SPOTLY
Timeframe: October 2022 (1 week sprint)
Platform: Mobile - Prototype Link
Role: Sole Product Designer
Impact: 5/5 participants found the experience efficient and 4/5 said they would prefer it over Google maps for finding a spot to work.
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Current map apps are catered towards finding food & entertainment rather than working spots
Problem
Spotly is a new startup that wants to help remote workers find great coffee shops and other public places to work from, through a monthly subscription app. Current apps used such as google maps really feel catered towards food and entertainment rather than work and leave users to interpret a lot of data to determine if a particular place is good for working quietly, taking a call or having a quick meeting.
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Users want to be able to spend less time looking for a place and have confidence knowing that the spot they're going to meet their needs such as: wifi, bathrooms, not too crowded, etc. Also knowing how many tables, if purchase is required to stay and know if other people are also working there.
Solution
A subscription service that will give users access to a curated list of locations that are remote work friendly for a variety of different needs, thus cutting down significantly on time and effort required from users to search for suitable work spots.
My Role
It was my responsibility to conduct secondary research to figure out what other similar services were doing to help ideate my own feasible solution, along with testing my prototype to validate the effectiveness of my ideas. Additionally, it was my role to design a solution that was intuitive and would make the search process feel effortless, as a common complaint was the time spent searching vs. working.
Ideation
Mapping ideation for Spotly.
I wanted users to instantly see the map and nearby places.
I started thinking about what parameters would be most useful to quickly adjust to find a suitable working spot and what screens would be best to show the user first. Ultimately I went with the flow that brought the user directly to the map at the start to instantly show them what places are nearby and to narrow down from there.
I found a ton of inspiration for features and layouts from other sites that helped users find desks, rooms or spaces to work and seeing the type of information they provided and how it fit into their services.
Workfrom provided a lot of useful info through user submitted listings with internet speeds, available items for purchase, etc. The site felt as though submissions were old and the overall look for the site felt a bit dated, but there was a foundation for me to work with for my own design.
Workmode is a much newer resource that did lack some working related info such as internet speeds but provided a good list of places with an easy to digest layout to see all the amenities and features each location offered, there was no map integrated into the flow at any point though, so it was hard to get a real feel for where each spot was in a city without having to look it up on a separate service.
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Through this exercise I had a better understanding of the problem by seeing the solutions others have created and taking the strong points from each to integrate into my own design.
Workfrom - A work spot finder
Workmode - A work spot finder
Competitive
Research
Sketching
Through sketching exercises, I was able to think about how I wanted the filtering process to look like for the user, as this was ultimately the key feature that was going to make Spotly standout over using an existing app like Google Maps. It needed to be quick and intuitive. I took inspiration from carshare and rideshare apps that quickly brought users to a map screen that instantly gave you an idea of how available or active your immediate area was before you even started searching or logged in.
Sketches for MVP screens.
Storyboarding
Storyboard idea for Spotly
The core experience needs to be as few screens as possible.
When thinking about the user flow for Spotly I knew that finding useful results quickly with powerful filtering options was key.
The most important screens are at the very start in a user’s journey. The app starts right on a map showing you Spotly approved spots that meet within criteria, from here users can use a search/filtering menu catered to finding work ready spots, with filters such as Wi-Fi speed minimums, crowdedness, noise levels, etc. From there the user can see the map update with results and can tap a location to see matching information with their criteria along with some additional info and photos then quickly get to directions to be on their way. The core part of the experience is to try and make it as few screens and steps possible so people don’t feel like they spend more time searching than working, which was a big complaint from the user interviews.
I also included how the end of a visit could look for users, with quick optional feedback to encourage up-to-date and accurate information for all Spotly users.
Prototyping
I used Figma to create a prototype to test out the search process to see if the user will feel as if the app lives up to its promise to quickly find you a spot to work and save you time and headaches. The prototype covered the core experience from searching to post-visit feedback. Prototype link.
Testing
Testing proved to be an overall success for the user flow. Users reacted positively to being able to refine search results based on crowd and wifi speeds and felt that the experience was smooth and intuitive. Feedback on the location page UI was positive as well, with users feeling particularly drawn to the graph that showed crowdedness levels throughout the day. There was feedback on being able to see the amount of tables available specifically or having more info about the size of the tables themselves to get a better idea on how much stuff or how many people they can bring.
Users thought that the feedback system for post-visits were simple and quick enough, although some did state that they never leave feedback on other apps when they’re asked to within the app. All users said they would definitely use the service if it existed and was able to perform as well in a real world setting, although some were unsure if they would pay the subscription price.
Search filters screen
Directions
Location Info Popup
Arrival Popup
Outcomes & Key Takeaways
Spotly’s work spot search strongly met its goals, with its simple functionality. Users were able to navigate the app quickly and get useful results that could meet their needs. There was a positive response to the overall intuitiveness to structure of the service and the sleekness of it's design.
I would have liked to experiment with some additional ways of giving users a better idea of table availability and crowd data to further differentiate the app from other map apps. Additionally I think that Spotly's service as a subscription could explore the idea of additional perks to be a stronger value prop to potential users in a real world setting.