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PostUp
PostUp

UX/UI

Design Sprint

Overview

PostUp is the product of a mobile application that was designed during a 5 day modified GV sprint challenge that aims to help remote workers quickly locate public workspaces in a short amount of time. This was a solo project and since I was working by myself, there were certain constraints. Each day required a different task that was completed in a couple of hours.

ROLE

UX Researcher

UI Designer

Usability Tester

TEAM

Myself

TIMELINE

5 days

Problem

Remote workers often need alternative public spaces for work due to the limitations of working from home. Since most freelance workers work remotely, finding locations that meet their specific requirements can be time-consuming and challenging, especially when considering the important amenities like Wi-Fi availability, noise levels, and amenities.

Goal

Research, strategize and design an experience to help remote workers successfully find public spaces to work from. My goal was to design an app that allows these workers to select their workspace preference with ease. Creating a feature to filter out certain amenities not only saves valuable time but also help them retain maximum focus when working from these public spaces.

DAY 1

UNDERSTAND

DAY 2

SKETCH

DAY 3

DECIDE

DAY 4

PROTOTYPING

DAY 5

TESTING

1
UNDERSTAND
2
3
4
5

Understanding the problem and conducting quick research to gain valuable insights.

My goal for day 1 was to gain a deeper understanding of the problem space and who I was designing for. Based on the research highlights from users who were asked about their experience with working in a public space, many users reported that:

My goal for day 1 was to gain a deeper understanding of the problem space and who I was designing for. Based on the research highlights from users who were asked about their experience with working in a public space, many users reported that:

“Wifi is definitely the most important thing for me.”

Claire

“I definitely look for places that aren’t too crowded, especially if I’m trying to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time.”

Evelyn

“If a place has Wifi, outlets, and bathrooms- that’s all I need.”

Anthony

Research

My insights have helped me learn that the top 3 things people care most about when working from publics spaces are access to Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and low crowded levels. A user persona was created to assist as a starting point to center my design focus around, as well as How Might We questions.

My insights have helped me learn that the top 3 things people care most about when working from publics spaces are access to Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and low crowded levels. A user persona was created to assist as a starting point to center my design focus around, as well as How Might We questions.

Name : Nina

Occupation : Freelance Copywriter

Age : 32 years old

Location : Boston, Massachusetts

About

Nina is a freelance copywriter who enjoys working from home. She spends three days a week travelling around the city meeting with clients while also doing some remote work.

Behavior

Nina usually has a few hours between meetings so she tries to find places where she can quickly sit down and work. She’s not always familiar with the area so she occasionally spends a lot of time searching for the right places that meet her criteria.

Frustrations

Spends more time searching for a space than actually working.

Stressed that she can’t get work done whenever she wants to.

Will come across places without Wi-Fi, restrooms, or places where she needs to spend money in order to sit down and work.

Goals

Quickly find a place to meet her needs.

Find places with basic amenities that match her preferences.

Find spaces where it’s not too crowded or noisy in case she needs to meet with someone or make some phone calls.

How might we help users spend less time searching for public spaces?


How might we help users spend more time working in public spaces.


How might we help users make sure a public space has the basic amenities before settling down to work.

Journey Map

After gathering all of my findings, I created a user journey map to visualize the steps that remote workers and freelancers would take in order to find a suitable public workspace. This map outlines the critical stages and interactions from the initial search to settling at their desired spot. The flow requires that the process is efficient and user-friendly, ensuring that users’ needs are met.

1
2
SKETCH
3
4
5

Creation of solution sketches with critical user interactions.

Because I was working with time constraints, I had to quickly use what I learned from my research, compare and contrast with other related products or competitors to help gain inspiration for my potential design.

Lightning Demos

The purpose of the solo demo was to look at my competitors and their solutions in trying to solve the same problem I was trying to solve. By pointing out their strengths and weaknesses, I knew what has worked for them, and how I should design my product while still focusing on my user persona.

Peerspace offers users flexibility when booking venues, meeting spaces, and studios for special events.

Tesla owners can communicate with their vehicle and search up locations and availabilities for nearby superchargers.

Yelp allows users to create/edit

reservations, order delivery and pick-up from a list of restaurants, bars, and businesses.

Yelp allows users to create/edit

reservations, order delivery and pick-up from a list of restaurants, bars, and businesses.

Solution Sketches

Using the research notes and journey map from the first day, I began sketching out possible solutions. The Crazy 8’s method helped me identify the most critical screen, which is the one that will aid users in achieving their task. I sketched out a 3 panel storyboard, showing how a user gets to the critical screen, and what he or she does afterwards. By having a filter feature that allows for quick preference adjustments, the users are able to search for nearby public spaces faster. This essentially saves the users time, while highlighting only the essential amenities and accommodations based on the users’ preferences.

1
2
3
DECIDE
4
5

Refined the best ideas into a detailed storyboard.

I produced a storyboard panel that acts as a light wireframe to help me envision my prototype. This helped me envision the user’s journey more coherently. It starts from the moment the user finds the application on the app store, all the way to the end where the user finally locates his or her ideal public workspace.

Solution Reflection

The solution screen portrays the necessities that my users need in order to accomplish their task in a short amount of time. I created a filter list with the most important common amenities that the average person needs when searching for public social gatherings. Once the filters are applied, users can see a selection of nearby spaces that match their criteria. Key features displayed include distance, Wi-Fi availability, public restrooms, and the level of crowding or noise, which all address the primary concerns of the users.

1
2
3
4
PROTOTYPE
5

Focus on usability over aesthetics to simulate the actual user experience efficiently.

Since I was only given one day to work on a working prototype, creating an aesthetic interface was not my top priority. The primary focus was to ensure that the prototype functioned well enough to help me observe my users’ behaviors and reactions. In a normal design sprint, the prototype is divided among team members, but working solo required me to manage all aspects of the prototype effectively in a timely manner.

1
2
3
4
5
TESTING

Gather feedback on the app's functionality and ease of use.

The final day was all about focusing on validation and testing to understand how potential would interact with the app. Overall, the experience from the users were generally positive with minimal confusion. All the users confirmed that the process of finding a public space was very straightforward.

Patterns found from user feedback:

What worked

-Steps to finding a public space were clear to understand.

-Pictures of the space’s interior are important to the users.

-Amenities are most important so being able to locate them makes it very helpful.

-App seems familiar with a clean UI.

-CTA buttons stand out.


What didn’t work

-Filters should be on the first page when following the prompts to find a public space.

-New search filters were not noticeable after users applied them.

-Most users did not know what the capacity icon meant.

-Numbers above the space

icons on the map were confusing.


-Filters should be on the first

page when following the prompts to find a public space.

-New search filters were not noticeable after users applied them.

-Most users did not know what the capacity icon meant.

-Numbers above the space

icons on the map were confusing.


Usability Testing

Users were confused by the icon indicating public space capacity, mistaking it for reviews or ratings. Another issue was the number above the pin on the map, was not clearly explained to the user. By adding the word “full” at the end, it would make the map less confusing since users now know that it means how full that workspace is. The amenities tags/chips did not look like tappable buttons. A simple change would be to add an x-close button inside the chip.

Final Thoughts

The design sprint challenged me to take risks and manage my time wisely. Each day had a specific task, helping me focus and align my goals with the users'. The user journey map and sketches helped me put into perspective on how quickly I could come up with a solution in a short amount of time.

The capacity or crowd level of a public workspace will not always be accurate because those numbers are visible to only PostUp users. The capacity counter is only accurate when those users check-in to the public space. People who aren’t using the app have no way of updating the capacity of those spaces. These were things to keep in mind when designing because users may be misinformed that a place is not that busy when in reality, it’s more crowded than what it shows on the app. To address this concern, I would add an option to allow PostUp users to update the crowd level in the app so that other users can see a more accurate number.

The design sprint challenged me to take risks and manage my time wisely. Each day had a specific task, helping me focus and align my goals with the users'. The user journey map and sketches helped me put into perspective on how quickly I could come up with a solution in a short amount of time.


The capacity or crowd level of a public workspace will not always be accurate because those numbers are visible to only PostUp users. The capacity counter is only accurate when those users check-in to the public space. People who aren’t using the app have no way of updating the capacity of those spaces. These were things to keep in mind when designing because users may be misinformed that a place is not that busy when in reality, it’s more crowded than what it shows on the app. To address this concern, I would add an option to allow PostUp users to update the crowd level in the app so that other users can see a more accurate number.

The design sprint challenged me to take risks and manage my time wisely. Each day had a specific task, helping me focus and align my goals with the users'. The user journey map and sketches helped me put into perspective on how quickly I could come up with a solution in a short amount of time.

The capacity or crowd level of a public workspace will not always be accurate because those numbers are visible to only PostUp users. The capacity counter is only accurate when those users check-in to the public space. People who aren’t using the app have no way of updating the capacity of those spaces. These were things to keep in mind when designing because users may be misinformed that a place is not that busy when in reality, it’s more crowded than what it shows on the app. To address this concern, I would add an option to allow PostUp users to update the crowd level in the app so that other users can see a more accurate number.

The design sprint challenged me to take risks and manage my time wisely. Each day had a specific task, helping me focus and align my goals with the users'. The user journey map and sketches helped me put into perspective on how quickly I could come up with a solution in a short amount of time.

The capacity or crowd level of a public workspace will not always be accurate because those numbers are visible to only PostUp users. The capacity counter is only accurate when those users check-in to the public space. People who aren’t using the app have no way of updating the capacity of those spaces. These were things to keep in mind when designing because users may be misinformed that a place is not that busy when in reality, it’s more crowded than what it shows on the app. To address this concern, I would add an option to allow PostUp users to update the crowd level in the app so that other users can see a more accurate number.