Add a Feature Challenge
By: Coco Griffin, Iron Hack UX/UI Design Student FT
In this week’s mission, Daveed challenged us to Add a Feature to a current App. The biggest part of this challenge is that we were going to complete the challenge on our OWN! No teammates. Once the smoke stopped coming out of my ears I was then ready to embark on my challenge of adding a feature to my app that I picked. This was a four-day sprint that was intense and pushed our class to the limit, but once done gave us all a feeling of accomplishment.
The client I picked was Zoom. I knew with the current “virtual” setting I could collect a lot of data to guide myself in the right direction. After reviewing the alarming Secondary Research on the effects online learning has had on Primary Students I was able to get a clear picture of the social and emotional elements one of our user groups was experiencing while using our App.
There was a need to collect more data so I used tools to take a deep dive into the Discover Stage further by using tools to discover the Users Pains and Gains in order to Define the problematic areas we could address.
As I entered the Business Analysis Stage I used Lean UX, Competitive Feature Comparison, and a Market Positioning Chart as tools to collect data from our User.
Lean UX is a tool used to reduce waste, or pains for the business and user while providing value to both. The key takeaways from Lean UX were that many Social & Emotional benefits can be enhanced for both Business and User by focusing on just a few of the major pain points in Products & Services. I previously conducted two Qualitative interviews with Users of Zoom to get a clearer picture of where I was headed with further data and questions for my interviewees for further Qualitative User Research.
The next tool is the Competetive Feature Comparison. This tool is used to compare the features and functionality of the competitive products or services in a side-by-side table between direct and indirect competitors. It gives an opportunity based on analysis to pinpoint the opportunities for design based on Users Expectations and Needs & Wants.
The Market Positioning Chart allows visually position where our current position is in the market compared to direct and indirect competitors. The scale of Traditional Security vs. Innovative Security Features and high cost to low cost. Zoom was in the “blue ocean” already in this comparison.
The main takeaway was discovered when looking at the Indirect Competition mixed with Direct Competitors. It’s clear there is a “blue ocean”, or opportunity for future positions with In-App help geared towards Education, Personal, and Business.
The User Research Tool used helps to discover the targeted User, the Needs and Pain points of our user; as well as the goals, tasks, and habits of our user. When aligned correctly this data can magnify data found during Secondary Industry Research. Conducting User Research I used a combination of Quantitative & Qualitative Data to gain insight from our User.
Quantitative Data is used to use top survey insights from Users to find percentages and clearly make them visible to hone in on our data findings. I had 12 surveyor. I would have liked to have more surveys to gain more data, but being the short sprint it was, I decided to substantiate more data by reading online reviews from Zoom Users that were expressing their pains and gains when using zoom. The biggest takeaway was that all of our users have the biggest Pain Points with Connectivity & Security related issues. While, 50% of Users had Connectivity Issues & Linking to Host Issues, and 25% of Users experienced Security Issues. The Data also reflected the primary User in our survey conducted was a Student.
The Qualitative Data is used to collect interviews from Users and highlight the top quotes on their User Journey with our Product & Services. Five interviews were conducted that ranged in different demographics ranging in age and usage amounts. One of the most poignant quotes from conducted interviews highlighted a common pain point that was also found in our Competitive Feature Comparison; which was the need for in app 911/Emergency Call availability. This was a major takeaway with the highlight in other interviews that no customer service calling for technical support was available.
“There are a few areas of the Zoom Phone functionality that I feel like need improving, such as the 911-calling capabilities and some of the call center solutions.”
The Define Stage was our next tool to use. Consisting of Affinity Mapping, Value Proposition Canvas, As-Is Scenario Mapping, and User Journey Mapping. The Define Stage helps to narrow down the Pains and Gains and look for the Top Insights we find from our data.
The Affinity Map is a tool that collects the data from both Quantitative and Qualitative Data and combines the User's Pains and Gains to draw a more thorough analysis of the collected data. The major Takeaway with this compiled data was Connectivity & Security (including Privacy ) as the main pain points. Users felt a combination of negative feelings when dealing with connectivity & security issues while using Zoom, and had to use Zoom 5–7 times a week for at least 4–6 hours a day. There was a knowledge gap in data by not knowing the other user groups data on similar issues, i.e.business users, personal/social users.
The Value Proposition Canvas from the Customer Profile side is a tool that helps us to “walk-in” our Customers Shoes. We view from their standpoint to help increase their gains and relieve their pains. The Takeaways from this tool were that the User Jobs to be done is to learn without disruption & to assist with quality connection for learning. The User Gains are easy functionality, stable connection resulting in higher grades and higher rise in social and emotional wants and needs. Ensuring a safe environment also addressed our users gains. The pains of the User are declining grades, social activity, emotional support, and safety. Loss of Connection equates to a loss of valuable teaching information often not able to be recouped. Emotional and Social needs of our User is to feel safe, emotionally and physically, and have resources available for those emotional and social needs when needed.
The As-Is Scenario Maps follows the Users workflow as it is today. I chose to do two As-Is Scenarios to use the data to address both Security and Connectivity Issues with the one User. The Takeaways were that the Doing phase made the simple act of going to school online have ripple effects in feelings and thinking phases. The Feeling phase left so many unanswered frustrating questions for our User having effects Emotionally as well. The Thinking Phase left the User with so much doubt and negative effects that could affect the quality of life & future for our Users.
The User Journey Map tool helps us to map and visualize the process that the User goes through in order to accomplish a goal. Our User is a K-12 Primary Student. The Takeaways were that during our User journey. The three most significant pains were when our users were dealing with video conferencing and online learning technical issues.
The Problem Areas that offered an Opportunity for Design indicate the User needs to be able to ensure connectivity with classes and lessons, as well as Campus personnel to help with social and emotional issues and situations.
Now we can accurately address the Users needs based on all the information that we have learned by using “How Might We” Statements to properly address the three major pain points of our User that have been constructed through our Data Research.
How might we provide Academic, Technical, Social, and Emotional help for our Users with an easy-to-use feature?
2. How might we provide Connectivity to Zoom room for class while providing ways to help them catch up on content they missed with visual aides?
3. How might we provide further Security & Safety options in our feature for our Users in at-risk/dangerous situations to add to Security & Safety?
We can now move to Ideate and Brainstorm to find ways we can address these three statements. I was able to come up with 13 Ideas. I would have wanted to Ideate more but being stuck on a time crunch I decided to move forward after I accumulated the ideas I had.
The Next Stage is the Develop Stage where we use the following tools: Moscow Method, Value Proposition Canvas, Jobs to be done, Business Job Story, MVP, and Interaction Design & Onboarding. We are using them in an effort to narrow our data to produce a design that includes all the necessary information and move on to the Deliver Stage.
The MoSCoW Method is a tool used for prioritizing what our feature Must, Should, Could, and Won’t have according to the Users priorities. The Main Takeaways were that we Must have Academic, Social, Physical Support for the User. We Must have a way for the User to link through the feature to Connect to all options. Lastly, we Must make Zoom easy to use while respecting the Users privacy.
The Value Proposition Canvas-Products & Services is a tool used to brainstorm Gain Creators, which is how our Product or Services create benefits the customer expects. The Pain Relievers describe how our Product or Services reduce negative emotions, undesired situations, or risks that the customer may experience when getting the job done. The major takeaways were that pain relievers lied within Better Support and Connectivity, Better Ease of Use, and the ability to Resolve Customer Service Issues.
The Gain creators -Providing needed Support in every aspect for our User flowing into Social and Emotional benefits, possibly long term.
I was then able to formulate a “Jobs to be Done Framework” to further address the Users Needs, Pains, and Gains in a situational and emotional outcome scenario.
Jobs To Be Done…
When a student loses connection or misses class, the user wants to find out and learn what they missed, so that they can catch up, understand, and complete the material. Which makes them feel confident, positive, and empowered to continue pursuing their education online.
When a student feels unsafe or, the user wants to find a quick solution to get the immediate help that is needed for them to feel safe and protected.
Our Business Job Story is a tool used to address the Job the Business has to help the User get the job done. My quote was from Mission Statement from the CEO of Zoom Eric Yuan. “We deliver Happiness. The greatest, most sustainable happiness comes from making others happy. It is our privilege to deliver you happiness every single day.” Our Business Job Story and our Purposed MVP Job Story need to align to adequately address our Users needs.
Our MVP, or Most Viable Product is a way for us to construct all of our Users needs and pains in a way to use our Data and merge it with the “blue ocean” to create Value Innovation for our Feature and ensure the businesses success with this new feature by standing apart from Competitors.
The MVP will be a feature that will allow a User to select menu links for Students to access Academic, Social, Emotional, & Technical Assistance with maximization of functionality.
This aligns with our blue ocean and provides Value Innovation giving Zoom a unique opportunity to become a groundbreaking leader in Company Culture by combining both best practices and best design to address our Users Overall Holistic needs.
Now I used a User Flow Chart to see our Users journey through a Happy Path with our feature. Through this tool the User can be seen interacting with Content within Tasks and with the Decision Logic to complete those tasks, with the addition of our new feature.
Lastly, we enter the Delivery Stage. The Deliver Stage is where we create the prototypes for the added feature and use Usability Tests to find out problematic areas and whether to pivot or persevere based on those test results. Lo-Fi, Mid-Fi, and Hi-Fidelity Prototypes and testing will be made to see how our User uses our new feature.
The Lo-Fi Prototype had a total of 5 User tests. A misclick rate of 40% and the average time spent on the screen of 18.7s. This screen was the main screen after the landing page. The Takeaway was the vitality for functionality, and the navigation tool needed to be clearer for the User to decrease confusion and lower misclick rate. With these changes in mind, I decided to persevere and continue to Mid-Fi after making the needed corrections.
With the changes, the Mid-Fi resulted in a 0% misclick rate, with 10.4 s duration. The takeaway was an increase in speed and decrease in misclicks based on the change in Oncology of categories; increasing users functionality
Concluding that the presentation of new Feature needs to be highly visible and easy to use for Users. Now it was time to build out the High Fidelity Prototype.
To recap briefly our new feature is addressing our Users goal of thriving academically online with video conferencing and when their signal crashes being able to reconnect or obtain the lesson that was missed during that elapsed time.
Our Users social, emotional, and physical well-being is a goal they want to maintain at a healthy status, and when needed have available sources to connect to for help.
Lastly our Feature will address our Users goal to use Zoom easily to navigate to designated meetings while respecting their privacy.
The feature “Ranger” allows immediate access to Class Rooms, Support Team (Tutor, Counseling, Office Hours),Recordings of all Classes, Games and Filters and .
Zoom Ranger also Provides 911 Emergency Calling and Video Assistance. This feature will help our Users in Emergency situations at school and at home to be linked to Campus Police or after hours, directly to the local authorities for help during their most dire time of need.
The Success of this Feature will result in, Less Time on Task Percentages, her Task Completion Rates, Low Churn Rate, Increase in User trust and Loyalty for sustainability and Implementation after Covid, Increase in Safety on and Off Campus,Decrease in Academic Failures, Social Decline, Depression/Anxiety and Suicide rates with Users,and becoming a Leader in standard for Cultural Responsibility for Competitors.
The Failure in this Feature will result in High Churn Rate, Increased Time on Task, Less Task Completion Rates, No change in Social, Academic, Emotional rates of User, Continued distrust and frustration with User, and Discontinued use after Covid.
Some of my Key Learnings were time management being crucial. The use of Time boxing with Group Work is key to making significant progress. I got lost in data for a whole day trying to make sure I collected all the data for correct analysis. So, Don’t get lost in the data and don’t try to solve every problem. Having a good starting ground gives a good foundation to build off of in the future. Lastly, continuous building of Presentation with building tools in Miro helps the process speed up. Speed was a BIG factor for me since I am still a student ….and an older one at that, I had to review stages several times to ensure I was giving and getting the correct data. But I made it! 100% bombed my Zoom meeting when my internet decided to sky dive into no mans land, but hey we learn from the good and bad things that happen.
Thank You for your time and I appreciate any feedback.
