UX Case Study - Summer 2021
ComPeer is an MVP I designed for a 4-week project. It's an iOS application that seeks to help professionals forge real-world connections.
Users needs an active support networks to make career advancements, but creating and maintaining connections is intimidating.
I started the project because I wanted to help people reconnect after the pandemic. Initially, I thought I would create a dating app. However, after talking to users, I realized a more significant need for products that help professionals network.
From my professional experience in recruiting and talking to users, I learned that creating shared memories is crucial for creating meaningful connections. That idea became the heart of my product.
I interviewed 14 people to understand what motivates and scares them about attending networking events. I learned:
A cyclical design approach generated the idea for the app.
First, I came up with an idea, talked to users, mulled over their needs. Then I redefined the problem, solution, and target audience from the conversations. I continued the process multiple times over until I saw patterns that illustrated there would be a customer base for the product.
Pulling from my background in professional development and event production, I defined the questions I needed to answer to build a successful product. These questions formed the basis of my user interview scripts. Additionally, they were jumping points for my secondary research.
I conducted secondary research and a competitive analysis to comprehend the market.
Before jumping into the design, I made a provisional persona to empathize the users' needs, experiences, behaviors, and goals.
User POV Statement: Claire needs an active support network to make career advancements, but creating and maintaining those real connections is intimidating because Claire is afraid of rejection.
If we connect professionals before an event, they will feel more comfortable attending it because attending an event where you know people is less intimidating than walking into a room full of strangers.
Before sketching , I transcribed the app's information architecture, UI requirements, and customer journeys.
I simultaneously sketched task flows and corresponding screens. I received constant feedback during my sketching process, scheduling 1-2 interviews every two days to get feedback. By talking to users about their pain points and expectations, I understood which changes to make before implementing the high-fidelity prototype
I created a prototype in Figma and conducted ten remote user tests to learn how people will use the product. I tested the onboarding, checkout, messaging, and event creation sequences.
Here are the changes I made to the checkout sequence.
Version 1:
Version 2:
The majority of users commented on the "payment" frame during checkout. The timer was included to create urgency; however, users were confused by it, so I removed it. I replaced it with, "Only three more days to buy your ticket".
Same effect, different design solution.
Moreover, approximately 40% of the subjects were confused by the "skip payment" button. In the app, you can RSVP to an event without paying. This is important because schedules are unpredictable. By updating "skip payment" to " "RSVP but skip payment for now," I hope to clarify action routes.
Ninety percent of users commented on the "WHAT TYPES OF CONNECTIONS WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE?" frame. Remarks included, "Didn't I fill this out during onboarding?" To help mitigate confusion, I personalized the UX writing by adding the event name in yellow.
Another significant change I made included text size. Only a few people commented on the text being too small, but I noticed that most users had to squint while using the application. As consequence, I increased the font size in all of the frames to increase accessibility. Additionally, I enlarged the button from 40 px to 60 px, to make it easier for users to click on the go.
In addition, I updated the colors. I received feedback that "It's like LinkedIn, but more fun" and "It is an app I can see younger people using." So I heightened the saturation of the color palette to appeal to a young demographic.
ComPeer was my first MVP. Although I approached the project with what I wanted to make, I learned that you sometimes need to pivot ideas to make the product people want, and the best way to figure out what people want is to ask and listen.
If I were to continue this project, I would explore the user discovery flows and recruit more users to test the product.
