Reference App
The Assignment
Design an “Expert” app, where users can get answers to their questions via chat from experts in a particular field.
Competitive Analysis, Surveys, & User Interviews
I started the process by researching other apps on the market that had a similar use case. I compiled that information into a competitive analysis report. This information helped me narrow my scope to a more specific user base. I decided to design a virtual reference application where users could ask questions of librarians.
With that in mind, I created a business plan that included an overall goal for the application, as well as the target audience, potential competitors, and a risk/opportunity analysis.
I then designed a survey to learn more about potential users and distributed it digitally. I also created an interview script and interviewed a small number of people to get more in-depth information about potential users.
I then took the information I gathered from the interview process and did a card sort to organize that information based on four themes. This allowed me to see where the application may run into problems in the future so that I could address those issues in advance. It also revealed many of the aspects of the application that might be most important to the potential users. This information helped guide the next steps in my process.
User Research Analysis
Personas
Based on the previous information, I created personas to assist with determining the MVP for the application. These personas also served as a guidepost for the remainder of the design process.
For each persona, I also created a Task Analysis to keep the design user-focused and identify potential pain points and address them early in the process.
Information Architecture
Next I created a sitemap for the application in order to understand the hierarchy of the app. I then used an application to survey potential users again to help find errors and omissions in my original sitemap and to better understand how users would expect the application to function. I used the results of this survey to create an improved sitemap.
Wireframes
With a sitemap in hand, I was ready to begin the first iteration of wireframes. I created a simple sketched version of the most important interactions of the application to build upon in the next phase.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
I then created a low-fidelity prototype to make sure the interactions were intuitive to users before moving on to higher fidelity iterations.
I continued creating progressively higher fidelity iterations and testing them with potential users to guide further progress.
Affinity Map & Rainbow Spreadsheet
Taking all of the user research gathered to date, I created an affinity map and rainbow spreadsheet to synthesize all of the information and to identify errors that needed to be resolved.
Before I could begin using the synthesized information above to create higher fidelity designs, it was first necessary to create a design language that would determine the color palette, typography, elements, layout, etc. for the entire application. I created the document shown here to drive future design decisions as the application progresses.
