App Prototype

UX Design

Client

SPUR Connect

Methods

Cognitive Walkthrough, Contextual Inquiry, Affinity Diagram, Information Architecture Diagramming, Evaluative Research, Low Fidelity Wire-framing

Deliverables

Interactive Prototype, Cognitive Walkthrough, Research Protocol, Prototype tour

Tools

Figma, Google Sheets, Good Docs, Dropbox, Zoom, Pen and Paper, Quicktime, WAY too many post it notes

My Role

I worked on a team to gather information and to conduct user research. Then based on the research, I formed three focuses and built an interactive prototype.

A mobile app prototype for SPUR Connect

My team and I were asked to evaluate SPUR Connects app as they are in the process of building something for small business owners, entrepreneurs, Job seekers, and traveling business employees. Their goals are to help people connect, set up meetings, and track tax information that have to do with those meetings (Ex. receipts).

Opportunities

SPUR Connect asked my team and I to do some research on the usability of this app.

A few of the clients goals were:

Sign in
Find and browse profiles within a localized geographic area
Find and browse profiles fitting certain user-entered criteria or location
Document a receipt for a recent meeting

We started off using the usability inspection method, cognitive walkthrough, to determine if there are places in the flow of the app where users don't know how to proceed. We found that the app had a few places in the flow where users may stumble if they are new or infrequent visitors.

After the Cognitive walkthrough, my team and I wrote a script and conducted a contextual inquiry Interview.

A few of our goals in the contextual inquiry were:

Gain insight around how they currently network
Learn how they find contractors
Understand how they connect with other business owners
Make note of the tools they use to accomplish their goals
Learn more about pain points in networking
We also wanted to discover what would happen when they took a look at the SPUR Connect app

Though our team only led the interview for one participant, we were able to gather information from four participants.

Here are a few quotes from the participants:

“If I showed you my wallet right now, it is a handful of receipts.”
“This stuff all adds up, subscription upon subscription.”
“If I am going to take the receipt, I need it to go into an accounting folder with all of the information needed.”
“If I had a meeting dropout, and I’m trying to fill my trip, I would want to know who in my network is actually residing in that community that day.”
“I probably would not take notes on this app… having this content locked in this app.”
“There is a photo button, however, if it is buried in the meetings and meetings looks like.... I don't know that I would go into meetings to take a picture of the receipt.”

Contextual Inquiry

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Process

After the user research, the team moved on to synthesizing data using affinity diagramming as our last group effort on the project. After thoroughly combing through the data as a team, I moved into selecting some key findings.

Some of the key findings were:

Landing Page on spur connect was confusing.
Users wanted integration with other apps or to at least be able to reach outside of the app.
Users wanted automated sharing to bookkeeping systems.
Camera / photos being hidden in the ”message” section made this app less viable - having to upload instead of take from within added lots of steps making it less viable.
When searching through a network, people want to be able to have a great search system. Expansive, with industry searchables and locations. They also wanted a map option.
Some users were concerned about location privacy.

With time being a major constraint on this project, I chose to focus on three areas. To assist in creating a product for the user, I created three user stories to design for:

As a small business owner, I want to be able to open an app to a map (not a blank page) of where I am and a search bar so that I can see who might be available to connect.
As a small business owner, I want to be able to take pictures quickly (not have to search for it in messages) and have a place to store the information outside of my camera roll so that I can stay organized and declutter.
As a small business owner, I want to be able to easily track my receipts that will automatically be sent to my bookkeeping system (not have it locked away and forgotten in the app) so that I don't have to spend my time on that.

Following this process, I started sketching some low fidelity wireframes and crafting an information architecture diagram. Once I felt like I had designed some main screens and the diagram, I worked on a low fidelity user flow with screens.

Research Findings + Prototype Plan

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Outcome

With SPUR Connect being an early phase startup, the app we were working from was an MVP prototype where all elements and tasks may not be fully functional.

I felt that it would be valuable to build out a bit of a fresh design, as much of the structure was where the user stories were focused, and much of it would be adjusted.

With the screens I designed, I created an interactive prototype. Along with the prototype, I made a guided tour video showcasing the prototype and some annotations on several screens for the client to make sure that the reasoning was clear, as well as the new/adjusted features.

Overall, I think that this app and it's concept could bring a lot of value to users. Looking forward, I would recommend further usability studies for this iteration or any iteration that that is created. If I had more time, I could have focused great on the settings, connections, messaging, calendar and safety in this app.

Interactive Prototype