Process and Methods
Our process began with forming a better understanding of the caregiving industry and our target audience (caregivers & individuals in need of care) through secondary and generative research, along with a market and comparative analysis. We developed lo-fi concept mockups based on the scenarios developed by our project manager (informed by our background research). Through ideation, we began building a select set of features for the development of the SandwYch app prototype. Our user and scenario testing lead to recommendations for stakeholders, as they move forward with the development of the app.
Comparative Analysis Findings
Generative Research:
Raw Data and Analysis
Scenario & Concept Ideation
The task scenarios were developed based on the data collected from generative research: typical care tasks, personal challenges as a caregiver/receiver, tools currently used, and suggestions.
These user personas in each scenario concept were created based on the secondary research findings, such as typical caregiver characteristics and challenges.
These user personas in each scenario concept were created based on the secondary research findings, such as typical caregiver characteristics and challenges.
Design. Review. Build.
These scenarios were used to brainstorm and create wireframes with features that could solve each scenario. All wireframes were collected and presented to vote on favorite features using the museum and dot voting technique. All UX team members & select stakeholders were involved in the voting process.These selected features & ideas were prioritized and used to build the app prototype.
museum presentation of lo-fi wireframes and dot voting
lo-fi story mapping of caregiver and helpmate onboarding/account set up
low to medium fidelity screen designs for concept scenarios: Onboarding/Account set ups and Help Requests
After voting on features, we broke into four teams to design different parts of the app corresponding to each of our scenarios. As part of the scenario 3 team, the "Help Request" feature, I worked with team designers to story map the feature information architecture and design screens for the prototype.
Once all teams reported back with their designs, a few designers developed the prototype. At the same time, myself and other researchers started our RITE testing protocol.
App Prototype
Link to view prototype: https://www.figma.com/proto/w8HH7Tazf0JoZMxi9znAzY/Portfolio?page-id=19%3A12295&node-id=31%3A8982&viewport=241%2C48%2C0.14&scaling=min-zoom&starting-point-node-id=31%3A13727
Onboarding screens in prototype
Task scenario & MVP feature screens in prototype
RITE Testing Protocol
We decided to use Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) as our usability testing method to efficiently generate user data within our allotted time in Sprint 6. RITE testing allowed us to evaluate our concept solution designs in a rapid and iterative manner to identify usability problems and recommend new solutions that cater to them. Results from RITE testing also identified future research & design directions for stakeholders as the development of the app continues. I have identified a few selected findings from our usability testing below:
Project Insights
Industry Takeaways
This was a class project designed to be as close to an industry project as possible, so our professor doubled as the project manager and would communicate the needs of our stakeholders in order for us to carry out the research. My role, along with other classmates, was UX Researcher & Designer. When the idea was first brought to us, we decided that it would be more efficient to start by talking to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to get a better understanding of the caregiver industry. Once we were able to gather information form SMEs, we continued collecting background research through secondary, market, and generative research.
By doing this, I gained experience & insights on the importance of needfinding and understanding target user audiences before planning which UX methodology to use. Once we collected sufficient secondary data, we were able to ideate user scenario concepts and feature designs. Combining and comparing secondary data with RITE testing data provided us with rich feedback and helped streamline what we identified as prioritized recommendations to the SandwYch stakeholders.
Research
This project was brought to us at its inception of the idea; therefore, conducting all the background research was crucial for its development. A noteworthy observation I made when comparing our final recommendations to the secondary research conducted at the beginning was an inconsistency between the key findings of caregiver burnout compared to our actual user sentiments. While burnout and self-care seemed like an important feature to have within the app, our user interviews revealed that a self-care feature wouldn't be that useful to them because they are more concerned about the logistics of the care for their loved one. This insight helped prioritize logistical feature recommendations within the app.
Overall Experience
My experience with this project immersed me into the agile sprint life-cycle that industry projects usually adopt. Since our team was made up of 9 researchers and designers, we were missing a developer's perspective. In the future, I look forward to working on a UX team that also incorporates devs into the project life-cycle. This project demonstrated how crucial research is in a project life-cycle to, not only generate ideas, but to also guide decisions when selecting appropriate UX methods and presenting recommendations to stakeholders in order for the project to move forward with its development.
