Our clients Andrew Colom and Mike Jennings of BidPro, came to our UX team to design a viable product that would create a greater sense of security in finding a home service provider. They wanted users to work together to create trust within the network. They also wanted smooth functionality between the user and the service provider. We were tasked to find out how potential users would use the product. We also wanted to see the desirability of such a product.
We started with a few questions. How might we approach having an in-app payment and schedule option? How could users get clarifications on reviews using peer-to-peer contact? Could the product help during emergency situations? Would including referrals create a sense of trust within the network? How was everything going to function seamlessly for users and providers? From here, we began the research.
We researched the competition. BidPro was entering a crowded marketplace with notable companies including Angie’s List, now merged with HomeAdvisor, TaskRabbit, Home Depot’s Pro Referral, and Thumbtack. We wanted to set BidPro apart from the competition. Then we focused on domain research about the mobile marketplace; m-commerce as opposed to e-commerce. This informed the team on how mobile products were influencing the market. We discovered when users and providers abandoned an app and did business without it after connecting on it was referred to as ‘platform leakage’. We gained insight on approaches that would minimize platform leakage.
During our kickoff meeting we incorporated a semi-journey map activity so Mike and Andrew could show us where their value propositions of seamless, trust, transparency. With a traditional journey may, we would have marked the possible highlights and pain points a user would experience through using the product. Similarly, we mapped out how a user would go through the flow of the product, such as signing up, searching for a professional, selecting the pro, verifying the pro, confirming an appointment, making a payment, etc. Then Mike and Andrew placed sticky notes under steps so we could see where they envisioned their value propositions to come into play.
In the first sprint, we began our user interviews. Our questions focused on how people hire a service professional:
planning – how do user plan for projects on their homes
searching – what would be the most intuitive method for finding a pro
scheduling – how do we make this process easier and faster, less back and forth
payment – how can this be done seamlessly through an app
referrals – did users want to be able to refer pros
posting review – did user read and leave posts
We also wanted to know about users’ prior experiences, what was the minimal information needed to decide on a professional, and how they used reviews. We synthesized the data from the interviews through an affinity mapping process. As we moved through the process we created groupings that resulted in actionable statements that reflected our user’s feedback. Some examples were ‘I need to be incentivized to leave reviews’ and ‘I prefer the entire process to be convenient’.
Eventually, we integrated the problem statement: Millennial homeowners need a digital tool that leverages a network of trusted providers and neighbors in the process of researching and hiring service providers because they want service providers who align with their expectations. We developed our design principles; reduce friction – for a seamless experience, build confidence – to add value with the provider, and partner in the process – to promote inclusion and trust.
With the problem statement and design principles in place, we created user personas. There were doubts amongst the team about the necessity of them. From my past experience of research and course work, I found value in the personas that the other team members didn’t seem to have. I believe they could be very valuable telling a relatable story about how the app may work for a user. It appeared my persuasion worked as everyone got onboard. From there we designed the journey map to accompany our user personas.
Next, we created concepts with low-fidelity prototypes (hand drawn). We wanted to get something tangible in front of users and test. We found the users were interested in a feed option, search listings, messaging, profiles with lists of their achievements, and a trusted provider network. We needed to know more about our user’s mental models. We expected this test to validated our ideas early, hopefully removing future risks. We were able to get a good idea of how our minimum viable product (MVP) was going to take shape.
During the following sprint, we moved forward creating mid-fidelity wireframes (digitally) where we were able to tested the usability of the flows. These were used to evaluated the smoothness of moving end to end through the product, gauged user responses, and located problem areas. The first round was done utilizing InVision. After making changes, the final prototype was developed using Axure.
The process began by exploring the concepts of search, schedule, payment, and reviews. We also looked at gamification, referrals, and peer-to-peer messaging. Payment and scheduling did not test well within in the messaging section. Users were confused by it. They felt both payments and scheduling needed to live somewhere else. We believed they needed deeper dives on how and where to structure them before being implemented.
We found in-app tools like scheduling and payment would also help avoid platform leakage. Gamifying users’ participation in leaving reviews, making referrals, and involvement in the community feed would help with engagement and lessen platform leakage, too. There was value allowing users to directly contact one another for more private information, like pricing as well as having a publicly displayed questions section where users could see what others were discussing.
During our last client meeting, we circled back to the user persona of Nigel and how he would use the MVP. They were very impressed with the final walk-through in Axure. The storyline with Nigel was effective at explaining how the MVP worked with the feed, search for professionals, messaging, profiles plus achievements, and the trusted provider network. Utilizing the feed to create a hyperlocal community-based product was presented to the client and it was well received. The MVP we presented made them start to rethink their business model.
As our client Andrew put it, “I think the quality of the work you’ve delivered is really outstanding. And it’s a lot for us to think about, as I’ve said before, in a good way. We just want to take a second and get my mind wrapped around it. I don’t even know if this is a pivot. This is like a full turn.”
Andrew asked us about what potential obstacles we foresaw and how they could avoid them. We encouraged them to test again in the future because the UX portion of a project shouldn’t just be in the beginning. I followed up that they should consider updating their personas to help reduce risk later.
There was great value in having a client activity during the kickoff meeting. We were able to see where their value propositions of seamless, trust, and transparency could be applied to specific areas within the app. Having a semi-journey map for them to visually place post it notes really helped us understand their thoughts on the product before getting started with users and testing.
From the user interviews, I came to realize there was a pattern of behavior were users relied on reviews but didn’t leave them. This left an impact on how gamification can be used to encourage users to leave reviews as well as keep them engaged in other areas of the product.
I still think I need to explore affinity mapping further. It made more sense to me as we developed actionable statements. This showed me how to synthesis data into a problem statement to keep us focused moved forward.
Listening to our users led us to one of the more impactful features of the app, the community feed. This was a way for users to find quick answers to questions. There could read articles on how to tackle home projects. It’s a great place to see pictures of what their neighbors were doing and find inspiration.
I am glad I pushed to create personas for our project. I believe the persona of Nigel add a level of connection between the user and our client. I also helped tell a compelling story of how the MVP worked end to end.
When we originally tested for a peer-to-peer feature, we didn’t get great results. Andrew wasn’t sold on the idea that people wouldn’t use it. When we tested it again we took a different angle; we approached it as direct messaging. Users responded to it more favorably. This left me with the knowledge to test multiple times, from different perspectives.
For our last round of testing, I was slightly removed during the development of the interview questions. I came to realize the process is something that shouldn’t be done last minute and really needs time for everyone to digest. I became frustrated with the amount of questions and realized it was my own fault for not participating more during the process.
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