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Jacobo Z. Leyendecker
Find a place to Post Up.
Telling the story of Post Up from research, to design, to final testing. - This project was a modified GV design sprint.
The Problem
Post Up wants to make it easier for remote workers to find great public places to work from. The problem with current solutions is that people are spending more time searching than actually getting work done. In addition, people are lacking the information needed to find these types of public spots. Far too often it happens that someone will find a place to work and settle in, only to realize there’s not a reliable wifi signal, no restrooms, or that money is needed to be spent to stay at the location. Post Up wants to solve this problem.
Research
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Current Solution
To garner a better understanding of current solutions, an interview was provided that allowed insight into how a user goes about finding a public place to work from. The following are notes that I took from a third-person point of view. The interviewee named Chelsea is a freelance graphic designer based in NYC and she spends lots of time working remotely. The question goes as follows: “Imagine you have a few hours between meetings and are looking for a public place to do some work.” Link to full walkthrough notes.
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End To End Journey Map
Post Research Analaysis
After having successfully completed the mapping phase of the design process, it is now clear what needs to be done to help users find public spaces to do remote work. Current solutions that exist are designed for people that are looking for places to eat or drink with entertainment in mind. Being able to develop a solution for the remote worker persona will be the app’s centerpiece moving forward with useful information such as wifi access, noise level, restroom accessibility, etc.
Lightning Demos
The following applications were selected to serve as lightning demos because they solve problems that are similar to that of Post Up. Instead of searching for places to do remote work, these apps help users find a multitude of diverse locations. In addition, these apps utilize customer reviews to help with a user’s decision-making process. Link to the full document
Google Maps:
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I chose to include Google Maps as a great comparison because of the services it offers. Google Maps is not just a GPS, it is an app that does it all, from finding restaurants to seeing pictures and reviews, to even finding out when a location is busy or when it closes. Google Maps offers all these features and does a great job of it. One of my favorite takeaways from using Google Maps is the way that it allows users to find locations using the map. Utilizing the map instead of utilizing a filter to select a distance makes it much more visible in understanding how far something is and what is located around it.
Yelp:
I was a first-time user of Yelp when I first downloaded the app. Similar to that of Google Maps, Yelp utilizes a map to help users locate their destination. The area that Yelp shines in however is the way that reviews are laid out to users. I found Yelp to have much more reviews for many places that I searched, and at times there were more pictures to view. The downfall that Google Maps and Yelp carry with them as it relates to “Post Up” is that many of the reviews and pictures pertain to the food and drinks and not so much the atmosphere or the quality of the space itself.
"Crazy 8" Sketches
Crazy 8’s is a core Design Sprint method. It is a fast sketching exercise designed with the purpose of sketching eight distinct ideas in eight minutes. For this project, I sketched eight frames that I believe accomplished the app’s intent based on the lightning demos.
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Solution Sketch
Below is a picture of the solution sketch (a three-panel board of the screen that comes before the critical screen, the critical screen itself, and the screen that comes after).
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Storyboard
Moving on to day 3 of the design sprint, I decided to make the opening frame of the app the primary red route for the user. I believe that this is the most important interaction that the user will face because it is the first step in being able to find the desired destination. Below is the full storyboard.
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Prototype
The following screenshots were taken directly from the Post Up prototype. This prototype is in correlation to that of the storyboard from Day 3. Post Up’s main function that separates it from other similar applications is that it helps users find locations for doing remote work. Making sure that this prototype exemplified that process was very important in ensuring that users could do just that. Adding filtered options that matter to remote workers as well as results that gave information about location amenities was the primary focus when developing this UI. Link to full prototype
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User Interviews
The interviewees that I selected were all people that would find an application like
Post Up useful because of their job or occupation. I made a strong effort to ensure
that the interviewees selected held some level of relation to that of the user persona.
The five interviewees ranged from ages 24 to 56 all with varying occupations. Three
of the interviews were done remotely and two were done in person and all interviews
lasted roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
The interview process went smoothly for all five sessions and each one offered unique
insight into Post Up’s strengths and weaknesses. Starting off with the positive feedback,
many interviewees appreciated the overall aesthetic and cleanliness of the app. Users mentioned on several occasions that the app felt clean and familiar in many ways to that of apps such as Apple Maps, and Yelp. Although I did not take any inspiration from Apple Maps, it made sense to hear responses like that since many map-type applications carry a familiar feel to them. In addition, I received multiple praises for the easy-to-understand home screen, as well as the filters pop-up screen. This would not be a complete design validation without a fair share of critiques. Although all five users had a positive impression of Post Up, three users pointed out that the font size within the “reviews” tab was a little small, and two users pointed out that they would have liked more information in regards to the same “reviews” tab.
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Conclusion
This design validation process proved to be a huge success for many reasons. I not only was able to receive positive feedback on the app’s key features and design cues, but more importantly, I received great feedback on where Post Up can be improved to better serve the target user. One of the main areas of Post Up that will definitely receive a second look is within the “reviews” tab. Making sure that users can navigate through real user reviews in a way that is intuitive and easy to use will be a huge factor in ensuring a great user experience. Conducting user interviews that validate design processes is key to achieving that goal of perfection because as the saying reigns true, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
