In this project, we took a goal-directed design approach that proved to be quite effective in our design efforts. We found qualitative research methods to be the most useful, consisting of a kickoff meeting, literature review, stakeholder interviews, and most importantly our persona hypothesis construction. We started out by asking ourselves some initial key questions.
"Why do people hesitate to download the app?"
"What is the product and who is it for?"
"Who are our biggest competitors?"
"What do our primary users need most?"
"What challenges could we face moving forward?"
"What is our business goal at the end?"
The first-version app was used in the Oval XP event at Franklin Parkway, PA from July 4 to August 26. We collected data from the users and have some interviews. We found few people were willing to download it, and even fewer finish the sign-up process. The main reason is that they are not aware of the function and the process is too complex.
We found data from our focus group to be the most effective understanding we garnered. We then used an affinity diagram to separate the data into groups of tasks which were further categorized by high-level goals for improvement in efficiency, process, familiarity, and attraction. Recognizing the conflicts of interest from each audience allowed us to focus on shaping user goals and how those goals would in turn also affect the business goals.
Amy is an outgoing person who always wants to attend social events during the weekend. However, she found it hard to keep updated with all the performances and she is tired of waiting in the long line at the bar.
Jake is working at SOM, a big architecture firm. He is too busy to make new friends. He hopes to know some friends when attending the events. However, he is too shy to talk with strangers.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.
We looked at several potential competing companies, and although none compete directly with Upped Events, they can still infringe on the business' revenue & popularity. Upped Events has the opportunity to capitalize on this by creating an all-in-one platform without oversaturating the user's selection. The main differences that we noticed were:
– Easily Accessible vs Hardly Accessible
– Too Many Screens vs Simplified Interaction
– Distracting Interface vs Minimalistic Interface
– Specialization of Products vs Muti-functions
We simplify the sign-up process and optimize how people get into the event they attend automatically. We also add the recommendation and notification section on the hub screen to the exposure rate, stimulating people to land on the shopping page.
Before moving onto high-fidelity mocks, I came up with two different methods of login and discussed with the PM to choose which one can better meet the business goal. We ended up with the second one since Upped Events wants to get more information from the users' social accounts.
There are three main problems in the original version. The updated version saves 56 seconds for each user on average and decreases the drop-off rate to 34%.
During the interview, 2/3 of people hesitate to download the app because they are not aware of the function. We highlighted three benefits during the onboarding process.
80% of the events include more than 5 categories so the traditional navigation bar cannot work in this case. We came up with 3 paralleled prototypes for usability testing PMbusiness. Finally, we landed on the Hamburger choice.
During the interview, we found another pain point- people are eager to find a buddy to shop/eat/join the performance together during the Event. Thus, we add a meet-up function in the app for users to make more friends. This function is to be continued...
Using warm feelings and comfortable colors helped convey the feeling of comfort to our users in Upped Events. On the color wheel, purple and yellow are opposites, which makes them complementary.
From this project, I learned how to make a balance between the business goal and the experience of the users. Sometimes user-centered design can make the interface easier to understand, but it is at the cost of losing some potential profits from the perspective of the company. Combining product thinking and design thinking is my further goal to pursue.
