Preparing for the project

^{Please note: Although there are limited images or data shown due to confidentiality, my design process, the way I think and how I work is seen throughout the project.}

In preparation for this project, I worked closely with our UX lead. Together, we crafted a research plan that outlined our goals and methodologies. We then worked on recruiting and preparing for customer interviews, ensuring we had the right participants and a clear interview guide. This involved consulting with the CX team to find the most appropriate users to interview. We also developed a lean UX canvas – a concise visual tool that would help communicate our findings and insights.

Tasks

• Preparing the research plan
• Recruiting and preparing for customer interviews
• Preparing a lean UX canvas for stakeholder workshops
• Collaborating with various teams

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Research

The project's discovery stage began with a deep dive into competitor analysis, allowing us to understand the current landscape. To gather user insights, we then facilitated online interviews with users and conducted stakeholder workshops. Finally, post-workshop surveys provided crucial feedback to refine our process for future success.

Tasks

• Conducting competitor analysis
• Facilitating user interviews online
• Facilitating stakeholder workshops
• Managing stakeholders throughout the project
• Providing post workshop surveys to help improve them

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Analysis

I focused on synthesising the data gathered during the discovery phase. This involved analysing interviews and observation notes, and identifying patterns. By clustering these insights, I was able to define the core problem space. Interestingly, a trend emerged where users consistently mentioned three main features they desperately needed. Secure Log in, Transactions and Insurance. This guided us to prioritise the design efforts and focus on crafting a simple solution that addressed these critical user needs.

Tasks

• Analyse research findings
• Synthesise information by creating affinity maps to help understand the data and find common groups of information
• Creating affinity maps to
• Identify opportunities

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Design

I created low-fidelity prototypes in Adobe XD based on sketched wireframes that were workshopped with stakeholders. These prototypes were then used to facilitate user testing sessions with 15 participants. This iterative process ensured the design aligned with stakeholder needs while prioritising a user-centred approach.

Tasks

• Sketching wireframes to workshop with stakeholders
• Designing low-fidelity prototypes in Adobe XD to test with users
• Facilitated user testing with 15 customers

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Delivery, Report & Presentation

I compiled a comprehensive report outlining the key findings and insights learned from the research. This report was then presented to key stakeholders, ensuring all decision-makers were aware of the project's valuable takeaways.

Tasks

• Prepared a report on the findings and insights
• Presented to key stakeholders

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Learning and challenges

Working closely with various teams, especially the CX and Marketing teams, helped us focus on the most critical aspects of our research. Through collaboration, we developed our recruitment strategy to ensure we interviewed the right users. This cross-functional approach also helped us create a well thought out interview guide. This focus on user selection and question design is an essential yet often overlooked step in the UX process, and its importance was solidified through our collaborative preparation.

Providing post-workshop surveys was an excellent idea that gave us important information on how to improve our process. Key stakeholders are very busy and attending multiple workshops can often lead to workshop fatigue which they indicated was the case due to multiple projects on the go across the organisation. With this information we were able to change the structure and timing of the workshops giving back crucial time to those stakeholders.

While testing low-fidelity prototypes with users, there were technical and connection problems for some participants, causing us to book follow-up sessions and delaying the process. On the back of this experience we developed a guide for users and emailed them before the session so they could get familiar with how the session was going to be run and what they could do to fix issues if they came up.

I would like to mention the importance of sketching wireframes with key stakeholders. This process helped us to refine the design before interviewing users ultimately improving the experience.

I underestimated the amount of time required for thorough data synthesis. What felt like a quick analysis turned into a long process of combing through interviews and user observations. The upside, however, was worth it. By dedicating this extra time, we were able to uncover a clear path forward, with a deep understanding of the core user needs. This translates to a more targeted design and ultimately saves time in the long run.  In future projects, I'll definitely factor in more time for synthesis to ensure we stay on schedule.

Presenting to key stakeholders proved to be a valuable learning experience. With the help of my UX lead, we condensed complex information into clear, concise takeaways relevant to their specific interests. The experience highlighted the importance of anticipating questions and ensuring the presentation effectively addressed their priorities.