PostUp

Get work done away from home!

Problem Space

PostUp helps anyone looking for places to work from whether they need to concentrate, a quiet space, or find like-minded individuals to connect with. PostUp is a subscription app to further find your work home away from home.

Fast-Iterative Process

The Design Sprint tested my abilities to swiftly prototype a solution and gather actionable feedback.

I crafted a user journey from an existing persona to map out actions to identify areas of improvement and calls to action.

Nina, a 32 year-old programmer often works at her apartment, but sometimes codes elsewhere, especially if her roommates are home. A new space offers a different perspective, and she needs her peace and quiet. It was time to come up with a few sketches!

Mapping the Problem

After doing a comparative analysis on Yelp, Google maps, & Coworker, I came up with solutions that have similar end experiences. Identifying design patterns helped shape these ideas.

From the previous user story, I found that location & distance, internet access, bathrooms, quietness, and target audience were equally important to selecting and going to a location.

Sketching the Solution

The lightning demo showed existing patterns that aid in discovery, recommendations and related tags, and ease of use. I decided to mimic these patterns in the sketches of the crazy 8’s exercise.

The sketches include screens like searching, home page, location details, etc. I initially expanded on a review and comparison system where the user would press a location and select a compare icon to see an overview of two spaces in one screen. It was quite ambitious, but the exercise revealed strength in flexibility and openness to new ideas.

I expanded on the crazy 8’s by Storyboarding the User Journey

  1. Start App
  2. Enter Location
  3. Discover Location
  4. Pick a Location
  5. Filter the Results
  6. Select a Location / Save & Navigate

Deciding the Details

I referred to the persona and created another user story to identify high impact and critical details. These users don’t want to waste time, money, and resources so convenience is important; as is distance, cost, and ease of use. If it gets in the way of working or being productive, then there wouldn’t be a point for PostUp to begin with.

Testing the Prototype

I tested the prototype with 3 individuals of varying employment status. They agreed that it was easy to navigate by understanding basic concepts like signing up, onboarding, selecting preferences then finally testing the red route, ready to view its details and navigate to the location.

One person misunderstood the intention of the app, revealing importance for copy, another found reviews unimportant in location details and didn’t explore the screens as much as I’d like. Location and distance were equally important to all users, followed by space, Wi-Fi, bathrooms, then finally cost.

Results & the Lessons Learned

Users explored 4 locations based on different traits. I mentioned the subscription fee to access the app and they thought there would be more features. Location, Space, and Internet Connection were perceived more valuable than cost, food, and bathrooms.

I learned the value of rapid prototyping and gaining valuable feedback. This project shows relevant location details by narrowing down filters based on personalization / customization, preferences, and user reported tags.

The final step in the User Journey is to reserve a spot by calling ahead directly from the mobile phone, adding the location to a saved list, or by navigating to the location via mobile GPS data.

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