for easy use. In terms of navigation, I use those that are close to people’s established impressions. The arrow keys only have up, down, left and right functions.
In terms of cards, all apps are sorted into each category. Each card also has a clear icon and description, which is friendly for users who are not familiar with mobile phones.
Weather
Just One Minute.
Checking the weather on our phones only takes a minute — or at least that’s what it should take — which is why the weather app designers need to focus on presenting weather forecasts as clearly as possible. Users should be able to glance at their app and instantly get the information they need.
Designing consistent, friendly, and concise weather icons is a part of that. I’ll share how these results can be achieved based on my own experience designing weather icons for a KaiOS weather app.
Consistent
It helps to create a complete optical grid system before designing an icon set. The optical grid helps maintain the unity of the icons and make sizes and spacing consistent.
Define the Basic Elements.
From these basic elements, I can derive combinations to present diverse weather conditions. This results in efficient production as well as a consistent design style.
Gentle Colors
I use those that are close to people’s established impressions. For the weather icons, I used yellow to represent the sun and lightning, blue for clouds and water, and light green for wind. I also used a color overlap effect to make the icons more stylish and visually appealing.
Concise
I used basic geometric shapes, simplified them, and used as few components as possible. Rather than using complex color effects, I filled the icons with solid colors to make them more recognizable regardless of their size.
Less Isn’t Boring — It’s Powerful.
Below, you can see how these icons look in the actual layout, which includes a location, a one-word summary of weather conditions, the temperature, and a forecast for the day.
The icons are recognizable in all sizes and that users can quickly get information about the weather at a glance.
System
Instant Settings
Instant settings is a key function that users use every day. Through research, it is found that users often confuse the focused state with the turn on state in the old version.
Therefore, I optimized the user experience and reordered each feature based on frequency of use. In addition, a visual cue of the progress bar has been added to make it clear to the user how to adjust the volume and brightness.
Media Apps
Music
Music is one of the most frequently used apps. According to the data, KaiOS users spend 30-40 minutes a day using it, so a friendly interface is indispensable.
On the landing page, we help users select the most frequently played music, so that users can quickly start enjoying music, and users can simply switch between the currently playing track and the library by the left floating button.
Album Art Design
FM Radio
In emerging countries, users are very concerned about the cost of data. With FM Radio, they can enjoy music and shows more easily, which reduces the cost of living.
After the automatic channel scan is over, users can add favorite channels on the landing page to facilitate channel switching. Even better, users can use the recording feature to record their favorite channels to listen again later.
Camera
The camera is one of the key features of a mobile phone and its convenience and operability are necessary.
Press the left and right of the center button to switch between camera and video modes, and the top and bottom can zoom in and out. Users can use Camera app smoothly only by using the center button.
Gallery
There are many precious memories in the Gallery app, I used a waterfall gridview design to make the interface look more like a gallery wall.
In the photo editor, we provide simple and convenient functions that allow users to quickly retouch the photo with one click.
Video
Streaming video is not popular in emerging countries, because users have to pay a lot of monthly fees and network data fees. But from data analysis, users spend about 20-30 minutes a day to use the Video app, which means that users save the video to the phone to watch.
So I changed the landing page from the traditional lists view to the horizontal view, which can increase the number of items from 3.5 to 6 at first glance.
Audio Recorder
Audio Recorder is one of the useful software in mobile phones. It can solve the slow typing problem of feature phones when writing memos. The interface uses concise waveforms to represent volume and sound, and uses gradients to make it look more vivid.
Service Apps
KaiLife
KaiLife serves as a trusted educational resource for first-time internet users, and provides curated content. These resources help users navigate their internet experience, and are optimized for the non-touch screens of KaiOS-powered devices; as well as gain access to valuable information that can improve their lives.
Wallpaper Shop
Personalize your phone with unique background options available from the Wallpaper Shop. Instantly transform your phone to fit your style and select from free and paid wallpapers, including beautiful landscapes, cuddly animals, action sports and cool cars.
Ringtones Shop
Ringtones shop brings the best ringtones optimized for KaiOS devices. Choose your favorite ringtone and easily put it as default song. The ringtones are separated by category to make it easier for you to find.
Top-Up Request
Allow your family and friends to top up your mobile minutes or data anytime, anywhere through WhatsApp.
World Clock
Check the time, anytime. Track the local time in cities across the world.