Lean UX Canvas

With that, I was ready to direct my focus to get more specific and used the Lean UX Canvas. Which served as a framework to establish what the Business Objective would be, who is my targeted user and what benefits would they gain.

This is a living document and I would come back to it many times during my process to iterate or even to refocus on the intended objective.

With the Lean UX canvas, I was able to outline the Business Problem, possible Business Outcomes, defined the users I should focus on first, and User goals & benefits. 

Competitive Feature Chart

I had a better idea of the direction I needed to go however needed to get familiar with the competitive market I was dealing with. I looked for competitors and indirect competitors in order to determine any mental models the users may have and areas of opportunities. Direct competitors I focused on were Nextdoor, TaskRabbit, Craigslist, and some indirect competitors such as Fiverr, Upwork, and People Per Hour as those provided more technical services.

Market Positioning Map

In order to analyze Spotify’s current position and competitors' position within their market, I turned to the Market Positioning Map, which allows you to visually determine blue oceans (uncontested market space). Based on the list of features created with the Comp. Feature chart, I looked to define the axis for the Map. Blue Ocean: a clear/informative & multifaceted experience

Quantitative Data

I now had a better understanding of the market and where there were areas of opportunity. However, I still needed to get a better understanding of the targeted user and their needs and wants. I started my user research by collecting Quantitative data in the form of surveys and received 37 responses.

The main takeaways here were:

• 65% Main concern is the expertise of specific tasks, followed by safety/trustworthiness

• 62% Prefer an hourly rate as opposed to a flat rate

• 57% Rather chat and confirm a service via an app than call a business

Qualitative Data

I now had a better understanding of the statistics associated with Spotify users. I wanted to better understand the perspectives and the behaviors by collecting Qualitative data in the form of interviews. I was able to conduct 6 interviews via zoom (we are still in quarantine) and used my trusty app. Otter. 

The main takeaways here were:

• 5/6 Main concern is trust & safety

• 4/6 Prefer to seek help from the local community as opposed to larger companies

• 6/6 Feel they lack knowledge of what certain services should cost

“I was about to purchase a used tv but then didn’t want to figure out how I was going to mount it on my wall.”

“I missed out on an interesting find on Offerup because I didn’t want to deal with the logistics of getting it home.”

“I get anxious when trying to find help for something because I never know what the price should be and if I’m getting ripped off.”

Affinity Diagram

I now wanted to dissect all the data gathered to find patterns and insights. I started with the Affinity Diagram and placed alike categories together. For instance, how often they use Spotify, where they use it, and what they use it for most. I was then able to label the patterns into groups and lastly color-coordinated the post-is to visually enhance the patterns. 

The main takeaways:

• The strong opinions of lack of knowledge when it comes to average prices

• The recurring theme of trust & Safety

Value Proposition Canvas- Customer Profile

The Value Proposition Canvas consists of two sides; Products & Services and Customer profile. You start with the customer profile side, which is intended to define the customer’s “job to be done” and the associated positive (gains) and negative (pains) experiences, including Functional, Emotional, and Social jobs. 

‘Jobs to be done’ as defined by Strategyn proposes that “in order to understand customer needs in a way that makes innovation predictable, companies should stop focusing on the product or the customer and instead focus on the underlying process or “job” the customer is trying to get done.” Meaning, what does a user “hire” Spotify for.

We use the Value Proposition Canvas in its entirety ( I will talk about the Products & Services side later) to ensure the product or service we ultimately provide is a good market fit with the customer and adds value to their experience. 

A quick example of the jobs to be done, gains, and pains defined were:

JTBD: hire a service, build your network of helpers, compare expertise & prices (functional). Hire a service for someone else that needs assistance (emotional) Support the local community (social)

Gains: save time to be with loved ones, feel confident in their decisions, feel efficient.

Pains: overcharged, limited availability when dealing with companies, logistics planning.

As-Is Map

From the data collected and some assumptions, I started by brainstorming things a user would do/think/ and feel during the current experience of needing and then finding help. From there I was able to find patterns that translated to phases.

Doing: endless research, checks reviews compare prices, chats to ask questions

Thinking: ‘hope they know what they are doing’, ‘I hope it’s safe’

Feeling: overwhelmed, skeptical, apprehensive, stressed

Journey Map

From the insights gathered in the As-is Map I was able to hone in on a specific user journey for both personas in order to uncover specific pain points to address. By being as thorough as possible and considering both personas I was able to combine the journeys and uncover all pain points.

By breaking it down I was able to consider the context in which a solution would have to work.

I was able to establish 3 main pain points that when dissected would become areas of opportunities. 

Problem Statements

I converted the pain points into more detailed problem statements.

The user is frustrated because they are unaware if the service provider has experience with the specific task & if they are trustworthy.

The user feels apprehensive about prices and not getting a fair price.

The user is frustrated with having to book prior to chat and then not getting timely responses.

IDEATE

I was now ready to ideate solutions for the 3 pain points. Using the HMW statements as the framework, I came up with 41 ideas. Brainstorming is not as fun when you are doing it alone. Without the ‘yes, and’ technique, it really is a struggle to pump out ideas in a short period of time. I used the timeboxing technique and gave myself 12 minutes for each HMW statement.

MoSCoW Method

I was now ready to dissect my ideas in order to prioritize features that would ultimately form the MVP. I applied the Moscow method in order to filter these ideas into Must-have, Should have, could have, and won’t have. By combining the impact vs effort and Moscow method I was able to visually see the impact an idea would have and how much effort it would take to implement. 

Value Proposition Canvas- Products & Services

I now needed to ensure the services we would offer were a good market fit. So I was ready to complete the value proposition canvas by addressing the products and services side to make sure the ideas I filtered down to indeed would offer gains and relieve pains or frustrations for the user.

Gain Creators: informed decision making, sense of community, price guidance, efficiency

Pain Relievers: reduces the number of channels needed, relieves the feeling of being overcharged, helps to make informed decisions

Job Story

To back up the findings further I used the Jobs story framework as that allows you to focus on context instead of assumptions. I focused on the specific feature story and the user’s intended outcome. By seeing a job in a very specific context it allowed me to better determine the solution.

When searching for a service provider,

User wants to have an informed and trustworthy experience,

So that they can feel confident in their decision and build a trustworthy network within their local community.

User Flow

Now I was ready to start prototyping but first I needed to create a flow outline that would help me map out the User’s Happy Path, a scenario featuring no exceptions or error conditions.

•User flow for Onboarding & hiring a ‘helper’

•User flow for the pricing guide

Lo-fi Prototype & Usability Test

I start with a lo-fi prototype, as it is quick, easy, and inexpensive. It allows you to get the product testable quickly for feedback to then improve and iterate the process.

Lo-fi Prototype & Usability Test

I submitted my sketched prototype to Maze, a rapid testing platform that allows you to get quick insights and shows you, among other things, how many clicks it took a user to perform the task requested.

The overall results were based on 8 user tests and the main takeaways were that I was missing screens to complete certain flows and the ‘skip’ option for onboarding.

Success Metrics

• Increase in both DAU/MAU 

• New users

• Good reviews

• Sessions (App Open Rate)

• High job conversion rates

• Increase use of the added features

Failure Metrics

• High Churn rate

• High misclick rates

• Low or decline in DAU/MAU

• Bad reviews

• Low app downloads

• Slow loading

• Low job conversion rates

• Decrease of ‘helpers’