Prime Welcome Gift
What’s more welcoming than a coffee and a smile?
Role: UX Researcher, UX Designer
Methods: Heuristic Analysis, Participant Observational Testing, AEIOU Framework, Ideation, Design Concepts, Low-Fidelity Prototyping, Moderated Usability Testing, Think-Aloud Protocol, Client Pitch Presentation.
The Problem
Prime Digital Academy needs a new Welcome Gift for their upcoming Full-Stack Development cohort. The previous gift - a water bottle - is no longer being manufactured. Beyond that, the water bottle’s design was complicated, violated heuristics, and went unused by many students.
How can we design a welcome gift for Prime Digital Academy’s incoming full-stack students that makes them feel welcomed and is better centered around their values?
The Research
Research began by conducting a heuristic analysis of the water bottle to better understand effectiveness and identify problem areas around the previous gift. This was done by observing one participant as they walked through a think aloud test while using the water bottle for the first time. Five key tasks were tested: Drink from bottle, refill bottle, wash bottle, transport bottle, and assemble bottle.
Testing Goals:
1. Determine severity of demonstrated Heuristics
2. Determine severity of violated heuristics.
The bottle had 7 removable parts and 5 replacement pieces. This made for a complicated assembly, and created confusion when refilling and washing the bottle.
However, the bottle did preform the task “drink from” effectively.
Overall, the water bottle moderately demonstrated heuristics.
The next round of research was conducted through participant observations. Observations were organized using the AEIOU Framework (through noting Activities, Environment, Interactions, Objects, and Users). 12 previous full-stack students guided tours through their home office spaces. This revealed how full-stack students like to work, the environment they prefer to work in, and most importantly, what they value.
Two main values were gathered based on these observations:
1. Organization: Prime students use a variety of tools - computer(s), anywhere from 2 to 5 monitors, keyboard, mouse, notebooks, writing utensils - their desk space is valuable, and organization is key.
2. Focus: Participants had different techniques to stay focused, but most tried to minimize distractions in their workspace, and attempted to maintain focus through staying caffeinated.
The Prototype
After identifying full-stack student’s main values, three design concepts were developed centered around the user. After critiquing amongst peers, there was one option that stood out from the rest: Caffeine Hat.
Caffeine Hat will allow Full-Stack students the opportunity to free up valuable desk space, stay caffeinated, and stay focused!
A low-fidelity prototype was created, constructed of parts found workshopping at Leonardo’s Basement in south Minneapolis.
The Evaluation
To effectively evaluate the product, the low-fidelity prototype was placed in front of full-stack students currently enrolled at Prime. This moderated user testing followed a think aloud testing protocol, and gave some great insights into potential users’ impression of the gift.
An evaluation plan was created to provide structure and consistency throughout testing. Three evaluation goals were outlined:
To better understand the student’s wants, needs and general impression of the gift.
Gain insights around how the product will be used, if the user finds it useful.
Identify pain points of and improvements to the gift.
The Pitch and Findings
I presented my welcome gift research, prototype, and findings to Prime Digital Academy. Findings showed that overall, participants agreed the caffeine hat is a welcoming gift. Useful in it’s current state? Not as much.
Key findings:
3/3 Participants smiled and laughed after viewing the prototype for the first time.
3/3 Participants were concerned with the integrity of the low-fidelity prototype.
““It’s like one of those old school hats you see in movies… haha I love it!””
“That’s a lot of glue… would the final product look just like this?”
It was hard for participants to see past the prototype’s low-fidelity state. Based on this confusion a few recommendations were made:
Improved product stability.
Balance - place cups on both sides.
Use more secure structure/materials.
In a more durable, finalized state, the caffeine hat would make a welcoming gift for incoming full-stack students that would allow them to stay caffeinated, stay focused, and put a smile on their faces.