Post Up
Modified Google Venture Design Sprint: Designing premium features for a paid mobile app subscription.
User Research | UI Design | Prototyping | Wireframing | Usability Testing
TEAM
Sai Ravada
DURATION
5 days
Overview
PostUp is an imaginary start-up company created for freelance and remote workers to share tips and advice amongst themselves.
Recently, there has been a lot of buzz amongst users on how to find the best public places to work from. PostUp is looking to provide a mobile app solution for a quick way for remote workers to find these public places.
In this modified GV Design Sprint, I designed a new, paid feature into the company’s mobile app to address this pain point and created a corresponding user flow to subscribe to PostUp’s premium plan.
Day 1: Mapping & Understanding
Defining User Goals
Before brainstorming solutions, the first step is to understand a user goals. Here are five quotes taken from user interviews that highlight what they’re looking for in a place when deciding if they want to work from there.
“I like to know how crowded a place is. If I’m doing independent work, I don’t want it to be super loud. If I’m meeting clients or coworkers there, I want to be sure we can get a place to sit and talk for a bit.”
“I usually need to jump on the computer for a video chat - so, I need to make sure that the wifi is good, and that there isn’t too much background noise”
“Wifi and bathrooms are the most important thing I look for, especially if I plan on working there for a full day”
“If a place has wifi, outlets, and bathrooms- thats all I need. If i need to buy some food or coffee to stay there, I really don’t mind. Bonus points if their coffee and food are actually good!”
“Wifi is definitely the most important for me... if I don’t have to buy something to get a password, that’s even better”
I used an affinity map to organize the research findings from user interviews. Each sticky note color corresponds to a single user and their needs. The needs are ranked from most often mentioned (left) to less often mentioned (right).
After synthesizing my research findings, I created a user journey map for someone who is searching for a place to work from. This map highlights the steps that a user takes, given the current solutions on the market, and points out opportunities for improvement. This is a crucial step in the design process as it allows us to empathize with the user and define their pain points and wants. Additionally, a user journey map compiles all the information gathered during user research into a comprehensive diagram.
Based on this information, I was able to define the overall problem statement: How might we help users efficiently find comfortable public places with their preferred amenities?
Day 2: Competitive Analysis & Sketches
Competitor Analysis
The second day of this design sprint involves taking a look at current solutions on the market and conducting a competitor analysis. The goal of the competitive analysis is to identify any gaps in the market and pain points that may be present in current solutions, so Post Up can create a product that addresses these. I identified three competitor companies and analyzed their mobile app’s features and overall user experience.
Crazy 8 Sketches
Crazy 8’s is one of the core design sprint methods that facilitates creativity and innovation. The goal is to sketch out 8 different feature and layout ideas in a total of 8 minutes and generate a variety of solutions. To begin, I decided that the critical screens of the user flow I need to design was going to be the search results page.
The search results will show all of the potential places that people can work from with previews of amenities and features of the establishment. It will also include basic information such as distance, name of place, and timings. This way the user can expedite their search and scroll through to find places that match their criteria.
These are the eight sketches I created in eight minutes. This exercise allows me to think outside of the box and not commit to the first idea that came to mind.
Creating these sketches helped me narrow down layout ideas and visually understand the benefit of one design over another. Using these as a starting point, I began my to create my solution sketch. The solution sketches are comprised of three different screens: the critical screen, before the critical screen, and after.
In this case, since my critical screen is the search results page, I also sketched out the actual search page and the page with the establishment’s information.
The following sketches are more refined and served as a starting point for my low fidelity wireframes.
Critical Screen: Search Results Page
Day 3: Storyboarding
Once I decided on the design for my solution sketch, my next step was to create the storyboard sketches. I prioritized incorporating the following features based off of the user interviews and competitor analysis: interactive map, search by type of establishment (cafe, library, restaurant, etc.), and search by available amenities. These sketches served as a guide to visualize the user flow and focus on details I wanted to include in my high-fidelity screens.
Day 4: Prototyping
With the foundation created through my sketches on the previous day, I was easily able to design high-fidelity screens. I incorporated color and finalized all the necessary components.
PostUp wants to charge a monthly fee to users in exchange for access to PostUp information.
I’ve integrated this into the sign up workflow and also created a free trial option, so users can test the product beforehand.
PostUp wants to help users find places that already exist.
The first screen has a search bar, categories of public places, and a list of closest public places based on your current location. The second and third screen show the search results when searching by specific categories (middle screen) or by amenities (third screen).
These three screens show the search process. The user is able to search specifically by their current location and filter places that have their needed amenities available.
Day 5: Testing
With a working prototype of my design, I was ready for user testing. I conduced remote usability tests with five users through Zoom. They screenshared their process of using the prototype so I was able to see how they interacted with it. I was able to see which components of my design worked well and which ones may need to be improved upon.
Conclusion
The design sprint process was a valuable experience that highlighted the importance of iteration, testing, and reiteration. By quickly cycling through testing of new and different features, you are able to understand which of the features are crucial to the user and their experience, and which features may serve as a distraction or need more work.
If this were not a 5-day design sprint, I would continue with one more round of usability testing. The second round of testing assures that any issues that were originally found, have been fixed.