PostUp

A Google Ventures Design Sprint

00

Overview

PostUp is a startup that wants to help remote and freelance workers find great coffee shops, free spaces, and public places to do work from.

The Problem

People who rely on coffee shops and public places to do work have a difficult and lengthy process to find a workspace that meets their needs. PostUp users want a better way of finding a place to work that meets their expectations.

Role & Strategy

As the sole UX designer on this project, I used a modified version of the Google Ventures 5 day Design Sprint. I conducted all processes, including doing research, design, prototyping, and testing.

Design Sprint Process

01
02
03
04
05

Monday, Understand
Tuesday, Define
Wednesday, Decide
Thursday, Prototype
Friday, Validate

Design Sprint Process

01
02
03
04
05

Monday, Understand
Tuesday, Define
Wednesday, Decide
Thursday, Prototype
Friday, Validate

01

Understand

To begin the design sprint, I take some time to get familiar with the problem and define the challenge to solve.
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Research

To gather more data and gain a better understanding of the problem space, current users were asked about their experience finding a place to do remote work from.

“WiFi is a definitely the most important thing for me… If I don’t have to buy something to get a password, it’s even better”.


"I like to know how crowded a place is- If I'm doing independent work, I don't want it to be super loud. If I'm meeting clients or coworkers there, I want to be sure we can get a place to sit and talk for a bit.”
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"I usually look at pictures of the place before I go, just to make sure there's enough room for me and my coworker to take a table without feeling guilty."



Synthesis of findings revealed that there are two groups of information people want to know about before visiting a place to work. First, people want to know about the amenities. The most important amenities to users are wifi, bathrooms, and outlets. Second, people want to know about the current state of the space. They want to know how crowded it is, how many available tables there are, how loud it is, and how many other people are there doing work.

Persona

Nina

- 32 Years Old
- Freelance Copywriter
- Boston, MA

Behavior

- Nina spends at least 3 days a week traveling around the city for client meetings, and remote work.
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- Nina often has a few hours between meetings and tries to find places where she can sit down and get some work done, or take a phone call.
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- Nina isn't always familiar with the part of the city she's in, so she spends a lot of time looking for a good place to do some work.

Frustrations

- Nina often spends more time looking for a place to work than actually working. This cam be really stressful if she has work she needs to get done.

- Nina will find a place to work and settle in, only to realize there's not a reliable wifi signal, no restrooms, or that she needs to spend money to stay there. She either has to go with it or spend more time packing up and finding a new place.

Goals

- Nina wants to spend less time finding public places to work from, and more time getting her work done!

- Nina wants to find places that have the basic amenities she needs to do her work before she settles in to start working.

- Nina wants to find somewhere to work that isn't too crowded or noisy, in case she needs to meet someone or make a phone call.

Map

With Nina in mind, I determined the path a user would follow to find a workspace using the future product. Mapping this out helps to design each step with intention and with the end goal in mind.

02

Define

Lightning Demo

Lightning demos are essentially a way of impersonating design solutions that are known to work, and adapting them to your specific problem.  I drew inspiration from various mobile applications of direct or indirect competitors. I identified the strengths and weaknesses of each application. I learned more about why the competitors' app stood out, and how their designs could benefit PostUp.
Google Maps
Open Table
Apartment List
Yelp

Rough Sketches

Using the Crazy Eights method, I quickly sketched out eight different variations of the most important screen.

03

Decide

On the third day of the sprint, I selected one of the design solutions from the previous day to focus on. I chose the sketch with color-coded markings on the map. I felt this sketch incorporated all necessary information in the most efficient and natural manner. It highlights the users preferences on the top, shows locations on the map, and labels each workspace a color based on how well it fits the user's needs.

Storyboard

I used this sketch to create a storyboard that highlights the route a user would take to find their ideal workspace.

04

Prototype

The fourth day of the sprint was dedicated to building a prototype that includes the bare essentials needed for testing the design's functionality.
This simple prototype includes the screens I sketched in the storyboard from the previous day. My goal was to create a prototype that includes all necessary components users need to find a workspace, and to limit my efforts to only the most important functional details for the sake of working quickly.

05

Validate

Testing

The last day of the design sprint was dedicated to getting feedback from users. I interviewed a total of 5 users on this day. Three of the users are remote workers that spend most days of the week doing work in public spaces. The other two users are current students who often seek public spaces to do school work.

My goal was to test if users can view details about a workspace (i.e., hours, reviews, distance), determine which workspace option best fits their needs, and get directions to a workspace from their location.

The feedback from users during testing was overall very positive. I received many positive comments about the color-coding on the map. Users tended to enjoy the simplicity of the design, and the straightforwardness of selecting items they want at a workspace. I noticed that a few participants wanted amenities that were not listed during the search process. Allowing users to type in a field of their own could help eliminate any overlooked ammenities users may want. I also noticed that users had a difficult time viewing reviews of a workspace. Instead of selecting the rating, users tended to scroll down and expected reviews to be shown farther down the page.
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06

Conclusion

Working on PostUp taught me a lot about the benefits of design sprints. I enjoyed working at a faster pace and identifying issues much sooner than I would normally. Going forward, I would include more information about each workspace and allow for users to give their input in the form of reviews on the app. Additionally, allowing people to search an ammenity not on the list would help to include a wider population of users. I would test upcoming changes in a public space, such as a library or coffee shop with people in the target audience. Additionally, it would be beneficial to conduct a card sorting study to help identify the most important information that highlights a workspace.

THANKS FOR READING!

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