Dafny Deftereos
Product Designer
Projects
Project - New feature
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The sales team didn't know what products to offer, so we designed a recommendation system based on real data to increase sales.
3 day sprint - Technical test
Trans
Connect
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By adding a glossary to a web application for document translation, users who cause email overload could decrease by 20%.
10 day sprint - Case study
moontrip.
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A space travel e-commerce wants to reduce the churn rate by offering users cryptocurrency payments, supplies, and eligibility assessments.
Work in progress...
overview
Ventafuerza
It is a complex management and sales software for companies (B2B) with many modules. In this project, a specific module is shown: The Client Manager. In it, all the customer information can be viewed on a single screen, users have direct access to customer's data and they can perform actions such as sending invoices, creating order pursaches, opening tickets, etc.
Challenge: Create a new feature to help salesmen and saleswomen increase sales
Role: Product Designer
Enter here to try it!
BASIC FEATURES
Search
Centralized Data
Easy Comunication
Informative Charts
Client's Record
Design process - Summary
Sales team with 12 very different people, who wanted to increase sales but didn't know how to do it. We build personas and workflows using data from our on-site interviews with this real users.
The graphics were not easy to understand and we needed to redesign them, so the data was clear and useful.
Most users don’t know what products they should offer to clients (actual and potential). Also, they can’t or takes them too much time to find data about previous sales.
Finally, we got an MVP that our clients could use to improve their sales.
This new feature offers sales recommendations based on what the client or similar clients have already bought using statistics and data.
We defined important OKRs to measure not only the usage of this new feature but also if we were increasing sales with it. We did comparisons with the initial point.
The prototype was created with Adobe XD. We used a previously
established design system.
It is important to communicate about this new feature, internally and externally. Where to find it? How does it work? Give examples of usage, etc.
EMPAThIZE
Goal
Obtaining information about users’ profiles, needs, desires, and workflow.
Methodologies
Results
Challenges
DEFINE
Goal
Methodologies
Results
Challenges
Once we know and empathize with users, we need to focus on their problems and define the ones we are trying to find a solution for.
- User Personas
- User Journey
- Use cases
- Requirements
- Big problem: Most users don’t know what products they should offer to clients (actual and potential).
- Smaller problems:
- They can’t find data about previous sales
- It takes too much time to find data about previous sales
Ideate
Goal
Once we know the issues that we are trying to solve and for whom we are solving them, it is time to ideate how we are going to do so.
Methodologies
Results
Challenges
test
Goal
Once we have a solution, we need to know if it’s a real for solution for the user or not.
Methodologies
Results
Challenges
Implement
Goal
After solving problems that showed up in the testing phase, we can finally implement our new feature and measure the impact it has on the problem with wanted to solve in the first place.
Methodologies
Define metrics, measure them and comparate with the initial point.
Results
We focus on three metrics/OKRs:
- Usage of the new feature
- Time spent on the new feature
- Sales increase
Challenges
Getting real data to know the usage and time spent on this new feature.
Document
Goal
Document this new feature: where to find it? How does it work? Examples.
Methodologies
- Internal communication: flyers, brochures, technical documentation (confluence)
- External comunication: videos
Results
Other clients can benefit from this feature and use it too!
Challenges
Create a visual, short, and easy-to-understand document, so people can get interested in this new feature.
Next Steps
- Get data to calculate the metrics. Once we have numbers for the OKRs we will see if our new feature is achieving its goal or not, if it is not we need to analyze, do more research and ask ourselves, why is it failing?
- Redesign the graphics. During the test process, this was a weak spot, users suggest to use traffic light colors to indicate if the client was above or below media.
- Encourage consultants teams and sales teams to show this new feature, so other clients implement this new feature in their workflow.
Lessons Learned
- You are not your user. I learned that we need to dedicate time to understanding the different types of users, evaluate their workflow and be smart when interviewing. Sometimes users don't know what the problem is, they don't know what they want, so we as researchers have to direct the conversation to what is important.
- Focus on one problem. I realized that if you try to fix everything you end up fixing nothing. Sometimes we want to solve many problems with only one feature (because we think that is efficient), but the reality is that this would not be the best for the user, so we have to narrow it down to one problem and make it simpler.
- Accessibility. For this project accessibility was very important because users need to fit this new feature into an already consolidated workflow. Sometimes users are so comfortable with the software that they are afraid to change it. In these cases, we need to design an easy and accessible feature that can enter their daily work without changing it too much.
OVERVIEW
TransConnect is a web application that allows business users to request their documents to be translated.
When the translation is done, users can download the translated documents directly from the platform.
Then, users can review the results and request changes or corrections by sending an email to account managers.
Company's problem: Managing emails overloads account managers (AM) and doesn’t let them focus on more important tasks.
Company's objective: Decrease by 20% the number of users who send emails to account managers (AM) by providing them a better solution through the same platform they use to download the files.
Company vs. users
The company's problem and objectives are already defined, but the users pain points and goals are not.
I don’t know if the user's real pain points are going to be related to the company's problem. For example: for one user, managing reviews can mean a couple of emails (not a problem), meanwhile, for account managers that handles several accounts, it can mean hundreds of emails (a big problem).
Research needs to focus in why are users sending emails and how they can do reviews in a way that is a win-win solution for both, users and account managers. Some question I could ask during users interviews to built user personas:
user's PAIN POiNTS & GOALS
After I analyzed interview data, I choose pain points related to the company's problem: a larger number of emails requesting changes. Then I defined the goals for each pain point.
Relating USER'S PAIN POINTS with company's PROBLEM
how might we prioritize?
Which of these options has enought impact to reduce up to 20%?
how might we prioritize?
As I see it, only two of the primary options have enough impact to decrease the number of users who send emails to 20%:
In this case, I think all of these goals can be achieved with one solution…
So, how might we save information, translate words correctly and be more technical?
ideas
I did a competition analysis, researching Smartling, GlobalLink, Lokalise, and Transifex for ideas and inspiration. Generally, they all work with two concepts related to the goals:
- Glossary
- Translation memory
I sketch some preliminary concepts
PROTOTYPE - Changes upload and status
PROTOTYPE - Words introduction into a glossary
ITERATION & NEXT STEPS
Problems we can find with this solution:
- Enter data for the glossary cloud be mandatory or not.
- Size of the files for correct/fast upload
- What if the data for the glossary is repeated or duplicated?
- What other data besides word and translated word is required?
Next steps:
- Iterate to have a better design that solves problems above
- Conduct usability tests, A/B testing, focus groups, etc. to validate the solution.
- Get data from real users to validate assumptions.
- Redesign wireframes and user flows using testing results and insights.
- Meet with stakeholders and engineering teams to validate the solutions.
- Document: where can I find this functionality? Limitations? Examples.
- Implement the solution and measure results.
- Be aware of new pain points to continuously improve the design.
OVERVIEW
moontrip. is a company that sells trips to the moon. The website was created two years ago and it has every basic e-commerce functionality.
Sales are good, but the churn rate had been increasing for the past six months, which is why the primary business goal is to reduce the churn rate by offering a better user experience.
What are we selling?
- Morrinson: 1 day in space.
- Hawthorne: 7 days in space.
- Lightyear: 15 days in space, with 5 days camping on the moon.
Who are we selling it to?
American people with high purchasing power, adventurers, hardened travelers, and for those with the desire to be socially recognized.
Challenge / Problem
Identify problems that make customers leave the website without buying any product. Propose a solution for three of them and plan how to validate them.
Role: UX Designer
moontrip.
PROCESS
Empathize
Interviews with users
We need to understand why users are leaving the website without buying any product. An example of some questions we'll do could be:
- Why did you leave without buying?
- What would be your ideal process to buy a trip to the moon?
- What do you think about the products?
- Tell us more about your main concerns about traveling (comfort, supplies, visas, safety, etc.)
User Persona
We can use the data from interviews and people who access moontrip.com to build user personas.
If we don’t have enough data we can make assumptions that we must verify later.
Fictional data
Affinity Map
We use the data from the interviews and organize it by task and activities.
With a red dot, every person on the team marks three pain points.
We discard sticky notes with only one red dot and focus on those with more than one.
Fictional data
DEFINE
To define the goals, we must think: How might we solve these pain points through the website?
MoSCoW
Main priority: functionalities without which the purchase cannot be made (if is not available on the website users/customers will leave without buying)
ideate
Competition Analysis
We reviewed SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin websites. There are no packs or products in them, there is only a form to fill. Because this is a creative challenge, we went beyond that! Thinking about an actual e-commerce website.
This image is from www.blueorigin.com
Allow cryptocurrency as a payment method
Competition Analysis
We looked at how other e-commerce websites manage cryptocurrency payments.
This image is from www.coinspaid.com. Explains how you can pay for a purchase with cryptocurrencies.
Sketch Ideas
Provide supplies and spacesuits
Competition Analysis
We looked at how other traveling websites manage information about providing supplies.
This image is from www.tripadvisor.com. Explains what supplies are provided when booking a diving experience.
Sketch Ideas
Performance of an eligibility assessment
Competition Analysis
We looked at a website that sells diving experiences. They don’t perform an eligibility assessment but ask for medical certification or diving insurance.
This image is from www.marepolis.com. Explains what is necessary for diving.
Sketch Ideas
PROTOTYPE
Allow cryptocurrency as a payment method
Scenario and Storyboard
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Product info (dates, price, etc.) always visible
Is rate exchange necessary in this step?
Price changes to selected currency
Is QR necessary if the user is on his mobile?
Login is different for each wallet
The address is filled automatically
We need a visual confirmation
Provide supplies and spacesuits
Scenario and Storyboard
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Minimum information of each product always visible
Basic description of the product How much information is necessary?
Supplies information is presented visually and is easy to understand
Performance of an eligibility assessment
Scenario and Storyboard
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
The assessment section must be accessible
Call to action for upload the documents
Clear and visual message. A/B testing?
We are going to show status only for upload documents
Traffic light for status
TEST
We will perform usability test with 5 representative users (similar to Jerome) to validate the wireframes.
For more data, we can use different techniques:
- A / B testing for confirmation messages – which message is clearer?
- A / B testing for booking the trip – People and dates should be selected before or after choosing a product?
- Card sorting for information architecture – Eligibility assessment should be on the profile part or not?
- Focus group for cryptocurrencies options – should we include other cryptocurrencies or wallets?
NEXT STEPS
- Document and analyze testing results.
- Redesign wireframes and user flows using testing results.
- Meet with stakeholders and engineering teams to validate functionalities.
- Document: where can I find this functionality? Limitations? Examples.
- Implement the new website.
- Review the real website to check the design is accurate.
- Get data from real users to validate assumptions.
- Be aware of new pain points to continuously improve the design.
Want to collaborate?
About me
I'm passionate about solving problems, that's why I became an engineer. But during my internships, I was assigned to a project where the problem was solved by designing a digital product. This made me realize that there are so many ways to solve problems and maybe engineering wasn't the only way to do it.
Also, I'm an artistic/creative person, I've always loved to draw, paint and sketch. And truth be told, I wasn't doing much of it in an engineering career. So, when I had to pick colors, fonts, and do sketches to design this product it was so energizing that it made me rethink my whole career choice.
Years passed by and this engineering internship led up to a 4+ year career in Product Design and UX/UI Design, where I continue to learn new things every day. I have more experience with B2B software, where I normally use the design thinking process to develop new features. I also work with UX research methodologies, mostly user and stakeholders interviews. Testing, implementation, and documentation are key to me, if you are really "user-centric" you need to make sure that your design is achieving everything you intended.
My biggest lesson so far: teamwork is a must! Designers, researchers, product managers, developers, consultants (sometimes even marketing and sales). All of us need to communicate and work together to make an excellent product.