99Designs
Optimising UX to improve customer satisfaction and conversions.
MY TEAM
Two UX designers, Ria and myself, time frame FOUR weeks.
End-to-end UX Processes
Stakeholder Management ⎮ Market Research ⎮ User Interviews ⎮ Affinity Mapping ⎮ Defining User Archetype ⎮ User Flows ⎮ OST ⎮ Effort/Impact Matrix ⎮ Competitive/ Comparative Analysis ⎮ Sketching ⎮ Wireframing ⎮ Prototyping ⎮ Usability Testing ⎮ Documentation and Handover
TOOLS USED
OUR CLIENT
99designs is a Global Freelance Marketplace that connects graphic designers and customers to achieve high-quality, tailored, cost-effective designs regardless of the project’s scope, from small jobs like logos to full service brand packages.
CHALLENGE
Improving the user experience of 99designs’ front-of-funnel site to help customers better understand the value of two different ways of working with designers (1-to-1 Project or Contest), to avoid confusion and build confidence in committing to the company for designing solutions they need.
OUTCOME
My team created a more intuitive way of finding information people need, helping them make an informative decision when deciding between two different ways of working with designers, progressively improving customer satisfaction and conversions.
MY ROLE
Empathise
Conducted user research, including 4 user interviews, 5 moderated usability tests in person and via Zoom and competitive and comparative analysis.
Discover
Influenced decisions to narrow project problem space and highlight user needs to uncover opportunities.
Ideation
Generated ideas by brainstorming, using HMW statements, suggesting Opportunity Solution Tree, and sketching.
Prototype and test
Turning ideas into prototypes (low to high fidelity) and validating solutions by conducting usability tests.
PROJECT KICK-START
We started our project by talking to 99designs to find out about business struggles and project objectives.
99designs offers two different design processes: working 1-to-1 with a designer on the Project or starting a Contest. Our task was to provide recommendations on how this information can be presented more intuitively so that the client understands the difference between the two and proceeds confidently to order the design from 99design.
STRUGGLES
How do we go about researching insights that came from the client?
LEARNINGS
YODA - We must use our own data, Build, Ship, Validate, and Learn. Otherwise, we will never know if the new design matches user needs. “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
99DESIGNS USABILITY TESTING INSIGHTS SHOWED THAT PARTICIPANTS HAD:
99designs provided us with their research insights based on the 6 unmoderated usability tests when engaging with the current front-of-funnel experience for logo and branding.
→ LOW UNDERSTANDING of different ways of working with designers
→ CONFUSION about the 99designs service and design processes
01 DISCOVER
Market research helped us understand the target customer and who we needed to interview.
We interviewed 5 small business owners and people considering starting a business.
6 moderated usability tests were done in person or via Zoom with the task given: ‘Assume you are a small business owner needing a logo design. How would you find the one that suits your needs?’
02 DEFINE
User Interviews Key Findings
Customers’ needs:
100%
of participants need a Smooth Communication & Collaboration Process
‘I’d prefer to have the chance to spend more time with designers so I can have a greater opportunity to express what I want and my expectations. The designers also have a better opportunity to ask me questions.’
80%
of participants needs to have confidence in Customer Service & Support
‘If the platform has excellent customer services and is able to help me if I’m not happy with the designs by providing phone call help or refund, then that will be very attractive to me’
100%
of participants needs to have confidence in the Designers’ Credentials and Reputation
‘If the designer has five-star reviews, that’s a good sign for me. I also check the designer’s previous experience, whether they are skilled in logo design, branding design or other designs.’
75%
of participants needs to understand the Quality of Design work done by 99d
‘I would be looking into the quality of design that a particular company can provide. I understand that ‘you get what you paid for, so I would not be expecting to get design work done for cheap, but I need to understand what I am getting for the money I need to spend.’
Customers’ pain points:
Don’t know if the designer is the right match for the project
‘From the designer’s portfolio or past works, it is hard to tell if the designer would be the right fit for the project.’
Worry about the efficiency of communication and collaboration with designers
‘In my previous experience working with a designer, I spent quite a bit of money, and I was still spending a lot of time collaborating.’
Don’t have confidence in getting desired design solutions with the money spent
‘As a customer, I don’t know what to expect after paying the money.’
Don’t know what they can do if they are unhappy with the design solutions.
‘What happens if I am not happy with the design? Will I get my money back? Will the designer redo their work if it does not meet my expectations?’
Usability Testing Key Findings
Usability issues
→ Depending on the path users choose, they might not be informed of the 2 ways of working with 99designs.
→ While users are going down the path to start a contest and then realise there is another way to work with 99d, they are likely to be distracted and look for more information on the 1-on-1 project.
→ Even when customers were aware of the 2 ways of working, they felt like they were forced to Contest and not able to choose the 1–1 project.
User Needs
→ The user needs more transparent information about the benefits, costs, time frame, and difference between a contest and working 1-on-1 with designers.
→ The user needs a simple way to compare 2 ways of working with designers.
→ The user must be able to choose either way of working if both options are available.
Based on our research data, we drafted a hypothetical persona that guided our decisions throughout the design process.
Alex, IT Professional, Entrepreneur
Alex is an IT professional who is starting a side business. She’s passionate and excited about her new business, but she’s also swamped handling her full-time job and side hustle. As an entrepreneur, she is also on a tight budget.
‘Walk in Alex’s shoes’
I came up with the idea of merging the current user flow and findings from the user journey. That gave us a clear map of the main friction points and how they affect the rest of the journey. These friction points cause confusion and frustration, affect customer confidence in requesting the work from 99designs, disrupting conversions.
Future Flow visualized that the focus of our project should be Front-of-funnel ( home page to just before continuing to the brief ) and how we planned to present the information about 2 ways of working when needed, which, based on our research, is just after a user selects the product.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Customers need a more intuitive way of knowing the two ways of working with designers to experience less confusion and proceed confidently to get the desired design solution.
My team's user research insights validated client usability testing at the project opening. We now understood where to implement our solution within the user flow. ‘How might we statements’ (HMW) and Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) helped generate ideas to overcome the issue. The Impact/Effort Matrix helped us prioritise the most impactful and achievable solutions.
03 DESIGN
Now that we had done all our research, synthesised data to form a strategy, and obtained stakeholders’ approval, it was time for us to start the next project phase, DESIGN.
With a tight deadline of only four weeks from research to delivery, we needed a streamlined design process and efficient handover to the development team.
We started creating a Design System to save time and build the product the right way from the start. A collection of styles, colours and reusable components was created with scalability, flexibility, and adaptability in mind. This made them future-proof for ever-changing technologies and design trends, ensuring long-term usability.
My team discovered three important points while building a Design System:
01 Developing a Design System enabled us to establish a uniform visual language, which improved efficiency by eliminating repetitive discussions.
02. The system helped reduce developers' time and effort when translating designs into code.
03 Creating a library of UI elements, core components, and patterns as a single source of truth will make future updates much easier.
04 TEST
3 rounds of Usability Testing showed a progressive improvement in customers’ understanding of two ways of working with 99designs, which raised their confidence in committing to this platform and ordering the design work they need.
Key Screens
Home Page
01
We added video and text information about two working methods to the Home page.
By restructuring the flow and presenting the information about two ways of working at the beginning of the user journey, customers now understand that there are two ways of working with designers.
How it works Page
02
The ‘How it works’ page has been reworked by adding one additional step based on the new flow (now starting from selecting a product).
select product
decide on the way of working with designers, 1-on-1 or contest
write a brief
collaborate
Product Page
03
The information on both ‘contest’ and ‘projects’ is now presented simultaneously, with the same prominence, to help customers choose either.
04
Illustrations have been added to ‘1-1 Projects’ and ‘Contest’ to help customers understand their differences and make their experience more enjoyable.
05
We modified information in ‘Start a 1-to-1 project’ and ‘Start a contest’ to align with customers’ needs.
06
My team listed processes of ‘contest’ and ‘process’ for easy comparison.
07
We implemented a short quiz that asked questions about customers’ situations and recommended one way that would better suit them.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
STRUGGLES
Dealing with negative feedback?
Our test presentation in front of our internal stakeholders received negative feedback as being too detailed and not client-focused.
LEARNINGS
Negative feedback is sometimes difficult to obtain, but it is always an opportunity to reflect on our work, learn, and grow. Ria and I did this. We took advice on board and excelled in the final presentation for the client!
RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend further testing to verify if…
the provided information is helpful and sufficient.
to validate the best way to present information about the contest and 1–1 project on the Home page.
to investigate further how to make information easier for customers to access.
LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS
When the client defines the problem space, we still need to go on our journey of discovery to be confident that our solution meets user needs.
Trust the process that always starts from noise and uncertainty. Designing is never a straight line and often requires stepping back to review insights from our research, eventually leading us to clarity and focus on where the issues are towards creating a solution.
Teamwork is the opportunity to learn from each other and grow together. Through open discussion, ideas spark. It is about the solution we create that avoids bias and makes more impact than when working solo.
