POST UP

PostUp is a new startup where freelancers and remote workers share tips and advice. Recently, they have seen lots of feedback and discussions about how to find a good environment to work from. PostUp wants to make it easier for freelancers and remote workers to find great coffee shops, free spaces, and public spaces to work from.

Problem

Remote workers and freelance workers want to find public places where they can work in a quiet environment where they could take calls and meetings. However, users are facing time consuming searches while struggling to find the right place with all the amenities they need in order to work efficiently.

My Role

As a product designer, I am responsible for a modified GV design sprint for answering critical business questions through design, sketches, ideating, prototyping and testing.

Tools

Figma, Marvel, Zoom, Google

Time Frame

Jul 2022 - Aug 2022

Solution

Create an app for locating opening public spaces and the amenities they offer.

Research

Amenities like good wifi, bathrooms, outlets are important
Users are looking for work friendly space to work in
Looking for places that are quiet enough to attend meetings and phone calls
Looking for places that is less crowded but to have other workers around them
Having space for essential needs on the table
Quick access of places to work in around the area they are in

Research and Interviews

“If a place has Wifi, outlets, and bathrooms that’s all I need. If I need to buy some food or coffee to stay there, I really don’t mind. Bonus points if their coffee and food are actually good. -Clarie
“I like to know how crowded a place is if i'm doing independent work, I don't want it to be super loud. If I’m meeting clients or coworkers there, I want to be sure we can get a place to sit and talk for a bit. -James
“I know a lot of places to go near me, but I'm often in other parts of the city and need a place nearby to post up for an hour or two between meetings. -Rhonda

Day 1-Understanding and Mapping

I analyzed user research to find similar patterns and goals within the users. I was able to identify challenges and ideate possible solutions.

Providing filters on the top of the page to select which is necessary for the user
Shows reviews and photos at the top to see which is highly rated
Providing lots of descriptions of location, hours, and ratings

Key Takeaway

Day 2- Sprint

I completed a lightning demo to find inspiration and solutions through other competitors that are solving the same problem space. I searched through the web to find apps that focused on images, locations, and reviews. My inspirations were Yelp and Google maps.

Crazy 8's

I used the crazy 8’s Design Sprint method to brainstorm eight different ideas to help me with my critical screens. I got to be creative with my designs and wanted to pay attention to the key features of this app while thinking about the users end goals.

For my crazy 8's I decided to focus on the search bar and their recent activities on the home page
Then it would lead to a map to help users find the nearest work place
User's could filter out their wants and needs
User's will be able to see a full list of places to work at
Then clicking on a place then they could read a full detailed description with reviews and photos
After the user is done work they could write a review for other users to look at

Critical Screens

I decided to use these three frames as my Critical screens. I chose the map to be my critical screen because the map takes you a different route wherever you are. It’s very diverse with how you use the map and the different places that pop up.

Day 3- Decide and Storyboard

After reviewing my critical screens, I sketched a storyboard of what the main journey of the user would go through.

Users could use the filter option to find places faster and click on the options to read more descriptions and reviews. After they arrive and finish their work they could leave a rating for other users to look at to see if it’s a friendly work environment. One of the design constraints mentions users having to pay a fee for a feature that the general can’t use, so I added a feature for users to have more access to amenities. I made a subscription page for users to be able to reserve spots, have better wifi access, and offer coffee deals.

Key Takeaway

Users had a great experience and said it was pretty informative with lots of options and information
To make my sketches a bit more readable and visible for users to see what they could access.
Some of the users gave feedback on the maps to make it consistent and easier to read.
To take out the close up street map because it was confusing for some users to see two different views.
Add another page for transactions for the subscription.

Task 1

1. Search for public places by your location
2.Select the map to help you look at different public locations near you
3.Look through the descriptions of different amenities you want
4.Check for pictures and reviews
5.Go to location and write your own review

Day 5-Validate

The usability testing was to see how the different users interact with PostUp. I got critical feedback from my prototype and saw what was successful and what wasn’t.I conducted five user interviews.

Three interviews got conducted in person and two over zoom. Everyone I interviewed had experience searching for places to eat or to study.

Cleaning Up UI

After conducting the usability testing and going through my notes. I got to tidy the UI a bit more. I changed the home page to show recommended places and recent activities for users to browse once they open the app. Users also got confused with the close-up street view, so I wanted to keep the map feature consistent as the overview. I changed the navigation bar because users didn’t know the purpose of some of the icons, so I removed the hamburger and added a home button while labeling the others.

Reflection

Throughout this process, it went well. The users had a fun time interacting with the prototype and being able to analyze each frame as they went through the different journeys. I figured out the pain points and goals and tried to make the app user-friendly. However, for the next steps, I hope to research and brainstorm more design ideas and constraints for the monthly fee.