Intro
I worked on this case study during Memorisely UX/UI Design immersive online Bootcamp. During the Bootcamp, I worked with a small team of designers around the world and we were iterating on the ANYONE https://callinganyone.com/mobile experience.
Role
User Research
Product Strategy
UX Design
UI Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Tools
Miro
Typeform
Figma
Maze
Timeline
5 weeks
The Problem
Anyone is an audio-based marketplace that allows experts to monetize their expertise by sharing knowledge with like-minded people. I set my sights on redesigning the networking experience of Anyone's mobile product to ease social anxiety and build greater brand trust within users.
Hypothesis
We believe that [designing a transparent process of finding an advisor will encourage users to be proactively seeking advice, resulting in creating a community and more frequent use of Anyoneβs App.]
The Solution
π Questions & Observations
To help me better frame any problems with the product, I began by forming some questions and observations I have about the product. To easily document these I followed the structure [situation], [response], [problem to business or experience] to ensure I'm aware of users and business needs.
When [checking advisor profile], users [don't have enough information about the advisor], which causes [increase lack of trust if the advisor is right to answer the question]
When [signing in], users [don't have a chance to personalize or narrow down the list of possible topics and categories], which causes [a problem with limitless topics and categories they might not be interested in being shown by an app]
When [checking advisor profile], users [don't have a chance to add the advisor to the favorite ones], which causes [a a problem with finding them later]
When [ready for a call], users [don't see the availability of the advisor or option to schedule a call ], which causes [ a hesitation if it's a right time to call someone]
π UX Research
To confirm my observations and begin forming a hypothesis backed by data, I created a user survey to uncover the core problems with the product that I could prioritise for user and business needs.
π Synthesis
Having shared my survey with users of the product, the next stage of my case study was focused on synthesizing the data to recognise trends and form a hypothesis. During the synthesis I segmented user responses and used and affinity map to prioritise the problems of users inline with business needs.
Validated observations
Primary Frustration
When seeking advice, users are having a hard time finding the right person because the current process of finding an advisor is anxiety-inducing for most people, which results in users giving up or using more traditional methods such as seeking impersonal advice.
Secondary Frustrations
When [searching for advice], users are [ not feeling confident in their choice of advisor as they don't know enough about the advisor's background, experience and personalty to trust that the answer will be honest and suitable for their needs], which results in [anxiety-inducing behaviour to call the advisor]
How Might We
With a picture of the problem at hand starting to come into place, we jumped into the ideation phase and worked through the solution design model, identifying users actual behaviour, and optimal behaviour. This allowed me to form a how might we statement to begin forming a solution.
π€ How might we... make users feel confident in their choice of advisor?
Ideation
To avoid following the first idea I conducted a series of ideation techniques. This allowed me to consider an array of solutions. Following ideation I mapped what could be improved, added, and crazy ideas and prioritized them based on user value, business value, effort and time.
Anyone Mindmap [Access Miro board ππ» HERE]
| Selected | Name | User Value | Biz Value | Effort | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advisor profile page improvemnt by adding more details | High | High | Medium | ||
Improving search by adding prompters | High | High | High | ||
Adding more visible notification of the advisor's availability/online/available for call/call me time anything that helps User to feel confident to call an Advisor right now | High | Medium | Low | ||
Option to add more advisors picures | High | Low | Low | ||
a bit bigger advisors card with more details f.e key words/tags and availability | High | Medium | Low | ||
categories as tabs just below the search | High | High | Low | ||
| Selected | Name | User Value | Biz Value | Effort | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Call time Shedulling | High | Medium | Medium | Medium | |
Chat option | High | Medium | High | High | |
"Add to favourite" option | High | Medium | Low | Low | |
Introductory Video | High | High | Low | Low | |
User (Advice seeker) Profile | High | High | High | Medium | |
Mentors' Stories | High | Medium | High | Medium | |
Advicers recommendations based on search, call history, preferences | High | High | High | High | |
onboarding preferences/ personalisation survey | High | Medium | High | High | |
availablility notification | High | Medium | Low | Low | |
Advice bundles at better price - one call migh be not enough | High | High | Low | Medium | |
free of charge first quick call | |||||
share link with friends |
| Selected | Name | User Value | Biz Value | Effort | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pay the user to start a conversation | High | Low | Low | Low | |
Start the conversation with the ice breaking game or "Donut style" fun chat | Medium | Medium | High | High | |
Add free calls or gift minutes for advice seekers | Medium | Low | Low | Low | |
free of charge clubhpouse like group chats or Q&A to know the advisors better before start one to one call | High | Medium | Medium | Medium | |
Points and gifts for loyal and heavy users | High | Medium | Low | Low |
βοΈ Hypothesis
Having prioritized ideas based on what can be improved, added, or crazy ideas, I wrote a hypothesis that helps me frame the problem for user and business goals.
Users' goal is to find the right advisor for them in the shortest time possible while knowing that they will receive professional, helpful advice from that person.
The business goal is to become the go-to space for anyone seeking advice on various topics.
We believe that designing a transparent process of finding an advisor will encourage users to be proactively seeking advice, resulting in creating a community and more frequent use of Anyoneβs App.
βοΈ Rapid Sketching
Following the creation of my hypothesis, I rapidly sketched solutions in low-fidelity. This helped me quickly map and understand the current product and consider options for how I could iterate directly in the product.
Anyone Rapid sketching [Access Figma Jam board ππ» HERE]
Wireframes
I used a neutral color palette to avoid any decision bias and would use this prototype to get feedback internally. I used Autoflow in Figma to help me easily map the user flow between each page ahead of converting the pages into a prototype.
Low Fidelity Prototype
Using Autoflow allowed me to quickly and easily convert the static pages into a clickable prototype with transitions and interactions.
UI Styles
The lo-fi prototype helped me recognize frustrations with the experience that I improved at the hi-fi stage. To create the high fidelity prototype I inspected the product's style and followed the 8pt rule to effectively and easily create a prototype that was consistent with the product styling. Before creating the prototype I defined styles and components to easily and quickly help me design consistently
Components
High Fidelity Prototype
ANYONE app is a new app in the market. At this stage of a lifecycle of a product, I think it's important to let users explore the app without signing up. The existing process of creating an account is quite tedious - users need to add not only email address, name, and password but also telephone number, picture, and wait for confirmation. By letting users try an app without signup we give people the opportunity to see the value of an app and to try its limited version so they can fall in love with it. After this exploration time, users may be more eager to invest some time to create an account and use full versions with all their existing features and benefits.
Below is the final version of the prototype that I created. I included interactions and transitions from Figma to match the flow of the product.
Testing
With the hi-fi prototype created I formed a testing script with scenarios and tasks for the user to complete to validate the prototype with real users. To test the prototype I used Maze and gathered feedback following every task.
| Complete | Name | Stage |
|---|---|---|
π‘ Hypothesis | ||
β³οΈ Goals & Metrics | ||
β Particpant Questions | ||
πͺ Task scenarios | ||
π€ Invitation |
User testing results
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User Goal New user learn about app offerings and value of the app Task A friend told you about an ANYONE app, you have downloaded it and want to learn more about the app offerings.
Familiarise yourself with the app offerings explained in slides and start creating an account. Tap the first screen to get started on your mission.
Follow up questions
- Did you find anything confusing about the experience?
- Based on the information you have just learned, how likely would you like to try the app?
- At this stage of your knowledge about the app, would you like to create an account or try the app without signing up?
- Do you have any thoughts how can we improve this experience?
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User Goal Customised experience for users based on interests Task You seek for professional advice on those topics: Art Investment, UX Design and Sustainability within your budget ($5-$30).
Find out if there are any English speaking advisors on ANYONE app without signup.
Follow up questions
- How easy was to complete this task?
- Was there anything confusing about this experience?
User Goal Finding a specific advisor who is online. Task You are interested in Art Investment.
Find an advisor who can help you start investing in art and is currently ONLINE so that you can call him/her directly.
Follow up questions
- Was it easy for you to complete this task? y/n
- What did you find frustrating about this experience?
User Goal Learning more about adviosor on profile page
Task You have almost decided to ask for advice a TOP ADVISER from the recommended for you list. Find out more about this advisor and try to call him/her.
Follow up questions
- How easy was to complete this task?
- What did you find frustrating about this experience?
- Based on the all the information about the advisor, how likely would you call that person?
- What else would you expect to know about the advisor before the call?
Outcome
The outcome of the case study was x