Now that we have seen the design process in action, let's apply the design process to an example design project for a mobile device.
Imagine that during the research phase of the project with our last client, futbolfinder.com, we found that they really needed something to help with the marketing of their store to maintain a competitive edge. Many ideas were brainstormed with the marketing team, such as online advertising and search engine optimization. However, the one idea that captured everyone's interest was the creation of an application for a mobile device that would be of particular interest to their target market. The competitive analysis performed earlier showed that a couple of other larger sporting good companies had made similar attempts. However, they were rated very low, and didn't appear to offer a compelling reason for the customer to download and install the app. It would appear that they might be able to set themselves apart from their competition if they offered an application that their target market found useful, and which in turn offered advertising opportunities.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- How to use research techniques to isolate the qualities our primary customers possess, and what product features they might find valuable
- How to filter our initial feature list to define our Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- How to map out the high-level details of how our features might function and knit together
- How to map out the unique screens each user profile will require
- How to define the function and form of each screen of our product through sketches and wireframes
- Some considerations when applying the visual design layer
We have been called in again to help design the user experience. After finding out a bit more about how we work and what we do, the client calls us in from the start and looks to us to guide them through the process of figuring out the features that are needed, the structure and interactions the application will require, the content needed to support the product, and the final visual design.
We interview the client to find that he really has no idea of what the user might find useful. It looks as though we will need to employ some design techniques that will guide them through an examination of their customers and explore some new ideas.
We set up a project kickoff meeting with the client and key stakeholders to brainstorm the features this application might have. The personas we generated for this client were very useful in the creation of their website. Since this project is aimed at offering value to their existing customer base, we decide that we can reuse these personas for this effort.
Our brainstorming session with the client using personas as a focus for the discussion yields the following results:
Susan Soccermom represents the segment of users that visit the store due to their children's involvement with a local youth soccer league. She would be interested in knowing about specials and sales on equipment that relate to her children's soccer equipment needs. She is also interested in the game times, locations, and events related to the league and her children's teams. Due to her busy schedule, it can sometimes be a challenge for her to keep track of the game times and locations.
Perhaps the mobile app could help her by obtaining the game schedule and location from the league or coach. In addition to being guided to the location of away games, she could be given advertisements for new products and special sales for youth players.
Eric Enthusiast represents the segment of customers who love to watch soccer games. He doesn't play the game himself, but he tracks his favorite players and team scores and watches as many games as he can. He would love to know about when teams are playing near him and have access to special deals on tickets. If the games were not local, he would also be interested in knowing where he can meet up with his friends to watch the game on TV. He is interested in fan gear and promotional licensed memorabilia. If he has access to crazy wigs and face paint in his team's colors, he might just buy them if the price is right.
Perhaps the mobile app could help him by giving him a schedule of the games his favorite teams are playing and access to purchase tickets online. We could pull in scores, stats, and news updates about his favorite teams/players so he can keep track of their performance. We could also offer specific promotions for the type of products he would likely purchase from the store.
Peter Player represents the segment of customers who are a combination of an enthusiast, player, and coach. Peter would be interested in much of the same things as the other two from both a feature and product perspective. He might also be interested in instructional content to help his youth soccer coaching activities. This may also influence his shopping habits. He'll likely be more interested in products related to refereeing and field equipment.
Perhaps the mobile app could offer coaches special deals on certain product categories that are a bit more targeted to their needs. It could offer a management portal for coaches and league officials to enter the schedule and location of games. This could then be shared with the team members and families.
Once we have all of the ideas captured, we review with the team the viability of options by running them through the Feature Reality Test that was discussed in Chapter 2, Example Project – E-commerce Website. We examine our personas to see which has the highest potential impact on the success of the company. We also identify which feature set has the highest likelihood of successfully impacting the user's life in a positive way.
From all the possible options, the team has decided that the customer with the most influence and purchasing power is Susan Soccermom. Though coming to the store looking for a bargain, Susan represents the largest group of shoppers with a predictable and perennial need. Basically put, children in youth soccer leagues need equipment to play the game safely. Furthermore, they will likely outgrow their equipment each season. This means there is a very high likelihood that the customer base Susan represents will need to purchase new equipment at the beginning of every new season.
Creating an app with features which will make her life easier will keep her using it. Every time she uses the app, we can remind her of where she can find the soccer gear her child needs to play safely. Not only that, the app can bring special deals and sales to her attention. Everybody wins!
Focusing on Susan's needs for her child's youth soccer league also touches on the coaching needs of Peter Player. It would appear that focusing on features that apply to local soccer leagues is the most predictable path for success and will likely offer the largest return on their investment.
Using this research and analysis, the team agrees on a phased approach for developing this application. They will pursue the following versions.
Version 1 will focus on the scheduling needs of Susan Soccermom as well as the coaching needs of Peter Player. The agreed upon features are as follows:
- Ability to access the schedules and maps to all games
- Ability to view/e-mail the people of the team on the roster
- Ability to invite others to download/install the app
- Ability to enter and display scores of games
- Ability to offer advertising for related products and special offers
Version 2 of the product could expand to meet the needs of Eric Enthusiast:
Tip
It is important to consider a versioned solution when defining a product. Our MVP should only contain the most basic features that are required to make the app work in its simplest form. Adding too many features in our initial product can delay our app's entry into the marketplace. The added complexity of too many features can often kill our product before it gets out the door. It can be worthwhile, for quality and stability's sake, to observe and refine our initial offering before we add more complexity to it.