Consultation & Ideation
A UX Design Case Study
Basics
- Company: Unthink
- Company website: unthink.co
- Team: Academy Xi Student Group
- Dates: 18 March 2019-29 March 2019
- My Role: UX Design team member
- * Project under NDA, limiting depth of information presented
Tools & Methods
- Digital and physical kanban boarding
- Competitor analysis
- Platform research
- User interviews
- Affinity mapping
- Ideation and ideation facilitation
- User flows
- MVP mapping
- Wire-framing
- Prototyping
- Usability testing
- Usability testing analysis
Key Deliverables
- Slide deck
- Key insights from user research.
- Sketches of user flows & wireframes.
- Prototype.
Company Overview
Unthink are a consultancy who make menial tasks easy for their roster of high level independent consultants by providing support, frameworks and programs to assist with exposure and personal brand marketing.
Project Brief
Unthink asked for our assistance building a mobile app platform to move their consultant on-boarding, frameworks, and programs onto.
In our initial client engagement we met with a co-founder and service designer from Unthink. Their desire for an app was made very clear, and when asked if user research indicated a mobile app was not the user’s desired platform, would it be acceptable to explore other avenues? We were urged to continue with a mobile app format. We found this particularly frustrating, as we as UX designers are supposed to be advocates for the user, and we were being pigeonholed into a pre-determined outcome. If allowed to follow UX research methods there is a possibility we may find an app is not desired at all by users, and that the root cause of the problem lies elsewhere.
The problem statement which we developed from this first client engagement was;
An Independent Consultant who feels overwhelmed and stressed about connecting with new clients, needs to promote themselves but faces a lack of time and motivation.
Strategy
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Time-box and organise the agenda of the of the project.
- On time delivery of insights, prototypes and artefacts at different stages of the design project.
Following our initial client engagement we set about time-lining tasks and milestones for the two week sprint ahead. We used both a physical kanban board, and digital Trello board to document and plan our progress.
Research
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Discovery of pre-existing apps and features to bring into app.
- Establish who the users are and their behaviours.
- Insights into pain points, motivations, behaviours, and constraints of consultants who were similar our users.
As we were building this app from scratch our initial research looked into existing apps which included features and layout we could draw inspiration from. Dividing the group, we individually looked into the different features we were to include in the app, collectively contributing to an online Google Doc to maximise time efficiency. Though there were no obvious direct competitors providing the same service to Unthink, this app research doubled as a type of competitor analysis, as apps we investigated could act as substitutes for features we were asked to include in our prototype .
Unthink had conducted no previous research before meeting us, as such we had no data to fall back on. Their desire for an app was based on Unthink stakeholder’s experiences going through the program they are now delivering to their roster of consultants. Taking one individual’s experience or view and assuming that is representative of all users would be a major flaw in the UX process, so we had to take their experiences with a grain of salt. Unthink were however unable to fill the quota of interviewees necessary, and those interviewees supplied were not actual users (members of their consulting roster) which meant we had to look at the stakeholder’s experiences as somewhat of a guiding light. Academy Xi aided in finding five interview participants that best matched our users, however we would have preferred to conduct research with actual users as they would have had valuable, personal experience insights into the on-boarding, programs, and framework.
Research Findings/Consolidation
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Consolidation of individual interview feedback to identify trends, patterns and behaviours amongst users.
- Stronger and deeper insights into pain points faced by users.
- Identified areas requiring attention/need to be addressed by the mobile app.
- Lean user persona.
The aim of our consolidation was to form deeper insights into who our users were, and their pain points and motivations as we looked to use these insights in aid of forming a user persona. Clustering our interview feedback via open affinity mapping we were able to see distinct patterns and trends emerging, which did lead to deeper insights. Affinity mapping also confirmed and negated some of the stakeholder’s experiences, and exposed a lack of desire for some features that Unthink thought necessary at the beginning of the project.
Ideation
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Inform and include stakeholders in creative direction of app.
- Refine insights to focus upon.
- Conceptualise features and solutions to address pain points and insights.
- Establish hierarchy of features to include in an MVP.
In an attempt to spur quick creativity, following our interviews we were able to perform an activity called Crazy Eights. In Crazy Eights we systematically focussed on deeper insights uncovered during research analysis, attempting to conceptualise as many ideas as possible that would address these insights in a time period of three minutes, presenting our concepts back to the group and ultimately voting on which we thought best addressed our insights.
During our first showcase with Unthink we presented our persona, kanban board, process up to that point, interview questions, insights and findings from both user interviews and app/competitor research. With a number of different insights uncovered and only one week of the project left, Unthink narrowed the scope of our focus by selecting four insights to address in our prototype.
Following this showcase we facilitated an ideation session with members of the Unthink team. The goal of making stakeholders feel more engaged with the creative process, and for us to see where they envisioned the direction of the app heading. Using the same Crazy Eight exercise, we asked the Unthink members to conceptualise features that they felt would immediately address the insights we were asked to narrow our focus on.
Following both ideation sessions with and without the Unthink team, we then took the concepts with most votes, the features validated as most valuable from interview feedback and our app research in the formative days of the project, and applied them to an MVP map. We focussed on incorporating the post it notes in the upper right quadrant as they were deemed easy wins for the first prototype.
User Flows, IA & Wireframes *
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Address insights and pain points by utilising strong features and user flows.
- Establish strong wireframe specifications to ensure consistency in prototype.
- Build a strong base to develop an MVP prototype from.
Using the same divide and conquer conceptualise technique as in the ideation sessions, we each individually formed our own user flows, ultimately coming together to discuss and determine which pages, features, and flows from our individual concepts best matched our problem statement, insights, user needs, and MVP map. We combined the best from each and developed final wireframes and user flows from these.
Prototyping *
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Build a testable prototype for usability testing.
With each group member delegated a number of pages to work on, we set about building a low fidelity working prototype in Sketch. Working together we completed this task, incorporating features and flows laid out in our wire-framing and user flows, before the deadline of our first usability test.
Usability Testing & Results*
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Validate our prototype by testing on those similar to our users.
- Gain valuable feedback on improvements needed for a future sprint.
- Consolidate test results in preparation for client showcase.
Unthink supplied five participants for usability testing. Actual users were not available to participate which was disappointing, as again it would be ideal to get feedback from those who are familiar with the client’s processes, frameworks, and programs, however those who Unthink did provide were of a suitable nature. Our participants were of varying gender and age, but with similar consultancy backgrounds. Due to the scheduling of the tests we conducted four in person and one via Zoom video link, with a shared Sketch file and share screen option in Zoom, enabling for a relatively seamless usability test. Usability tests were conducted in pairs, one group member facilitating the test using our scenario script as a point of reference, and another group member transcribing onto post it notes the feedback given from our participants.
Once all five usability tests had been completed we placed the participant feedback post it notes next to print outs of each page in order to determine the overall positives and negatives of the prototype, then moving those major findings and opportunities to story cards for our final client show case.
The usability test participants were able to provide us with invaluable feedback on what worked and did not work within the app. Some of the features we thought would go down well did not, which we didn’t find deflating at all, as it was great to get feedback on where the product could be improved. Criticism was received well throughout the whole group and given the opportunity, I am confident the improvements between versions 0.1 and 0.2 would be great.
Final Client Showcase & Project Wrap Up*
Purpose & Outcomes.
- Bring ultimate findings from the project to the client.
In a very informal fashion, both Unthink and our group gathered around a table at Academy Xi and had a conversation about our findings and the results of usability testing. The client displayed a high level of engagement throughout the project and, in part, thanks to their involvement at critical stages they were really pleased and impressed with the work we delivered.
The final step in the process was sending through deliverables to the client.
Future Steps
If I were involved with the project as a UX designer moving forward, I would undertake research with Unthink’s roster of consultants, guaging their experiences with the on-boarding, framework, and programs, and most importantly whether a mobile app is their preferred platfrom. Following this I would apply the insights gathered and compare them to those found from our initial interviews. Based on the outcome of this comparison I would either iterate the current prototype, or ideate towards a new prototype.
Learnings
I learned a lot during the Unthink project, including how important client engagement is at critical times of the project and how this engagement can positively effect the project’s outcome. I also learned that despite resistance to user research from stakeholders, and even if the platform is pre-determined, UX still plays a crucial part of the development process and should not be ignored. Finally I learned first hand that staying calm, adaptable, and flexible when things aren’t going to plan works in your favour.
