In September 2021 I got a new project at UX studio: my team was tasked with redesigning a native Android app that connects farmers and traders in developing countries.
On this project, We were able to help them to:
- Redefine and validate their high level concept
- Integrate and design two new features: payment and direct offers
- Hold user tests with the UX researcher to validate the flow with the main stakeholders on the field
- Create a new visual direction for the product, keeping the WFP design guideline in mind
- Create a Design System, ready to be scaled
- Deliver the pixel-perfect UI screens to the development team
On this project, I took the role of Team lead. Therefore, I had to put together the timeline, identify potential blockers and ensure everyone knew what they had to do throughout the project. I also confirmed that team communication was as smooth as possible and paid particular attention to deadlines and deliverables.
When we joined the project, the WFP team already had a test flight of their app available but did not yet manage to release the product. They felt it lacked certain features, while some haven't yet been tested with users. Moreover, they wanted to re-visit the look&feel to make it more modern and appealing to potential users.
Before kicking off the project, we ran a heuristic review for the current product with Dan. When we met with Casper and the development team, we were fully aware of where they were standing with the product, and we could already identify potential flows.
In the exploration phase, we had three full days during which we had sessions with the stakeholder from Bangladesh where the first pilot would take place. These sessions were beneficial as the team is in direct contact with the final users daily.
Following the insights gathered during the different sessions, I decided to run quick sketching sessions and designed wireframes on the whiteboard.
The team wanted to integrate a manual payment tracking and validation feature and a direct offer feature (the middle man could directly offer the goods to the trader and not only answer market offers). Moreover, following the interviews, we quickly realized that we had to "forget" about common e-commerce patterns and automatization as they did not apply to the field.
"They might agree to a certain quantity or price, but then when they meet to trade the goods, they will end up agreeing on a different quantity," - they said.
It became clear that we had to create a flexible tool allowing users from the field to interact with information quickly. Also, we had to make sure that it would be a reliable tool to track the activity as precisely as possible for WFP as they needed to use the data collected (these data would be used in a second step to grant loans for farmers).
First, we needed to be fully aligned with the team to test our new ideas as soon as possible. I decided to jump into a super-fast iterative process during which I would design one complete feature concept per day and showcase it to the Product Owner during a one-hour stand-up. It helped Dan and me fully understand the expectations and iterate as fast as possible so we could have a prototype ready to be tested by week two. This prototype would include the redesigned old features and the integration of the new ones.
Once the prototype was ready, we ran 2 x 5 test sessions while iterating to collect feedback and ensure the product was intuitive to the user and the new features were evident. In the meantime, I proposed a new look & feel that would be consistent with WFP visual guidelines and created a design system that contained foundations and components ready to be called. This small design system was handy for the Front-end developer and was speeding up the development of the new design.
Joining a team mid-way that has already thought the features in and out is challenging. On the one hand, we had to get up to speed fast to not "waste" their time and bring value asap. On the other hand, we needed to be able to challenge their assumptions by bringing-up facts.
As we joined the project, we had some flawed pre-conceive assumptions, mainly because most of the features in the app were close to well-known e-commerce features. However, based on the specificities we had to deal with, it became clear to us early on that we would leave our e-commerce patterns in the drawer and create a tailor-made experience.
A typical project I love. Something simple on the surface ends up being super complex, and you have to make it somehow super intuitive. Here the experience from the team and our out-of-the-box approach allowed us to find solutions that were right in the middle. Satisfying the complexity while taking a new direction and testing it to ensure it is intuitive.
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