Creative Direction: Ray Nelson
App Programming: Michael Falzone
Producer + Content Creation: Harter Creative
Web Development: Affari Project
UI/UX + Graphic Lead: Matthew Lane
VEELO APP
Product Design Review. UX. Visual.
PROJECT:
CHALLENGE:
SOLUTION:
Relying on the 20 years experience of Flying Rhino to implement educational content focused on social and emotional development hosted in real time by a live facilitator. Multiple rounds of story boarding, user profile implementation, UI best design practice, and user testing.
Understanding and adapting to the constraints of adolescent usability. Creating a platform that must be monitored by parents and with constant email updates for all content approval. Developing a user experience that showcases multiple forms and channels for creativity.
In December of 2016, I applied for a Sr. Product/UX Designer position at Veelo. A part of the interview process was to review a beta version of sales tool app Veelo was creating. Below is a Google Doc I put together reviewing multiple areas of the app to show my process.
Overall Feedback
After our initial conversation about the functionality and purpose of this sales tool app, visually it started to make sense once I was able to download the app to my iPhone 6 and spend some time thumbing through the scrolling rolodex style organization of the various PDF’s, PPTX, and PAK’s. As the end user, I can see how the alphabetical layout would quickly direct me to the content I am searching for in that moment. In the ’Specific Feedback’ section of this document I will dive a little deeper into possible problems an end user may run into in the search for a specific document.
The app has a very straightforward user experience, great organization of navigational elements, information and imagery is pretty consistent, which puts the spotlight exactly where it belongs… on the content!
I still see small opportunities for improvement that I think you’ll find help create a more succinct experience.
Specific Feedback
Although I’ve attempted to focus my feedback primarily of the UX aspect of the app, the truth is that the disciplines overlap, impacting each other in various ways.
I’ve highlighted a few areas where the navigation and design could possibly be revisited…
1. Bugs & Strange UI
Bottom Nav Bar
In the spirit of working efficiently, I believe the bottom nav bar could be better utilized and help tighten up the navigational element hierarchy. Current Nav Bar: All Content, Offline Content, & Settings. Each of these three sections feel equally as important. As a user, I personally do not believe the offline content or my user name and password are equally important as the “All Content” tab that I use constantly.
There’s probably some low-hanging fruit here that can be eliminated as well. “Offline Content” is also accessible on “All Content”, so why does it need its own tab? I would suggest replacing “Offline Content” and “Settings” with an opportunity to quickly scroll through the different document types “PDF’s”, “PAK’s”, and “PPTX”. “Settings” can be relocated to a submenu (possibly in the upper left corner next to the header).
The three current bottom nav bar icons (four shown above) are tappable elements. Keeping all navigation consistent, I would also program these screens to be swipe-able (left and right swipe to navigate) as well as tappable modeling the PAK document UX.
Alphabetical Scrolling Content
As I initially mentioned, I love how the documents are organized by alphabetical order allowing me to scroll through them at my leisure (similar to how I would scroll through news stories or a Google search). However, and maybe this is a dumb question, but does the end user know the specific name of the PDF they need to review in that moment? For example, if I needed argument.pdf, could I also be searching for other key words that relate to “argument”, unknowingly? Such as; discrepancy.pdf, misunderstanding.pdf, or fight.pdf? If the end user does not know the exact name of the PDF, they just know the overall issue, having to scroll A-Z looking for a keyword might not be the most efficient. I would suggest having a ‘Key Word Search’ as a function on the landing page. A small magnifying glass icon on the right side of the header would be a great way to open a search function and allow the user to quickly find a document.
Printable PDF’s?
Like most of us who have adapted to using our smart phones for EVERYTHING, I enjoy the mobile friendly experience of scrolling through content that is beautifully organized and easy to read. From the “All Content” tab, when I tap on any PDF icon, I am taken to a screen view that breaks this formula. I assume these PDF documents were originally created for print and designed in a matter better suited as promotional handouts. This is not ideal for mobile. Each PDF contains a lot of information crammed into an iPhone screen dimention. Yes I can zoom in on the text, however this can be very time consuming and hard on the eyes. If these documents are wanting to be mobile friendly, I would encourage your team to explore a book called Mobile First. Here’s one of my favorite sections, the opening of the second chapter (titled “Constraints”):
While it’s true the incredible growth of the mobile internet has been fueled by better and better devices, mobile still remains a very constrained environment. Screens are small, networks are unreliable, and people can find themselves in all kinds of situations when they pull out their mobile devices. But these constraints are not only good for business, they’re good for design as well.
This is especially true if you subscribe to the adage that design is the process of gradually applying constraints until an elegant solution remains. In other words, embracing constraints (rather than fighting them) will ultimately get you to better designs.
The app has already started to develop a great IA, I would suggest expanding that style to all text heavy screens.
Bugs
Possibly a simple programming error or an iOS update needed on my end, however, I have been kicked out of the app multiple times after the first document I tap to open. Once I reopen the app, it does not happen again.
Responsiveness of tapped icons seems to be an occasional issue. Example; from the “All Content” tab, if I want to open a document that is currently “offline”, when I tap the download icon there is a significant delay between the download icon morphing into the downloading animation. At first I thought the app froze, and tapped the same icon 2 or 3 times before I realized it was downloading. I can see this being frustrating when the sales person is on a time crunch or is trying to pull up a document in front of a vendor.
2. Prioritize
I would prioritize the needs that will get you the most bang for your buck. Without consulting with management and project managers, and having zero feedback from the user testing it’s hard to pin down the proper plan of attack here. I would 100% address the current bugs with programmers and get their input on time needed to correct the issues. Any issues that are cost heavy with small ROI, maybe put on ice until the proper time.
For me, knowing how busy the sales team is, the biggest issue I would address is the PDF situation, moving all text to follow a mobile friendly standard and keeping all IA consistent.
Like I said before it’s hard to prioritize without specific feedback from user testing.
3. Roadmap
Below is a simple roadmap to execute a new version of the app with applying my recommendations:
4. Research + Testing
I assume your team is/ has already done significant user testing with actual sales people documenting specific feedback of their Veelo app experience. For me, the richest feedback comes from those who use the app on a day to day basis and pairing their responses with best design practices. Simple and efficient.
A great place to start would be gathering 10-25 sales members, having them all answer a 10+ question survey, both individually and as a group, and getting all responses on camera for future reference/ promo videos/ testimonials/ etc.
Once a foundation of feedback has been documented, lets look for consistent themes regarding issues the users are experiencing and suggesting we solve.
Thank you for the opportunity to review the Veelo app and considering me for the UX/ Product Design role.
- Matthew Lane
Original
Revised