My Role

As a UX Consultant, working on the Design Team, we were challenged with researching, strategizing, ideating, defining, and designing final deliverables of the product for iOS and Android.

Specifics Included:

• generating clear and consistent copy for the mobile app
• serving as Project Manager - coordinating team meetings, setting agendas, and project deadlines
• creating sketches, visual design direction, prototyping, and interactions
• developing navigation and flows into easy-to-use solutions
• conducting and analyzing user research, competitive analysis, and ongoing user testing

Duration

January 2018 - July 2018

The Ask

Design an effective way to engage and onboard new attendee users onto the company's mobile application. Eventually, leading them towards subscribing to the service.

Overview

EventPass has four unique selling points based on market research and customer insight. With the $10/month subscription EventPass offers:

• unlimited monthly event access
• events when and where the user is located
• personalized suggestions based on users interests
• a wide variety of high quality offerings (Event Buffet)

With the above USP’s we hope to create trust with the customers and pave a way to launch in major cities everywhere.

The Solution

Deliver at Key Moments

The  onboarding process is a holistic, non-intrusive experience - seamlessly integrated into the background of a users' experience instead forcing it up front, inhibiting the apps ability to showcase tangible value.

To do this, we focused on 5 crucial pieces of the process:

1. Easily Access Content before Signing up/Subscribing

Users explore the USP's or skip by choosing Let me explore the app first. Either way, they are able to browse through the events that are being offered before signing up.

2. Simple, Single Screen Account Creation

With clear copy, users understand the steps and information that is required to create an account once on the screen.

3. Clear Validation with Visual Queues and Alerts

Clear visual queues show whether the data entered in the form fields is valid or not. Also, shows alerts for invalid data and password rules.

4. Straightforward Payment Collection and Progress

Hierarchy of content communicates to the user two pieces of information: 1. What they are they paying for and How much they are being charged. Users choose from different payment methods. There’s an option to try the app if they're still not convinced to buy the subscription.

5. Personalized Interests and Contextual prompts for App Permissions

Users select their interests from a variety of categories to receive personalized recommendations for events. After, they are asked for app permissions (use location) by providing context, only when some value is offered.

The Approach

Thinking in Products, not Features

The stakeholders stressed on developing a product with the same functionalities as our existing competitors in the market.
We felt that overloading the app with features would land us with a product that is not usable by the targeted customers.
Therefore, to differentiate the app experience from the current marketplace, we stressed on thinking in products to make sure that we build the right features for the audience and tackle real problems that customers currently have.

We further took inspiration from BJ Fogg's behavior model, in which he explains that behaviors are a consequence of three factors:

• Necessary Motivation - that makes a user want to achieve the desired result
  
• Suitable Ability - for the user to achieve that result
  
• Effective Triggers -to prompt the user to undertake actions to achieve it​​​​​
  

The Process

Research

Goal: Who are the users? What are they currently doing? What are their goals and challenges?

Assumptions

With information from the kickoff meeting and client interviews, we started our research with these assumptions about our users.

• Users search many platforms to find events they'll enjoy. This is time consuming.
  
• Users are searching for events primarily on a mobile device.
  
• Users like a simple, intuitive onboarding experience.
  
• Users are ok with giving up personal information to use access an app.
  

Interviews & Cognitive Walkthroughs

Interviews were conducted to find out about our users behaviors, goals, motivations, and challenges.

• 13 participants; female and male from ages 24 - 48
  

As a way to collect more insights for onboarding (pain points & opportunities), we conducted usability testing with 3 of our competitors' apps. The cognitive walkthroughs focused on:

• Task: As new users, create a new account and find an event they would want to go to.
  
• Goal: See the steps users take to accomplish this goal. How do they address onboarding?
  

Competitive Analysis

A better way to find a product that could be apt for the target audience is through understanding how the competitors are doing currently in the market.

Using the insights from the interviews and cognitive walkthroughs, we conducted an in-depth competitive analysis of our 12 direct and indirect competitors.

Personas

Based on the research results we understood that users have different motivations in using the application. We designed personas to prioritize the type of users to our application. We made two personas:

Research Findings

Ideation

Design Principles

Moving forward, the findings were converted to "How Might We" questions to help us frame our ideation and brainstorm. A set of high-level design principles were created using HMW questions as motivations. These principles were used throughout the design process as a north star that framed and guided design choices.

Design Goal

After creating the design principles and synthesizing insights, our overall goal for user onboarding was clear; To lead the users to see the “aha” moment.

With a strong value proposition and intuitive interface, we’ll be able to deliver the “aha” moment; it would be then that the user would realize the value of the product and will eventually get hooked.

For us, it would be helping them find the events they like and get them to attend their first event using the app (showing the user the value of the product).

User Story Map • User Journey • User Flows

After synthesizing, we presented all our findings to the client. We also invited them to be part of our white boarding sessions.

Collaborative meetings with the stakeholders provided an understanding of the details and uncovered business needs, their thought process, and workflows that needed further iteration.

Sketches • Wireframes • Rapid Prototyping

After client meetings and user testing provided initial feedback on the user flows, we took to sketching, rapid prototyping and more testing based off of flows relevant to our personas needs.

The Initial Design Explorations focused on four key interactions :
1. Splash/Informative Screens
2. User Account Creation and Payment
3. Choosing Interests
4. App Permission Prompts

Using the HMWs, personas and user flows, we explored multiple approaches through sketching and white-boarding. These were then discussed and validated amongst the team and stakeholders. The ideas with the highest potential were taken forward to higher fidelity wireframes.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Testing Two Promo Offers
‍Brainstorming sessions with the stakeholders led to promo offers that they wanted to run during the early stages of product launch. Since the user flow would be different for various offers, we wanted to test it out with lo-fi wireframes before moving forward.

The two offers were:

• $5 off for the first month - With Payment
  

  The user finds out about EventPass and gets the promo code through a friend referral, finds it on the landing page, or through advertisements. User goes through onboarding, selects the city and then signs up. After account creation and during payment, user enters promo code in the promo code field to receive $5 off, which is reflected in the bill.
  

  
• Three free events upon signing-up - Without Payment
  

  This offer would directly allow the user explore the app and attend events without asking for any financial commitment or personal info.
  

  

  **The stakeholders wanted the users to provide their card details when they sign-up (create an account). User membership would immediately start after they go to their first three events unless they go to settings and cancel their subscription. Backed by our research, we argued, Why even ask for card details if you don't need the information at that point?
  It took some convincing, but eventually, the stakeholders agreed with us to allow the users to sign-up for a free trial without providing their card details.
  

Results

‍Although most of our users gravitated towards the second option (three free events) option, stakeholders wanted to go with the first option ($5 off) for now and implement second in the later stage to gain more traction. Hence, I have focused on the first flow.

Validation

Usability Testing

Testing with different variants

Three variations of the Splash/Informative screens along with the rest of the screens were tested to gauge the users' perception of EventPass. We also wanted to see which variant increases the user's likelihood of engagement.

Result: We received a great response for Variant A. Users said that the video resonated with what EventPass had to offer and they were more engaged right from the start.

Design iterations based on user feedback

Using insights collected from user testing, we made changes that had a positive impact on user perception - increasing likelihood that they would engage with the onboarding flow and successfully complete the entire process.

Hi-Fidelity Wireframes

In this phase, the emphasis was on visual consistency and how the interface and interactions could help serve the core functionalities. Below I’ve explained the whole flow, where the user goes through every step of the onboarding process. I have also shown where the user would land if they choose to skip certain things within the flow.