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Client:Zaahah

Project:Mobile redesign of native app

Project Summary: 3 week project with Client Zaahah

My role was Product manager. I provided support in all areas, outlined schedule, kept conversations and daily deliverables on track, and point of contact. I provided direct support in user research, facilitating design studios, usability testing, iterations, key wireframes and high fidelity screens.

Problem Statement: Streamline event discovery via the Zaahah platform, and game-ify student engagement with extra-curricula's and each other online and in real life

High-fidelity Wireframes 

 Methods:

  • User ResearchAffinity diagraming, Neilson Norman group, Moscow method for feature prioritization, Usability testing

  • Design studio with key stakeholder,

  • Wireframes & iterations based on user testing

Tools: 

  • Google survey, Invision, Sketch, Keynote

Deliverables:

  • Key wireframes & high fidelity screens 

Unique challenge: 

  • no 1:1 student: adult interactions, therefore I supported the researcher with all usability tests.

User research

Competitive analysis feature inventory and app summary

Key insights: 

  • All free

  • Majority of apps include parents and or teachers, with student-focus app

  • Unii only app that is student only

  • All- create a profile- profiles are important

  • Zaahah offering the most diverse functionality

  • Gamification opportunities exist

  • Most apps have teacher/student communication

  • Student verification at sign up seems to be important

  • Video and photo sharing is important

Affinity diagraming from user surveys:

Key insights:

  • Students are highly connected to tech,

  • Participate in a range of activities from sports to painting model airplanes,  

  • Majority use Snapchat app to stay in touch with friends.  

 

Because of these themes, we chose a mobile-first design approach that would allow students to discover after-school events and groups, while maintaining their interest in the platform by allowing interactive content.

Proto-persona

Further in our research phase, we referred to industry experts Nielson Norman Group to learn about how teenagers perform in usability studies in their article Teenage Usability: Designing Teen-Targeted Websites

 

Key Insights:

  • Teenagers don’t like to read a lot on the web.

  • Detest sites that appear cluttered and contain pointless multimedia.

  • The best online experiences for teens are those that teach them something new or keep them focused on a goal.

  • Facilitate sharing but don’t force it. They do want to control what they share and how they share it. Sites that force teens to register and then automatically make the profile public on the site violate trust.

I facilitated a design studio with Zaahah's CEO James Sisneros.

Feature Prioritization

The UX team was provided with a list of feature requests, from 14 members of the student executive committee of the Association of Washington Student Leaders.

 

The most important features included:

  • Able to RSVP (y/n/m)

  • Having a calendar view

  • Display school/group

  • Post content to events

  • Offline calendar

Design Studio- 2 hours

GAUX team and Zaahah's CEO

 

  • Determined key screens

  • Work out user flows

  • Relationship strengthening 

Usability testing

 

  • Determined buttons needed to be larger

  • Liked teen-centered language

  • Needed descriptions of boxes in wireframes

Prototype

V1: Paper prototype 

User testing results:

  • Liked teen focused language,  

  • Questioned why other events were on the calendar page

  • User didn't know how to post photo in event page

  • Request invite button could be larger 

V2: Wireframes 

User testing results:

  • Wanted to know who was in a club before joining  

  • Add photo button closer to add comment field​

  • Wanted to know what events were happening today​

V3: High-fidelity Wireframes 

Next steps:

  • A/B test club detail page with upcoming events vs. posts

  • Add user profiles to club detail page (as seen above)

  • Design & test tag and follow functionality

  • Notifications of reactions/comments/tags to you or your posts

  • Improve visual affordance for swiping gesture of alternate angles of the live stream with arrow, tooltip or other guidance

  • ​Heuristic analysis on web and mobile sites.

  • Determine gasification rewards

  • Increase Bulletin post relevancy

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