Design is about recognizing human patterns throughout the creative cycle.
Every project requires a unique set of design steps. What's most unique about my own process is the extra emphasis on user empathy.
I tried to cover a wide number of methods in the design challenge explored on this page.
I was recently asked by a potential employer to take a 7-day mobile app design challenge where a hypothetical problem was presented(below). This page outlines how I handled the challenge. Granted one week is not very long, my hope is that future employers can explore and appreciate this sample of my end-to-end product design process.
Design brief:
A 26 yr. old traveling salesman in NYC frequently misses important sales meetings, usually because of unpredictable public transportation. The primary factors include weather, overcrowding, peak traffic, and “other general delays.” The financial cost of missed meetings negatively impacts his quality of life.
Assuming you have access to a repository of public transport and systems data, design an app that will aid AJ’s to efficiently coordinate his use of public transport. Additionally, assume you have access to public transportation APIs, embedded mapping software, the user’s calendar and machine learning technology.
Three phases to my response:
1 - Research / empathy
2 - Create / shape
3 - Prototype / test & learn
Experience map:
User interview:
I immediately thought of real sales people I could talk to for a better understanding of what it’s like hustling between important off-site meetings. Since I am rarely late myself and not in sales, I craved more context of AJ’s situation.
I conducted a 20 minute interview with a friend Connor C. who has been in tech sales for about 6 years between 2 companies. I asked what apps he uses for work, and got a better understanding of his entire experience around conducting a sales meeting.
Human challenge:
From the brief: AJ often fumbles sales opportunities due to unpredictable conditions and transportation (weather/traffic/other)
Immediate solutions:
I see four high-level solutions;
1. Predict public transportation better
2. Alternative transportation
- May cost more
3. Bring the meetings to AJ
- Requires facility
- Less control of attendance = less certain effectiveness
4. Host virtual sales meetings online
- Less personalized experience = less effective to yield larger sales opportunities
App concept:
ReadyRide is a mobile app to help AJ get to his sales meetings on-time. It uses real-time data on public transportation routes and highlights the critical departure times required to stay on schedule. It will factor in historical trends about ridership and can also recommend alternative transportation options ranked in order of price.
Storyboard scenarios:
Good user stories are critical to design. I like to start with a “nightmare” scenario involving various challenges and then a “dream” scenario involving the product as a solution. Someone once said it's not a true fail scenario if it doesn't involve getting stuck in the rain.
Fail scenario:
App success scenario:
Design considerations:
A. I had an early question about if I should lean towards lofty futuristic concepts or stick to something practical. I chose to go with the most simple and practical approach I could. I wanted to develop something a good dev team today could build quickly without issue.
B. I gathered from the brief that AJ’s primary issues stem from (a) poor schedule management and or (b) inaccurate commute predictions. With this in mind you will notice I am not designing a new mode of transportation but, rather a weather/traffic aware scheduling & reminder system with timely and realistic transportation options.
UI feature ideas:
• Schedule views that considers transportation (between locations)
- Transportation delays
- Peak traffic times
- Other common issues
• Multiple routes between meetings
• Schedule view that considers weather given locations & times
• Connections to ride-sharing alternatives (Uber/Lyft)
• Map view of schedule
A critical part of any UX, navigation deserve significantly more attention than most components.
1. I began with simple and familiar shape outlines shooting for general legibility.
2. Next, I moved to more distinct shapes focusing on positive and negative space.
3. I added a color splash and began realized I wanted the icons to sit inside a blue navigation bar.
4. Finally I rendered the symbols in primary white to bring back the feel of a bold negative space.
Prototype:
I used Sketch with InVision to build an interactive prototype that could be user tested on any smartphone or computer.
User testing:
I ran only one 3-minute user test on the day before this project was due. Although this presented much more work to be done at the last moment, I learned invaluable ways to better express my original vision.
