UVITE

A redesign of the mobile experience

OVERVIEW

uvite is a mobile app for easy event creation and invitation with unique settings that allow hosts to have more control over their events. I worked in a team of four product designers where we collectively worked on all aspects of the project, from user research to the final clickable hi-fi prototype.

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge that my team and I faced with uvite is to create an app where its value features (limiting the number of attendees to an event, having a minimum number of attendees for an event to be viable, and a cut off registration time) were clearly understood and did not take away from users being able to easily use the app.

UNDERSTAND

UVITE'S USERS

We performed competitor analyses on similar event planning apps to gain an understanding of the landscape, and to get a quick idea of the strengths and potential areas of improvement each competitor had that we can build upon for our uvite designs.

We found that there were no surprising findings with uvite's competitors. 

We then created a provisional persona based on our client's idea of who his target users are.

Following the Google Ventures: Startup Lab, another product designer and I created a screener to screen for users most similar to Hannah Ingleson.

FINDINGS

Synthesis of our results illustrated a large number of pain points that were prevalent throughout the app-- most notably in the areas of: Onboarding and Event Creation (see graph) .

STRATEGIZE

Knowing the limitations of the current design and the problems users faced in using the app, we took a step back and tried to come up with a game plan to address the various pain points that arose.

We decided to be ambitious and do a complete redesign of the app, based on the overwhelming number of pain points that we received an all aspects of uvite-- it proved difficult to just solve one aspect of the app, whilst neglecting the others.

• Redesigning the event creation page where uvite's value features are prominently displayed will allow users to understand the value that uvite provides, resulting in a higher active user retention rate. 
• Redesigning the home page to include coach marks instead of walking users through a nine-screen onboarding flow will allow new users to create a new event without confusion. 
• Targeting a narrower group of users to individuals who hold and attend small athletic events/pick-up games by using more casual and fun design and  copywriting, whilst highlighting uvite's value features will increase comprehension amongst users.

DESIGN STORIES & USER FLOW

Before ideating on design solutions to address the various pain points uncovered during usability testing, we created several design stories and a user flow (keeping Hannah Ingleson in mind) in order to:

• create various scenarios in which users would need to use the app
• understand how users would use uvite

DESIGN

CREATING WIREFRAMES

Revisiting our user flow and persona, we began a series of sketches with pen & paper to address the pain points that my team uncovered in the usability tests. We each took on different aspects of the app and iterated upon each others' designs, allowing each member of the team to have his/her voice heard.

In this process, I explored the event creation flow, app navigation, and adding friends & groups to hosted events.

We then used Sketch to digitize our wireframes to get a more concrete idea on the basic visual aspects of the design. We played with proportions, alignment, placement and the copy.

VALIDATING WIREFRAMES

Before proceeding to mock-up our digitized wireframes into high-fidelity designs, we first validated our designs on five users to determine if our work had indeed created a significant reduction in pain points.

HIGH-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

We then mocked up our wireframes to high-fidelity, iterating upon our designs to incorporate feedback obtained from usability tests on our wireframes.

STYLE GUIDE

As our client wanted to cater uvite towards younger and active crowds, we experimented with ways in which we could create something fun and edgy.

Color: We chose this shade of orange as the color evokes freshness, excitement and fun without being too overpowering.

Text Tone: We also tried to appeal to a younger crowd by using a more casual writing style, creating a more playful brand, and by adding an astro-dog.

Astro-Dog: To improve upon user feedback that the current onboarding flow was too long, imposing and confusing, my team and I instead opted to go for coach-marks so users can quickly learn on the go. We included a fresh-faced astro-dog into our welcome-screen with coach marks to guide new users into creating their first event.

FINAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS (SELECTED)

CLICKABLE PROTOTYPE

NEXT STEPS

After creating a clickable prototype, we conducted another round of usability testing on five users. Upon synthesis, although some minor pain points still arose, we were tremendously excited to see our users being able to easily able to navigate through our prototype.

One user even commented,