Overview
[blank]
[blank]
Role
Product Manager, User Research, Market Research, add
Tools
React Native, Github, Marvel, Miro, Adobe Suite
Team
Brian Kim (Designer)
_____ (Developer)
Timeline
8 weeks
My Impact
Ideated, wireframed, and prototyped based on user interviews and A/B usability testing. Developed pretotypes to evaluate usability and market demand. Established GTM strategy w/ competitive analysis for a B2B & B2C product. Addressed product churn.
Problem
Adjacent yet disconnected, individuals and businesses alike fail to engage in immediate local interactions, overlooking the benefits of in-person connections and genuine understanding of the community you’re in.
Challenge
How might we create an engaging and comfortable digital space that fosters immediate, local interactions among individuals and businesses to enhance community collaboration and mutual understanding?
Solution
Offer a real-time, localized communication platform that connects individuals in the same physical space to answer each other’s questions, polls, or spark conversations, facilitating the exchange of information and resources in an easy, fast paced manner.
01 User Research
Duration: 1 week
Tasks: 12 30-60 minute interviews, 3 POV’s, 15 HMW’s, challenge finalization
Problem Exploration
The chatter at a familiar coffee shop at home had been replaced by keyboard clicks, and as I sat alone in a brick room once filled with old friends, I began to question the meaning of in-person community in public spaces. Are digital interactions capable of replacing the sentimental moments of organic connections?
Needfinding
In order to truly grasp how a modern-day community views this disparity, I interviewed a wide variety of users who frequent public spaces — part-time employees, workers of diverse careers, and other students. I asked these user groups the same questions I had once asked myself:
How often do you engage with others in public spaces like coffee shops, and what usually prompts these interactions?
In what ways do you think digital interactions fall short of or surpass in-person connections within your local community?
Are there times when you’ve hesitated in reaching out to someone nearby? Why or why not?
Insights
The majority of my interviewees expressed discomfort or worry when reaching out to strangers, yet the reason was a surprise filled with insightful tensions, highlighted in separate pain points.
“I don't know when the appropriate time to talk a stranger is, and I'm scared of bothering them.”
Privacy vs. connection
How might we facilitate in-person connections between users while safeguarding their privacy and comfort?
“As a barista, I accidentally eavesdrop on so many conversations I've wanted to contribute to but I know I shouldn't.”
Desire to join vs. social norms
How might we create an environment where individuals can contribute to conversations without the boundaries of social norms?
“Starting a conversation is harder in person since there's no content you can go off of.”
Efficient vs. organic Interactions
How might we use the efficiency of digital interactions to promote in-person connections?
In-person interactions hinge on who takes the initiative first… What if we make that move for them?
These insights show that users are open to in-person connections, yet hesitate due to the fear of going against social norms. Corporations face a similar issue from a lack of local engagement between employers and consumers, where most interactions are held in formal settings, hindering a genuine sense of mutual understanding between both parties.
Combining the above HMW statements into one, we now have our product’s official challenge:
How might we create an engaging and comfortable digital space that fosters immediate, local interactions among individuals and businesses?
02 Ideation & User Testing
Duration: 2 weeks
Tasks: Solution ideation, 2 pretotypes, concept refinement
Solution ideation
I brainstormed multiple solutions in which both my target user groups, individuals and businesses, can benefit from.
After conducting 5 more interviews, this time focusing on businesses, I narrowed my brainstorming down to 3 different mediums for which the solution can operate on and analyzed their effectiveness, impact, feasibility, and novelty in the table below. The Location-Based Anonymous Forum came out on top.
However, solutions to user-centric problems aren’t always user-centric themselves.
The challenge I am attempting to answer emphasizes comfort for my users, and my solution rests upon that assumption. Am I building the right product? Are my assumptions about my users correct? Let’s test it.
Pretotyping
Working on a tight schedule, I designed pretotypes that measure market engagement and usability for no price and <30 minutes of work a day.
I will use two pretotypes to 1) evaluate usability and 2) scope out market potential, testing the following assumptions:
Individuals are more inclined to interact with strangers in public if given an engaging and comfortable medium/prompt.
Businesses are interested in fostering community within their spaces and will actively engage with customers given the platform.
Insights
Pretotype #1: One-night stand
Test: Market demand for an app to interact with strangers through a comfortable and engaging medium.
Process: 7 students living in the same dorm, all strangers to one another, are put in a group chat for 5 days. A different prompt would be issued at the beginning of each day. At the end of all 5 days, the group chat will be closed.
XYZ Hypothesis: At least 70% of students will express interest in prolonging the existence of the group chat after the 5 days are over. ✅ PASSED
Qualitative Assessment:
Strong connections made between students who were once strangers
Anonymity added excitement and confidence
Lack of commitment eased stress from typical new interactions
Varying levels of engagement between students, representing different user types of the product
Quantitative Metrics:
Participation Rate — 6/7 students texted every day
Continuation Interest Rate — 7/7 students wanted to reopen the chat
Avg. # of texts per day — ~60 total texts sent daily
# of in-person meetups — 2 b/t 4 students
Concept Refinement:
Users don’t want full anonymity after getting closer to one another → add an option for anonymity that can be turned off
Prompts played a key role in engagement → add conversation categories or tags
Users sent private messages to one another → implement a private messaging feature
Pretotype #2: Provincial
Test: Usability in terms of functionality and ease of use for business employees to engage with consumers.
Process: 4 bobaristas were tasked with writing down any announcements they’d share with consumers throughout the day for 5 days straight. The notes are relayed to customers on campus, and then returned everyday with their responses to simulate business consumer engagement.
XYZ Hypothesis: At least 75% of the boba shop employees will write at least 5 announcements down daily. ✅ PASSED
Qualitative Assessment:
Wide range of announcements from slippery floors to input on seasonal drinks
Fast and easy for employees with busy schedules
No other alternatives to communicating with consumers — novel idea
Quantitative Metrics:
Participation Rate — all 4 wrote daily announcements
Avg. # of announcements per day — ~3
# of employees that achieved XYZ hypothesis — 4
Concept Refinement:
Employee announcements should be distinguished from consumer messages → add a separate channel for business announcements
Employees sought input from consumers → implement poll features and display consumer insights for businesses
Employees seek casual engagement with consumers → allow employees to reply to regular posts in feed
After validating my assumptions, I can now commence with my product solution — Chime, a localized communication platform that connects individuals in the same physical space.
Users can answer each other’s questions, polls, or chime into local conversations, facilitating information exchange in an easy, fast paced, and comfortable manner.
03 Design Iterations
Duration: 2 weeks
Tasks: Wireframing, user flows, lo-fi to med-fi prototyping, usability testing
Task flows
In order to test our product’s efficiency in fulfilling our value proposition in a limited timeframe, Chime’s MVP focuses on the following 3 tasks:
Simple task: Join a local community and browse the feed.
Moderate task: Interact with other users in your local community by engaging with posts.
Complex task: Register a location and create your own local community.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
The low-fi prototype is currently being reorganized and restructured. Come back soon to view. For now, skip to med-fi prototype and product strategy.
Medium-Fidelity Prototype
04 Product Decisions and Market Strategy
Duration: 1 week
Tasks: Product vision, GTM strategy, expansion & pricing plan, competitive analysis
Product Decisions