Teamwork makes the…team work.
To be successful in the realm of User Experience, you MUST be able to work with other people. This industry is human-centered; it’s about understanding and catering to the needs of the people who will be using your product. To be meta and “UX” group-work: if you think of your other team members as the users and the team environment as your product, then there you have it — you need to design and create an environment that aligns with the needs of your users. If everyone in the group can do this, then working as a team becomes a breeze.
With some groups this is easier than with others — and in my most recent project, we had a dream team. Our values, attitudes, and schedules aligned and our strengths and weaknesses varied; which meant we could delegate tasks and learn from each other in a productive and efficient way. After recognizing this among ourselves, we were off to the races.
The Challenge
General Assembly challenged us to design a responsive website that solved real users’ problems in the realm of Entertainment.
As Team Entertainment, we narrowed down our problem space to millennial usage of video-streaming services and after a screener survey and 5 user interviews, we identified a problem — that is no doubt a “real” one.
The Problem
Stressed millennials enjoy watching video streaming services as an easy way to take a break from their busy schedules.
Susie (our persona) feels guilty and addicted when she watches for longer than she intended.
How might we help her reduce unintended time lost while using video streaming services, but still experience a pleasant escape from stress?
In short: what would allow users to watch video streaming services ONLY for as long as they intend to AND without being a nuisance or an annoying reminder?
Our Solution
Timmie. The friendly time-assistant!
We designed a website that would not only allow users to watch all the streaming services that they enjoy, but also where they could set a time limit for themselves and then receive friendly reminders of how much time had passed. And crucially, these reminders come from a cute, smiling character — Timmie. We need to ensure that we don’t create feelings of guilt.
And yes, we know what you’re thinking; “Timmie” is very similar to the word “Time.” ;)
So. How did it go?
We tested each of our iterations (paper, mid-fidelity, and “higher”-fidelity*) with 3–5 people each. Broadly, our users all understood the purpose of Timmie.com and were able to complete the tasks we asked them to perform. But most importantly, all of our testers audibly laughed and smiled at different points throughout the tests.
Laughter! REAL laughter! We took this to mean two things: first, that they enjoyed using our website, and secondly that we delighted them — at least to a certain extent.
But we know we aren’t perfect. The two main issues that we encountered were related to (1) user process flow and (2) button colors.
- Users need explicit cues to complete tasks in a particular order. Simply having an element appear first on a page does not provide enough context. If order of operations is important, include numbered steps.
- Button colors make a difference. Using stoplight colors (i.e. Green-Go, Red-Stop) truly affects the user’s thought process. So be sure to choose button colors carefully — don’t confuse your users by pairing colors non-traditionally. We wanted our users to stick with their initial time intentions. To do this, we used Green with “Bye” / “No — I’m not sure I want to keep watching” to encourage leaving the site, and we used Red with “Keep Watching” / “Yes — I’m sure I want to keep watching” to discourage continuing to watch. And while users did pause before clicking to keep watching, their reactions had negative connotations: furrowed brows, hovering/circling fingers, confusion. To improve our prototype, we would perform A/B tests with other colors that have fewer connotations, so that users still pause, but not out of confusion.
Measuring Success
From our user test observations and user feedback, we have a strong prototype that is beginning to address our problem statement. But to quantify our success further, our next steps would be before-and-after surveys to understand how users rate (1) their enjoyment and (2) their guilt associated to video streaming services before using Timmie.com as well as after using Timmie.com. These ratings would allow us to quantify the value the website brings to users.
Moral of the Story
General Assembly challenged us to create a responsive website that solves real users’ problems in the realm of entertainment. Based off of user research, we identified that busy millennials love using video streaming services, but often spend more time watching than they intend to. So while they initially have an extremely positive emotional experience from video streaming, they are left with the negative emotions of guilt and dependence. Based off of prototype tests with users, we are confident that Timmie.com will give users back control of their time by providing an automated personal assistant — Timmie — who acts as a friendly reminder of time passed and users’ original intentions.
But our success wasn’t just due to a good idea — it was also due to our ability to work as a team. We were able to create such a successful prototype in part because we worked together towards a solution. As a group of three, we listened to each other, supported each others’ ideas and requests for help, and stepped up to contribute when we identified a gap. Communication and positive attitudes led the way, and ultimately it wasn’t just a friendly cartoon character that we created, but a friendly and successful team.
*In this project, we weren’t asked to take the prototype through to “High” fidelity since we still have a lot to learn about how to design at this level. Rather, we were asked just to go “higher” than mid-fidelity. In short, add some color and images and perhaps some fancier interactions with the prototype interface.
