CampusPro
A look at the thought process | This product's target audience are students who attend New York State universities for their undergraduate studies, and being a graduate of two SUNY universities I quickly became invested. The back story begins with a boy who pays a fellow student in his dorm to have his eye brows waxed. She wants a recommendation for her waxing services, he is to embarrassed to admit he's had his eye brows shaped. The idea is sparked, a platform that allows state school students within the same network to have access to a marketplace of services. The student can join as a client, a pro, or both. They are then granted access to the student marketplace, and students can receive or provide services for one another.
Identifying Challenges | The first and largest obstacle to tackle was how to create a user journey that works for both sides, the seller and the buyer. The foundation was established with ethnographic research. What needed to be considered was that there are two users, both with a different agenda and user path. But doesn't every user want to be able to play the client role? So how do we merge these different users into one, and give an additional option to add a seller service. And what are the best ways to marry the features between the different users, so the process is an overall unified experience?
Design Thinking, Planning and Wireframing | All of these problems were worked through with card sorting, low fidelity wireframing and service blueprinting. Every gap was eventually identified, and countless of iterations were discussed. It seemed that every time a solution was proposed, a new problem would pop up. After I felt confident in user flow for both types of users, I digitized my sketches in Balsamiq to more thoroughly work through prototyping glitches.
Design Thinking | With a Solution focused mindset, two preferred journey maps began to take form. Next up was a rapid prototyping process which helped identify gaps and holes. Having a working prototype was essential for navigating through the avenues of the CampusPro sitemap.
Key Color Themes, Typography and Design Layout | As colorful and creative as I wanted to get, I was given some tight restrictions. The client loved bright orange, leaving bright blue a close second favorite. This was tough, so I set out to create iterations of color options, branding options and color schemes. A logo was needed, branding was nonexistent and an identity had yet to be developed. This allowed me an opportunity to be creative with my image components while keeping a clean site layout. I focused on proper pixel dimensions, stayed true to a grid and focused on simplicity.
Final Product | The final result is a well calculated and tested product. Through the process of surveying, user testing, prototyping and site mapping, the end result offers a simple yet effective marketplace user experience for both the buyer and the seller. The "client" is directed straight from the sign in screen, to the marketplace, to search categories, to "pro" profiles within their prospective category. The "pro" is taken straight from sign in to profile set-up for an efficient seller user experience. This caters to each perspective agenda. A flip switch in the general user profile allows a "client" to switch back and forth between being a "client" or a "client and a pro." The switch-over is flexible, as temporary as the user wishes it to be, and the process is intuitive to the user.
IOS Design | Designed per IOS specs.
Material Design | Designed per Android specs.
On Boarding & Launch Screen | As always, on-boarding offers a tough balance between educating the user and keeping the user's attention. This particular on-boarding process was unique in that it required instructions for both the "client" route, and the "pro" route. Lastly, a simple launch screen with a basic faint radial gradient was the final component needed.
Lessons Learned | Working closely with the dev side gave me a strong understanding of designing for function and logistics. This allowed me to cater my deliverable to their abilities, which challenged my design solution process. Working closely with the team each step of the way resulted in a new perspective with every challenge.
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