We Talk

Hel·lena Prat
Nov 4 · 8 min read

A Social + Intellectual Wellness App. Project for the UX/UI Bootcamp.

For our first individual project for the Ironhack UX/UI Bootcamp, we had to choose an app for one of the seven wellness dimensions. With one broad idea in mind, we had to conduct interviews and surveys to decide our app use, and finally create and test the wireframes of the app.

Follow me in the (crazy) five-day process of developing the first stage of We Talk, an app that allows users to find and meet others who want to improve their language skills.

The research

At the Ironhack campus, there is an international environment, where you can see students from all over the world, communicating constantly in different languages. With that in mind, I started asking people about their language learning practices.

Even though at the beginning I felt I was working in the intellectual wellness field, after some general questions, I realized that on several occasions, language learning goes hand-in-hand with the social wellness dimension.

With a defined area to work on, I narrowed down my questions and created a survey and some questions for my interviewees. After three days, 13 interviews conducted and more than 200 answers on my survey, I could conclude that:

  • All of the subjects tried or are trying to learn or improve some language.
  • More than 70% think that learning or improve a new language would improve their professional activity. Also, more than 50% of them thinks it would improve their personal life.
  • Their preferred way of learning new languages is dynamically or abroad while meeting new people.
  • The interviewees want to learn real-world stuff to socialize while traveling.
  • And finally, only 23% of the subjects have done a language tandem before (and 35% more have considered doing it).

I found language tandems a system that gathered some of the main features preferred by subjects of learning or improving new languages, so I dug a bit more on that field.

When it comes to language tandems, users generally can choose between two main options: 1x1 meetings or group meetings. When it comes to 1x1 options, as the Tandem app, users complained that it felt like a dating app. On the other hand, regarding group meetings, users found it interesting but not personal and too quick.

With all the information gathered in the research, I created a mind-map (see appendix) to help me see the main pain-points and patterns I wanted my app to solve.

After that exercise, I could conclude that my app needed to be:

  1. Social: People want to meet new people in person when learning a new language, it forces them to speak and allows them to learn the day-to-day language.
  2. Non-dating: I should avoid the “dating” feeling when using the app.
  3. Group or individual: My app should not offer one of the options, giving the user the option to choose depending on their level or preferred choice.
  4. Interest: The app needed to make sure that both parts were interested in doing a language exchange, to avoid wasting time finding the right match.

The story

When creating a solution for users, it is easy and common to fall into a trap and think you are the main user you are designing an app for, and you are not! Or at least, not the only one.

To make the process easier, user-centered designers create User Personas and Scenarios, which are fictional characters and tasks to represent a user type that might use your app and understand its needs and expectations, as well as its problems.

The user persona created for the We Talk App is Carla the consultor.

Carla is 27 years old. She loves skiing, and, in summer she enjoys long walks on the beach (but not being there in the sunny hours).

She has a boyfriend (dentist), they have been together for more than 7 years and they just got engaged. They live in a tiny but well-designed apartment in London with her car, Mis.

At work, she speaks in English, but Carla studied Spanish at school and at home with their grandparents, a bit of French too, but she does not remember a word!

She has been working in a finance consultancy for more than 4 years and, in the past few years, she has been working hard, so she has gained importance as a manager in the team. Three weeks ago, her boss moved her to Paris to supervise a project, which was a good opportunity.

The announcement was a last-minute decision, so she didn’t have much time for good-byes, packing or some classes to refresh the french. She was supposed to be in Paris for two weeks, but the delivery date keeps on going forward.

When she is at work, she speaks in English, but she feels a bit on the side because most of their colleagues use french without noticing in the social situations.

Even though We Talk won’t be designed just for users as Carla, it is good to have one fictional character (persona) to refer to when creating an app, to see if it solves the different problems and frictions that the persona might find.

The problem

A good practice when it comes to creating solutions based on research is defining them in a simple and straightforward sentence that allows the designer to communicate it effectively, it is called a problem statement.

“People who travel, need a way to improve their language skills because they need to communicate in social situations.”

The approach

A blank page in front of you is always scary. To help me overcome that fear and avoid overthinking before creating, I worked with the “Crazy Eights” process, which consists of a fast sketching exercise that challenges people to sketch eight distinct ideas in eight minutes.

When doing that process, I found a metaphor that all users are familiar with and that could work in my app, an “Announcement Board”.

Example of an Announcement Board

After some more crazy eight processes, I started creating my first paper prototype with one task in mind: a user logs in and joins a group meeting on We Talk. After some testing, that paper prototype would turn into an improved version that, after being tested once again, would end in a mid-fidelity digital prototype.

In this link, you will be able to find the final digital prototype of the We Talk app.

The testing

But, how did I get to the final mid-fidelity prototype that you just watched? The answer is easy, testing, testing and testing again!

With more than three rounds of testing, I focused on specific problems to eliminate as many possible frictions users could find, iterating in the design, layout, format,… Listed below, you will find the main issues I solved:

  1. Symbols
    In the beginning, the app was divided into the “Location Board” and users’ “Personal Board”. Illustrating those concepts with icons was hard, and most users did not understand what the icons meant.
    In the end, I concluded that the division was not necessary, and after testing, I found that having a shortcut on the top gave better results.
Different approaches of the symbols used in the app

2. Home Board
The testing on this particular screen refined more and more the desing. Users needed to filter the results that were displayed on their boards, but they needed to understand the filters were created after their preferences. In the image below, you can see how the iterations defined the screen.

The testing on this particular screen refined more and more the desing. Users needed to filter the results that were displayed on their boards, but they needed to understand the filters were created after their preferences. In the image below, you can see how the iterations defined the screen.

Different iterations of the location board

3. User profile
Even though the metaphor of an announcement board worked very well on the general location board, users didn’t understand its use in their personal space. After noticing and testing on this issue, I decided to create a timeline that allowed users to see their upcoming and past events clearly and visually.

The upcoming steps

We Talk it’s an app on the making and the next steps I would love to work on while testing the digital prototypes are other workflows and the development of them.

Also, I would like to refine the method of reminding users when they have an upcoming event to attend to.

I think We Talk is an app that solves a problem that users have in real life, and I would like to work and refine the project until I get a final app.

The learnings

Working in fictional projects allows you to learn from your own mistakes or congratulate yourself on your achievements without being at risk. Listed below, you will find some of the learnings I have got from this project.

  1. Group interviews
    It’s not easy at all. I think from a rookie like me, it is better to focus on 1x1 interviews. When interviewing more than one subject at a time, it’s difficult to redirect the conversations to the fields you are interested in without interruptions or conversation swifts.
  2. Time-blocking
    Creating a clear and defined schedule and keep to the defined deadlines is a must when working in projects with this tight agenda.
  3. Rehearsing
    Even though it might feel like you have all the ideas in your mind, it is very important to rehearse the presentations and adjust them to the agreed time.
  4. Mind-maps
    Mind-maps are your friends! They allow you to gather the information and organize it visually, and for me, it helps a lot! And you can get back to it at any time of the project.

The end

Thank you for your time!

If you have any suggestion or comment about this project, do not hesitate to contact me :)

Appendix

Mind map of research findings

Also, in this link you can find all the questions and responses of the survey I conducted.

Hel·lena Prat

Written by

UX/UI-designer-to-be. Graphic Designer.

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