Summary.
This was a Google Ventures design sprint that took place over a period of 5 days, with each day having its own dedication for understanding the problem, sketching, storyboarding, prototyping, and testing.
The Dilemma.
There are an increasing number of people who don’t need much more than a laptop and an internet connection to complete a day's work. Or those looking for an adequate meeting space to wow potential clients. Imagine you are one of these people, a freelance photographer about to meet with a new customer. You have a slideshow of images to present this new client and you want to meet in a comfortable setting with a wifi connection and plenty of electrical outlets because your laptop battery is not what it used to be. You want to treat them to a coffee and some light fare, knowing that this potential customer lives a vegan lifestyle, you have 30 minutes to browse the internet for a proper location. But the internet is a vast place, and before long your 30 minutes stretches to over an hour and you have not found what you are looking for. What is a hard working small business owner like you to do?
My role.
Because research had already been completed by the GV team, it was my role to suss out potential solutions to the difficulties that people face when looking for a work space, narrow in on the most viable result, and then turn it into a working prototype.
Process.
Understanding the issue, analyzing the research
Mapping the most basic pathways to achieve the desired goal
Sketching out ideas after researching similar existing solutions
Deciding which idea is the simplest and most interesting
Prototyping the most necessary elements of the product
Testing the prototype with users and ideating on the initial prototype
Project length.
12 weeks
Tools.
Sketch - Affinity Designer - Miro - Marvel
Day One.
Understanding & Mapping.
Remote workers often have difficulty finding places to work from, whether they are out of their office, or don’t have an office to work from at all. This demographic is often searching for a quiet, non crowded, comfortable space where they can make phone calls, use wifi, and sometimes have something to eat or drink.
They need a stable and reliable wifi network, and if it is free without needing to purchase something, that is a bonus. They are often searching for someplace close to their current location. Therefore, having the ability to search keywords and locations on a map is good. They also place a high value on being able to view pictures that ideally show what the space looks like, how big it is and what amenities are available. Does it have a clean bathroom? How big are the tables? Are there any tables available? Is there electricity to plug in my devices?
Day Two
Research.
On day two I researched a variety of solutions in existing products, summarized what I liked about each one and how I might incorporate some of those solutions into my design. After gathering this inspiration, I did a quick brainstorm of features that could apply to Post Up.
Pre order menu items
Reserve a table
Connect with other users
Schedule tasks and mark as completed
Search work spaces by amenities
Ability to review work spaces
Ability to automatically reserve a table at the same time for selected days.
New workspace alerts
Sketching.
Next, I mocked up the most necessary screens which included; The ability to choose locations by the amenities they offer and the ability to select locations with other criteria such as distance or be able to search for a business by name. I included a screen that allows the user to write and save accomplishment goals and then be able to mark them completed. I also thought having a calendar and a time tracker could be useful, especially if the user is trying to keep track of time spent working outside of the office. (This was later deemed too much outside the scope of the project and eliminated).
3 panel sketch
Additionally, I created a 3 panel sketch which helped me derive the solution that was most intuitive and could get results to the user with the least amount of steps.
Day Three.
storyboarding.
Day Four.
Prototyping.
Day Five.
User feedback and validation.
I interviewed a total of 5 people both online and in a cafe. Two of the users were retired photographers who previously used space outside of their home office to meet with clients, as did another user who was an insurance sales representative. Other users considered themselves freelancers who used cafes to get work done. I used the Marvel app platform as recommended and used SKYPE to record the interaction. With user feedback I was able to make valuable modifications to the original prototype, mostly in terms of simplifying the experience. Changes include:
Exclusion of the auxiliary features in order to focus on the apps purpose
Combining filter options into one screen to decrease cognitive strain
Improving the overall UI and user feedback states
Reflections.
I appreciated the Marvel platform, it is extremely easy to throw up a prototype within a day, depending on the size of the project. Marvel makes it easy to duplicate animations and edit screens.