Problem & Hypothesis Statements: Collectively aligned on problem to solve and how to solve it.
User Research: Interviewed users, captured needs & pain points to address in new experience.
User Flows & Sketches: Collaboratively created user flows & sketches in lieu of formal requirements.
MVP Design: Created Wireframes and Detailed Design for first release.
User Feedback: Conducted Usability Testing, sent a Survey, & collected CSAT from Production.
1. Problem & Hypothesis Statements
I led a very insightful working session where stakeholders described current state issues and potential avenues to accelerate growth. Disagreements were the most interesting part of the discussion.
2. User Research
Once a direction has been established, we reached out to customers to learn their daily processes and how our technology could add value to their business.
An Interview Protocol, that served as discussion guide during calls, allowed us to stay on topic and collect data on areas of interest. We took notes per participant and then grouped them by topic (Affinity Diagram) to expose Emerging Themes.
Instead of creating Personas, we decided to document "Mindsets", which since they are more fluid, it allowed us to reflect our customer behaviors more accurately. It's a Service Design thing
In retrospective, we could have created Personas, which we did, in the context of a different project:
3. User Flows & Sketches
Based on the solution that business outlined and what we have learned about our users, we mapped the user flows and collaboratively sketched the content and major interactions.
4. MVP Design
We created a mood-board and explored different styles, within the limits of the existing visual language.
After reviews with Stakeholders, Product, And Dev, an early and limited version was released in order to allow the team to gather feedback from real users.
5. User Feedback
Prior to releasing the MVP, we created a clickable prototype to test our hypotheses about and identify any potential risks and improvement opportunities.
Usability Testing, Onsite & Remote
A clickable prototype was built on Axure (yeah, I know), which allowed us to create an holistic experience by embedding MS/Google forms as part of the flow.
We provided users with the password and asked them to share their screen, where they completed the following steps:
a. Pre-Test Demographic Questions
b. Task 1
c. Post-Task Questions
d. Task 2, 3, n …
e. Post-Test Questions (System Usability Score)
Report
While Product and Dev participated in the sessions and witnessed the feedback first hand, which led to backlog items for design and dev, an official report was shared with business stakeholders and leadership to "evangelize" the value of UX.
6. Outcome
The new self-service experience for Shippers exceeded expectations, overperfoming in a every key indicator:
Increased Number of New Accounts
Increased Digital Volume
Increased Gross Margin
Increased Pre-Paid Transactions
And customers loved it!
Production Site CSAT Score
Additional Iterations