App Modernization - Leveraging Design for Technical Innovation

In a digital world filled with old legacy systems, innovation is crucial to keeping up. Imagine an organization struggling with outdated payment system meant for paper records. Incorporating design principles into the this highly technical endeavor proved to be the game-changer. By shifting the focus towards user-centric design, manual interventions were reduced, operational efficiency improved, and the overall user experience was enhanced.

Objective: The team was struggling to keep up with digital changes as they consistently faced technical limitations and operational issues. Their goal was to update the system and improve user experience to increase efficiently in this highly trafficked workflow.

Client & Goals: With a team grappling with the constraints of outdated technology and operational silos the need for transformation was evident. The overarching goal revolved around modernizing the existing system, enhancing user experience, and adapting to the evolving digital landscape.

Timeline & Team: Faced with limited resources and expertise within the organization, the project demanded swift action. The timeline was tight, and the team assigned to this transformational journey needed to blend technical prowess with design ingenuity.

Outcome: Through thoughtful design interventions, the system evolved into a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. By breaking down silos and fostering a collaborative approach, learning curves were flattened and operational bottlenecks were mitigated.

The amalgamation of technical expertise with a design-led approach not only stabilized PCR but also paved the way for future scalability and adaptability. This transformation serves as a compelling example of how design can revolutionize even the most technically entrenched projects.

Unveiling User Personas, Flows, Pain Points, and Prototypes

In our recent project, we harnessed the power of User-Centered Design (UCD) methodologies. Our first step was to establish a solid foundation by developing an assumption tracker, enabling us to track and validate our initial assumptions throughout the process.

With the compass pointed towards understanding our users better, we conducted five generative user interviews, each tailored to address different user personas. These insightful conversations allowed us to uncover high-level pain points, user desires, and essential needs, enriching our understanding of the user landscape.

Guided by the feedback from these interviews, we refined our assumption tracker and delved into crafting wireframes that aimed to address user needs effectively. Through multiple iterations, we transformed these wireframes into a dynamic, clickable prototype, ready to be put to the test.

Conducting two rounds of rigorous user testing with our prototype, we gleaned invaluable insights that illuminated the path ahead. These insights empowered us to identify and prioritize features that promised to deliver the utmost user value, guiding our design decisions towards the most impactful outcomes.

Ultimately, our exploration led us to pinpoint three core features that resonated deeply with our users:

• Search the Way You Need: Empowering users to search in a manner that aligns seamlessly with their preferences and requirements.

• See Everything in One View: Providing users with a comprehensive, cohesive overview that enhances their understanding and navigation experience.

• Dig Deeper If Needed: Offering users the flexibility to delve further into details based on their curiosity and specific needs.

Through our unwavering commitment to the UCD process, we have not only unlocked valuable insights but also sculpted a user experience that resonates with the essence of user-centricity – a journey marked by learning, iteration, and a relentless pursuit of creating solutions that truly cater to our users' needs.

Positive Outcomes of Bringing Design to a Modernization Engagement:

1. Identifying Hidden Gaps: Design intervention during the modernization engagement revealed gaps missed during event storming sessions. The swift identification allowed timely rectification and prevented potential issues down the line.

2. Uncovering UI-Related Pain Points: Through user-centric design exploration, additional UI-related pain points hindering efficiency were unearthed. This insight led to proposing an automation feature that significantly boosted workflow speed, addressing issues such as cumbersome data division and time-consuming screen-switching.

3. Enhancing User Empathy and Understanding: Conducting user interviews fueled empathy within the client team, yielding a profound impact on their mindset and ultimately the success of the engagement. This empathetic approach enabled a deeper understanding of user needs and facilitated the creation of solutions tailored to address real user challenges.

Bringing design into the modernization process not only streamlined the interface but also revolutionized user experience. By leveraging clickable prototypes, the team efficiently visualized and communicated the transformation, consolidating 27 screens into a user-friendly 2 within a mere 2 weeks. This project's uniqueness lies in its revelation that despite its technical backend focus, end-users heavily rely on the interface for daily operations. Many users admitted to learning system navigation solely through word of mouth, emphasizing routine usage of only a fraction of available features. The project's impact extended beyond optimization, sparking user interest in system improvement possibilities and shifting focus from mere operation to functional enhancement.

Stakeholder Feedback on Our Design Process:

Stakeholders have expressed their appreciation for our user-centric design approach, noting that it provided a significantly deeper and broader understanding of the underlying issues. One stakeholder mentioned, "User-centric design showed us a way deeper, broader overview of the real problem at hand and it was super powerful."

Moreover, stakeholders highlighted the value added by our design process, stating that it revealed insights that would have been otherwise overlooked through traditional event storming methods. As one stakeholder remarked, "We learned about things we never would have known about from just event storming. It added so much value."

The incorporation of design was shown to validate the architecture and unearth additional use cases for testing. This led to a more robust architecture that could be tested against various scenarios. As a stakeholder pointed out, "Incorporating design proved that the architecture was valid and gave us even more use cases we could test the architecture against."

One particularly impactful case study showcased how the addition of a designer resulted in significant cost savings for the stakeholders. This translated into a clear demonstration of the tangible benefits of design in terms of cost efficiency.

Furthermore, the success of the design intervention not only motivated stakeholders for future engagements but also illuminated the possibilities for innovation. This, in turn, convinced stakeholders to pursue further design-led initiatives. As expressed by a stakeholder, "Motivated them for the next engagement, showed them the art of the possible, and convinced them to go with another engagement."

Overall, stakeholders were impressed by the swift and substantial impact that design was able to make on the process. The quick and tangible results demonstrated the transformative power of design in driving positive outcomes.

What We Accomplished

Design is currently at a pivotal stage, evolving through meticulous user testing and iterative improvements. With two rounds of testing on the initial prototype, significant milestones have been achieved. The payment screen has been streamlined for enhanced user experience, while search capabilities have been optimized for efficiency. Users now have access to a comprehensive overview of payment attempts, fostering transparency and trust. Additionally, a remarkable feat of consolidation has been achieved, condensing a complex array of 27 screens down to just 2, illustrating a commitment to clarity and simplicity in design. These advancements attest to a dedication to user-centric design principles and a relentless pursuit of refining the user journey.

Recommended Next Steps for Design

• Testing and Iteration: Continue to test and iterate on the UI based on user feedback.

• User Research: Conduct more in-depth user research on current features to ensure optimal efficiency, focusing on elements like the search bar, payment updates, and menu navigation.

• User Interviews: Keep conducting iterative user interviews to gather multiple perspectives on user wants, needs, and pain points.

• User Journey Scenarios: Ideate and prototype additional user journey scenarios, considering edge cases for testing.

• Metrics Measurement: Begin identifying metrics to measure success in design improvements.

• Feature Prioritization: Prioritize features in alignment with the product roadmap on a continuous basis.

• Assumption Tracker: Reference and update the assumption tracker with the team to evaluate risks. Consider reviewing it with relevant team members.

• System Differentiation: Differentiate and prioritize between daily-use systems and those that are no longer in use.

Outstanding Pain Points to Address

• System Stability: Address system shutdowns and work not saving issues. Consider implementing autosave or save-as-you-go functionality.

• Workflow Efficiency: Streamline workflows to allow users to complete tasks on one screen whenever possible.