Following the diagnosis from a family member, skin cancer awareness became a very special mission to me.

I designed and built Suny as an accessible and transparent way of consulting the currently solar radiation, along with clear steps for protecting yourself.

Team

• UX/UI Designer (Me)
• Engineer (Me)

As a personal project, I took care of all stages of the product, from conception to launch at the App Store.

Goals

• Educate users about solar radiation and its harms
• Suggest protective actions for each situation.
• Support planning outdoor activities with uvi forecasts.

The Challenge

There’s a visible demand for weather forecast, a trend only increasing over time, thanks in part to clime change unprecedented effects.

But solar radiation hasn’t been given the same amount of attention. The impact of weather is very tangible and sudden, whereas serious consequences from solar radiation only appear years in the future.

Moreover, temperature values (e.g. 76 F) could be sensed empirically and hence be easily understood. In contrast, 10 uvi (UV index) doesn’t carry the same tangible meaning.

Making visible the invisible

It was my thesis then that by granting uvi values a more tangible meaning, people would seek to be more aware and prepare for solar exposure.

And that’s how ‘Suny’ the sun was born.

Suny as the embodiment of the uvi scale

Because people can’t notably experience the radiation, I wanted to show ‘someone’ actually feeling it. That someone was Suny*, a little sun used a visual representation of the different uvi levels defined by WHO.

(*) The glyph was initially purchased from Freepik and later modified by myself.

Promoting planning of outdoor activities

The best way of tackling solar radiation is limiting exposure and sunscreen use. But sunscreen effects are not immediate, and once your are outdoors, you can’t easily hide from the sun.

That’s why it’s important to see what’s ahead on the uvi forecast and plan your outings accordingly.

Further versions will include a sunscreen timer for getting notified once your sunscreen is up and you have to reapply.

Outcomes and results

• Very positive feedback from App Store users. Users in countries with high levels of uvi appreciate having hourly values and updated forecast.
• Suny was downloaded 10k times in Latin America and 6k times in Africa.
• The app was highlighted on a Peruvian college paper.