Cxpartners is a user experience agency, delivering research, design and front end development.

Webgains: MVP App

Webgains is an affiliate marketing platform, connected advertisers and publishers together. Their goal was to minimise the complexity of their desktop interface, while also making their platform mobile friendly.
I led this project from start to finish. The project consisted of usability research, prototyping and design.

Research

There was a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods conducted: 
•  Initial stakeholder interviews established the company's internal structure, their future goals as well as current constraints
•  Interviews with advertisers and publishers opened discussion of why, how and where certain features were used. A card-sorting exercise established the frequency of use of the platforms features. Conducting testing on the current platform to establish usability issue and manner of usage
•  This was further confirmed through reviewing the platforms analytics
•  Reviewed conversations in the call centre to understand what issues users were calling in about

Following the research it became clear that a mobile app would suit the needs of the two Webgains users. Those needs were:
•  To understand incoming revenue figures at a glance Establish relationships, so an advertiser connected with a publisher and vice versa Be able to do this on the go between meetings

Project goal

The app also became both an internal and external showpiece.
•  Internally the goal was to demonstrate how a stripped down version of their current platform would be more useful and useable. This would subsequently bolster support for a complete redesign of their desktop platform
•  Externally it was to show their clients that they were investing in new and better products. It also gave Webgains an edge of their direct competitors, who did not have a mobile app available

Building the app

Following the research I presented the findings back to company and conducted a sketching workshop. Having internal stakeholders in the workshop working together to sketch out screens was essential in fostering buy-in for towards the user centred design approach.

I started building out the prototypes for the Android and iOS apps using Axure. Both versions remained similar in function and design, but maintained their native controls and features. Following the testing phase subsequent amendments were made leading to the design phase of the project. I worked closely with a graphic designer to deliver final screens as well as a style guide for the app

Working with Webgains

•  Organised workshops deciding on the business strategy of the app
•  Consistently presented research findings, analysis and designs back to Webgains
•  Delivered final project presentation to the wider company
•  You can view the Webgains app in the iOS or Android app store

World of Books: Website redesign

World of Books is the UK largest distributor of second hand books. Cxpartners was brought on to deliver a site redesign. I led this project from start to finish. The project consisted of usability research, information architecture restructuring, wireframing and design.

Research

•  Remote user testing 
•  Stakeholder interviews
•  Guerilla testing
•  Competitor review
•  Audit of their site structure
•  Card sorting exercise, to understand their IA structure
•  TreeJack testing evaluating the findability of topics in a website

Experience map

•  After gathering the research, we built out an experience map:
      •  Mapping out the journey of buying a book, starting from the triggers of buying and ending with the user opening their book to read
      •  Journey was channel agnostic
      •  Mapped out key pain points and signature moments users have along this journey when using the World of Books website
      •  Then did the same for their competitors, focusing on their signature moments

•  Presented findings back to World of Books:
      •  The map highlighted the key areas of the website that needed improvement
      •  Formed the roadmap for the remaining 2 sprints of the project

Wireframing and final designs

•  Following the research phase, detailed annotated wireframes were created
      •  Indicating all the behaviours and flows for every element on each screen
•  Worked closely with design to deliver final PSDs as well as a style guide

Working with World of Books

•  Organised workshops feeding back the research and analysis that contributed to the experience map
•  Ran training sessions with their in house marketing and design teams
•  Held regular calls and meetings, in which wireframes and designs were presented back and discussed

Daft.ie is Ireland’s largest property website. It has a broad platform of desktop, iOS mobile and tablet apps, an android app and a touch site. 

Daft.ie: User journey mapping

•  The ad entry process is one of the most important user journeys on the Daft.ie website
•  It generates the most important content on the site 
•  It is the key revenue driver for Daft.ie
•  Detailed analytics tracking helped us understand that there were huge drop offs at specific points along the ad entry process, so we decided to investigate

User testing

•  User testing formed the majority of research for this project 
•  Tested a number of users who had each previously placed an ad on the site. 
      •  We gave them a task to restore a previous ad from their Daft account and observed

Results

•  Following the research, the user journey was mapped out
•  This guided the product roadmap in knowing what areas needed improving first, along this specific user flow

Daft.ie: Advertising a property through the app

The primary emphasis for this project was the ability for users to enter a property advert using the Daft Android and iPhone apps.

Design process

Daft’s current ad entry process on desktop was the guiding point for this project:
•  Usage stats revealed what features were and weren't being used
•  Key questions needed to be addressed
       •  How to reduce for mobile?
       •  How to minimise for mobile?

Design workshop:
•  Involving key developers, the head designer and the product team
•  We framed the project definition and scope
•  We decided what features to initially include
•  Sketched out each screen and the users journey through those screens

User testing

•  Within a couple of days a working prototype gave us the ability to test these screens on Daft users
•  In between each test we made on the fly changes that allowed quick iterations based on user feedback

Wireframing

•  Following the user testing, detailed annotated wireframes were created
      •  Indicating all the behaviours and flows for every element on each screen. 

Results

•  Allowed users to seamlessly upload their property on either the Daft.ie iOS or Android apps
•  Enabled the apps to start generating revenue for the business
•  Significantly reduced the ad entry process time

Final output

Throughout the design and development process we attempted to keep both the iPhone and Android apps as similar as possible. However, we kept controls that were native to each platform

Daft.ie: Cross platform price changes & alerts

•  Project goal was to provide users with greater transparency on house price changes
•  Helping to guide users in making a more informed decision when buying or renting a property
•  Project spanned across all the Daft platforms - desktop, the iOS and Android apps as well as the touch site 

Design process

•  Benchmarking our international peers helped generate ideas for this project
      •  What we thought worked well and what didn’t guided our design decisions
•  After scoping the project, it was agreed to also introduce price change email alerts
      •  Anytime a property, that a user had saved, changed price they would be sent on email alert
      •  Both informing users and helping drive more traffic to the site

Wireframing

•  Designs for this project remained consistent across the desktop, apps and touch site. With small device specific differences where needed

Final output

Results

•  Increased email clickthrough conversions by 11% on mobile and 3% on desktop
•  Provided greater transparency to Daft.ie users, tincreasing overall trust of the company
•  You can view the Daft app in the iOS or Android app stores