Feature Proposal
Project Overview
Client
The high volume of existing resources and the long waiting period—from submitting an application to the final qualification—makes it difficult for veterans to access resources for which they are eligible in a timely manner
rūtd (resources united. technology driven.) is developing an interoperable search platform that will help veterans and their family members locate resources for which they qualify and quickly communicate this information back to vets.
Challenge
Propose a set of design features in accordance with client goals and technical constraints that will improve veterans’ experiences with the process of seeking, and applying for, resources.
Outcomes
FAQ tab on the client’s homepage
Profile progress circle
Chunked profile categories
Ratings and reviews of resources
Ability to apply and remove resources from a user’s profile
Application status tracker
Team
Gabrielle Bajuscik, Lauren Grose, Luke Rivard, and Sarah Monson
My Role
Competitive Audit research, Journey Map, Prototyping, Data Analysis, Findings and Recommendations report
Tools
Zoom
Miro
Google Sheets
Pen and Paper
Invision
Sketch
Methods
Competitive Audit
User Journey Map
Wireframing
User Stories & Scenarios
Prototyping
Kano Survey & Analysis
Methods and Deliverables
Competitive Audit
A competitive audit of similar products helped us understand what currently exists in the market, what’s working well, what’s not working well, and what the gaps and opportunities are.
Understanding Client Goals & User Needs
We met with rūtd to learn about their big picture goals, prioritized features for the application, technical constraints, and what they hope to achieve with their product. From an extensive meeting with a SME (subject matter expert), we learned that despite a high volume of resources for veterans, the current process of researching and accessing resources for which veterans are eligible is inefficient, arduous, and a significant time investment. The client seeks to increase awareness and accessibility of available support by matching veterans with resources for which they are eligible in a centralized, interoperable platform and provide qualification notification within 48 hours. Users want to identify resources for which they are eligible and receive a response to their application in a timely manner.
User Journey Map
To better understand the current state of many veterans’ experiences seeking and applying for resources, I created a user scenario and journey map indicating the key actions, touch points, thoughts and emotions at each stage of the resource seeking process. This map helped illuminate existing pain points and areas of opportunity for enhancing this journey. The final version here includes my recommended design features and the locations they would appear in the journey.
Sketching Design Features
Working from the client goals and user needs, I sketched five low-fidelity wireframes of design features intended to improve veterans’ experience with the process of applying for programs. The intention behind these designs is to make it easy and simple to get started, increase transparency and trust, user control and freedom, and boost satisfaction with the process.
Technical Consultation
We compiled all of our sketched features into InVision and met with the client’s developer to get an estimated assessment of the level of complexity and effort needed to develop each proposed feature. Then, dot voting on the entire design team’s wireframes was conducted to determine which design features needed additional input from the target user group.
Kano Survey Analysis
A Kano Survey of eleven selected features was distributed to nine participants in the target user group to understand which features are most and least important to them. We learned that with the exception of the “Geofencing for community building” feature, users overall desired or expected the other ten features. However, there was a lack of consensus on how important each of these features are to users.
Digitized Wireframes
Using the information gathered from the technical consult, results from the Kano survey, and in conjunction with the client goals and user needs, I selected the following six features to prototype using Sketch:
FAQ Tab
Profile Progress Circle
Profile Categories
Ratings and Reviews
Apply and Remove Buttons
Application Status
These proposed features is intended enhance the user experience at multiple points along the user journey. The first three features (FAQ, Profile Progress Circle, and Profile Categories) help users early on in the process by simplifying the initial profile completion process and matching only the programs for which users are eligible. Features 4 and 5 improve user experience in the middle stages of journey (selecting and applying to programs) through greater transparency and user control and freedom. The last feature (Application status) is intended to assist users in the latter stages by increasing the transparency of the process after submitting an application.
Prototype and Tour
I put together a report of annotated wireframes for all six proposed design features. For each, I describe the feature, the goal and rational, and provide a development estimate. I also provided annotations describing the interactions on the screen and included additional features for client consideration.