Serenity: Winners at Service Jam HK
Our story of making HK a quieter place
Serenity is a service that helps people find nearby quiet spaces in real time, elevating their wellness by letting them decompress.
We, a team of 7, created Serenity from scratch over a weekend in July 2017. We appreciated, learned from, and constructively bashed on each other. Our solution to noise in Hong Kong is to create a community of users who enjoy and respect mental wellness; who share and discover quiet spaces with the help of their smartphone mics.
We came to the event with no expectations. We were so lucky to meet a diverse team of individuals who are highly self-motivated and organised. Things could have gone wrong in so many ways but the right methodologies have assisted us to collaborate under pressure.
Thanks to the judges, organisers, mentors and everyone who helped us in the process, we are honoured to be the winners of Service Jam. We can’t wait to bring this project forward, and help Hongkongers find serenity.
If you are interested in our story, read on.
9pm, day 1 | 41 hours left
Where it all started
Theme of Service Jam July: “We are surrounded by…”
After the reveal, participants at the Jam started coming up with all sorts of ideas — people, buildings, waste… Eventually, the cohort selected the best couple of ideas for everyone to team up at their favourites.
Our team gathered at an idea that tackles noise. Finding a quiet space in Hong Kong is difficult, or even unrealistic if you say so. But we believe technology can help, and we wanted to design a service around it.
9am, day 2 | 29 hours left
Starting from blank
The next morning with coffee aroma in the air, we joined a Jammers-exclusive design research workshop. As a UXer, I loved how everyone from different backgrounds is informed about the importance of openness and empathy.
How might we help Hongkongers find a quiet space to relax?
We defined our potential users — professionals, students, and couples. We split into small teams and went out to conduct user interviews within 2 hours…
I had to find couples. Besides facilitating a designer-romance in Campfire Creative, our next best bet was to find somewhere people hang out on a Saturday afternoon. We chose Eslite Causeway Bay, and it worked out pretty well.
3pm, day 2 | 23 hours left
Storm before the calm
Cup noodle, salad, coffee, toilet… We all needed to recharge after half a day of hassle. We synthesised our data and brainstormed solutions together. We threw out elements our service should have but it quickly became a feature galore. We were a bit worried how long this will take.
5pm, day 2 | 21 hours left
Secret weapon
Our team is very harmonic. This is good, but can also be fatal in terms of ideation. The best ideas don’t come from being nice, but being brutal.
The UX design graduates from GA shared a collaborative design methodology called Design Studio.
We found a room away from noise and distractions, and split into 2 small groups for efficiency. Everyone sketched their own solutions while serenity amidst our headquarters. Then as the timer rings, it quickly turned into a battlefield of constructive criticisms.
In just 2 hours, we iterated ideas within groups and between groups. We came to a single concept that covers features, benefits, stakeholders and business models.
8pm, day 2 | 18 hours left
Our values and stories
After some delicious dinner (oh the chicken), we got back to work. We’ve got our solution ready, but why should people care? By getting our values right and telling an impactful story, we can craft a presentation that will tap into audiences’ hearts.
Serenity — Reset. Recharge. Repeat.
Each of us visualised how our service’s key elements — Relaxation, Proximity and Transparency look like. These drawings not only defined our tagline, but also penetrated the presentation design and delivery. We also created a storyboard together — where Robert was born in the hands of our magical illustrator.
2am, day 3 | 12 hours left
Preparing to delight
I couldn’t fall asleep, because I was thinking about the feeling and atmosphere we want to give audiences before and during our pitch. I am obsessed with styling, and I knew we won’t have time to worry about these in the morning.
Serenity is all about relaxation, so I searched for related keywords on Unsplash. They are all very relaxing — I mean the people in the photos. How can we, though, surround our audience with the emotion?
I decided to use a video background, so people can feel the moment. After trying stargazing, snowfall and rainforest videos, I chose a scene that is more relatable to Hongkongers — a beach at sunset. This became the cover of our deck.
9am, day 3 | 5 hours left
Final rush
We only had 2 hours before trial presentations. The team and their mouse cursors were running around. After uncountable “we can do this guys,” the story-video, app wireframes, and presentation slides were all ready.
2pm, day 3 | time’s up
Introducing Serenity
“Hey but we’re still downloading the Keynote remote”
…and you know what happened!
Interested in winning too? Check out my teammate Mubarak’s 3 tips to get the most out of Design Jams.
3, 2, 1, Serenity.
Alan Cheng XD Mage
Aliza Lalani Chief Marketing Officer
Hanny Yeung UX/Presentation Designer
Kelly Chin Chief Financial Officer
Lillian Lai UX/Coordinator
Mubarak Marafa Chief Energy Officer
Terry Cheng Motion Storyboard Designer / Pizza Eater
