SPURT EXPERT APP
From solving everyday problems to tackling life dreams - talk to an expert
Overview
Role
As a student of CareerFoundry, I performed project-based assignments including the Spurt Expert App.
The objective was to create an app that enabled anyone, anywhere to instantly chat with an expert in virtually any field.​
Product Designer
UX researcher, designer, and tester
Jan - Apr 2022
THE CHALLENGE
Using a competitive analysis in partnership with the double-diamond strategy I was able to understand the issues facing users, determine a problem statement and pinpoint potential solutions that are representative of the audience.
"Our expert app users need a way to [quickly connect with affordable, skill-specific individual experts] because [they wish to receive advice about a particular situation/problem in a safe and non-committal way ]."
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We will know this to be true when we see [how often experts are successfully booked by users who have downloaded the app].
The best solution is to design to a sleek and simple app that is free to access. The app offers users a variety of well-categorized available experts that can provide specific advice to user questions via short video-sessions that the user can safely receive and pay for individually. The app must abide by project requirements including: ​​
Onboarding Screen​
Sign Up/Login Screen
Home Screen
Menu/Navigation
A way to browse experts
User/Payment Settings
Expert Categories
Individual Expert Profile
Payment Portal
Transaction History
System for becoming/acquiring experts, managing expert profile and receiving payments.
RESEARCH
METHODS
INTERVIEWS
The semi-structured user interview approach was helpful to me during the early stages of the project and allowed me to dig more deeply into users wants and needs. I could also gauge a sense of body language, attitude, and emotional responses.
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SURVEYS
.I decided to create a short, straightforward survey to create a framework for potential user behavior prior to performing user interviews to help shape interview questions. I find surveys to be a fast, inexpensive, and flexible way of gathering a large amount of information around what users may actually do, and how they think or feel about a certain idea or action.
SURVEY RESULTS
View my survey questions and results here.​
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Although less than 20 volunteers participated in the survey, I was able to construct more apt interview questions based off findings such as generally people tend to look online and search Google when they need information or advice, and that often they find what they're looking for but that it can be tedious or unreliable to search through results. I also gathered that people typically look for advice on a fairly regular basis for a variety of reasons, with all agreeing having expert advice at one point may have been helpful.
INTERVIEW RESULTS
1
More clearly define the motivations and challenges facing users looking for advice in a wide variety of areas​
2
Define what users like/dislike about the resources they use to find advise
3
Better understand user opinions and behaviors towards paying for expert advise
4
Clarify paint-points and valuable features to users when looking for advise
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Users seem generally open to advice.
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Quickness, ease of access and understanding are highly valued by users.
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Concise, organized advice are preferred by users.
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Users value credentials and expertise for certain advice and real, 'lived' experience for other advice.
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Users are generally comfortable or prefer video chatting for certain advice.
6. Users finding advice online limiting sometimes.
7. Users struggle with trust when looking for advice online.
8. Users struggle to find quality, niche advice with ease.
9. Users value both advice both as validation and when starting something new.
10. Users are willing to pay for advice conditionally.
PROCESS
INTERVIEW GOALS
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More clearly define the motivations and challenges facing users looking for advice in a wide variety of areas
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Define what users like/dislike about the resources they use to find advise
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Better understand user opinions and behaviors towards paying for expert advise
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Clarify paint-points and valuable features to users when looking for advise
SURVEY GOALS
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Determine a baseline of demographics for potential users
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Learn where and why users look for advise
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Learn about what tools users utilize to look for and receive advice
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Gauge initial interest in paying for expert advice
PERSONA CONSTRUCTION
Frustrations: Not being able to find or spending too much time looking for specific resources, not being able to bounce ideas off someone in his field
Motivations: Improving learning experiences for students
Helping his soccer and tennis teams go to regionals
More free time to spend with family
Age: 28
Job: Teacher
Finn
USER JOURNEY CONSTRUCTION
MARGOT
FINN
Scenario: Finn is getting ready to start a new school year by researching lessons and activities that pair with his curriculum and special needs students but is struggling to find contemporary content that's right for his students or any info to back up his ideas. In this scenario, his goal is to use our Expert App to quickly connect to an expert in his field to get advice and validate ideas he has for his lessons.
NORA
USER FLOWS
NORA FLOW 1
User Goal: Get actionable landscaping ideas for her garden
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Entry Point: Open App
Success Criteria: She knows the right plants for her yard and where/how to landscape them
FINN FLOW 1
User Goal: Find a quality source of advice and resources for his specialty teaching needs
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Entry Point: Open App
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Success Criteria: Finn was able to get advice and resources that fit his students needs for the upcoming school year
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NORA FLOW 2
User Goal: Follow up with her Gardening expert about her progress and any other questions she might have
Entry Point: Open App
Success Criteria: She quickly and concisely follows up with her Gardening expert
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INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Hierarchy
Flow
Outcomes
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
USER RESEARCH
LIMITED FEATURES
DESIGN FLOW
LOW FIDELITY INSIGHTS
MID FIDELITY INSIGHTS
I cleaned up a lot of ambitious guess-work in my original low-fidelity feature designs. Here, I more clearly visualized actual interactions, and transitions associated with user-actions and how best to organize, display, and streamline those features in a straightforward interface.
USER TESTING
Session Details
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Duration between 15-30 minutes
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3 sessions conducted in-person
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3 sessions conducted remotely via Zoom
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Participants all tested the Spurt Mobile App prototype
6 Participants
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Each signed a consent and release form
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Each participant was asked to perform 6 tasks and asked a series of open-ended questions for each
ANALYSIS
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AFFINITY MAPPING
After performing user tests I created an affinity map to organize behaviors and attitudes exhibited, needs or goals, and any frustrations, errors they encountered.
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Overall, users appeared excited about using/exploring the app but revealed a number of themes where errors and confusion occurred that helped drive actionable changes to improve the user experience.​ This includes changes such as prioritizing the schedule/credentials on the expert profile page.
RAINBOW
SPREADSHEET
I utilized the Rainbow Spreadsheet method as a way to organize and measure user test results and better quantify how quickly tasks were accomplished, paired with qualitative user quotes and behaviors to create a synthesized approach to iterating and improving the design.
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A/B TESTING
Session Details
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Duration 15-60 seconds
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Unmoderated remote sessions
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Participants tested 2 versions of a single screen of the Spurt Mobile App prototype
​12 volunteers
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The results provided insight into what users typically find to be clearer and easier to understand in order to complete tasks.
Screen-to-Screen Comparison
The Expert Profile page was tested with slight tweaks on the Expert Profile info tabs design.
The results provided insight into what users typically view as a cleaner visual design while still being able to get the information they're looking for with ease
Version 1
Version 2
Version 1
24%
Version 1
76%
HI-FIDELITY
DEVELOPMENT
In my final iterations I altered the design and arrangement of a number of elements to be clearer and easier to identify or click. I also cleaned up the over all color schemes and contrast of elements to distinguish important features and prioritize what is most important to the user. I also fine-tuned interaction designs to perform cleaner transitions between actions and pages.
FINALIZATION
Interaction
Design
Further Testing
Active
Prototype
Browse the active prototype to explore the features, interaction design, and overall user experience here.
Organization & Hand-Off
Part of this project was organizing project assets, creating design and pattern libraries in a way that makes hand-off to development teams seamless.
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Browse these files here.
TOOLS & METHODS
Design & Testing
Adobe XD
Figma
Balsalmiq
Zoom
Rapid prototyping
Affinity Mapping
Moderated User Testing
A/B Testing
Unmoderated Collaborative Review
Research
Zoom
Google Sheets
Lucid Chart
Google Surveys
Optimal Workshop
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
User Surveys
Card sorts
Users Personas, Journeys, & Flows