Solace Access Request

solace.com
ROLE
UX Researcher
TIMELINE
March 2024, 2 weeks
TEAM
1 UX Researcher (me)
1 Designer
1 Product Manager
TOOLKIT
UX Research
Data Analysis
Presentation

Project Overview

As a Product Designer intern at DOZR, I took on the challenge of enhancing lead acquisition—one of the five major design projects I tackled during my time there. The goal?
How might we capture more leads to re-engage users
and improve their DOZR experience?
This project allowed me to dig deep into user needs, optimizing a key part of the rental journey.

Problem

The main form of lead acquisition (LA) at DOZR was through abandoned carts—and while that strategy had seen some success, it was clear we could dig a little deeper. The question was simple:
How can we capture even more leads to keep the momentum rolling?
The goal was twofold: increase the volume of leads to pass along to our Sales and Marketing teams and improve user engagement to prevent drop-offs further down the funnel. Essentially, we needed to reconnect with users before they left us in the dust.

Constraints

Every project has its hurdles, and this one was no exception:
Despite these constraints, the goal was clear: deliver a seamless, user-friendly solution that captured more leads—on time and on point. No pressure, right?

Metrics

Success wasn’t just about capturing more leads—it was about creating an experience that truly resonated with our users. Here’s how we planned to measure it:

Design Principles

Guided by a set of core principles, the design aimed to create a user-centric experience that encourages engagement and trust:

01 Incentive-Driven

Provide valuable incentives that enhance the purchasing experience on DOZR, making users feel rewarded for their engagement.

02 Trust & Comfort

Create an atmosphere of trust where customers feel comfortable sharing their contact information—because privacy matters!

03 Capture Intent

Collect not just contact information but the intent behind it, enabling prioritization of leads that truly matter.

04 Light Scope

Maintain a streamlined approach, keeping the design as light as possible while still delivering maximum impact.

Process

How did we bring our vision to life? It took a collaborative journey through several key stages:

Along the way...

The journey was marked by collaborative efforts, including concept reviews with the Product Manager to ensure alignment with business goals, design reviews with the Design Team Lead for critical insights, and design critiques with the Design Team to foster an open exchange of ideas. The Demand & Retention Taskforce kept our metrics front and center, while spec reviews with the Engineering Team facilitated a seamless hand-off and ensured design feasibility.

Solution

After extensive research, iteration, and collaboration, we arrived at a solution designed to seamlessly capture leads and enhance user engagement on DOZR. Here’s a quick snapshot of the key elements:
‍Inquiry Topic Selection: A feature that captures user intent by uncovering their questions, making interactions more relevant and tailored.
‍
‍Social Presence of Team: A chat-like layout that showcases the online status of team members, adding a human touch and fostering trust.

‍Context-Specific Entry Points: Strategically placed entry points that boost SEO and guide users to the modal, ensuring they discover it when they need it most.

Hotspot Entry Points: Identified through analysis of high-volume clicks in Search, these entry points direct users to valuable content effectively.
This is just the beginning—let’s dive into the process that shaped this final solution!

Discovery

Understanding the Market & Its Users

To craft a solution that genuinely resonates, it was essential to first understand the market landscape and our users. By conducting a competitive analysis and engaging in user research, the goal was to identify the value we could offer to incentivize users to share their information and understand how we could assist them more effectively.
Key questions guided this phase:
What are users looking for in the DOZR product?
&
How can we provide value to encourage them to engage?

User Research

The insights gathered from a Demand Survey—a previous UX Research (UXR) project conducted by the design team—provided valuable, direct input from customers about their preferences and behaviors:
  • Users seek equipment recommendations tailored to their specific job requirements.
  • Many prefer to be connected with a Sales representative to receive support on their orders.
  • Users often need equipment on short notice and are looking for the best possible price.
  • There’s a higher comfort level with the traditional phoning process of the rental industry, indicating a preference for more personal interaction.
These insights helped ground our understanding of user needs, allowing us to approach the design with empathy and a clear sense of purpose.

Competitive Analysis

To understand how other e-commerce platforms approach lead generation and acquisition, a competitive analysis was conducted. Key strategies identified include:
  • Personalized Recommendations: Providing tailored product suggestions to engage users.
  • Live Chat and Chatbots: Offering real-time support to address user inquiries and concerns.
  • Discounts & Loyalty Programs: Encouraging repeat business and engagement through incentives.
  • Streamlined Checkout Process: Reducing friction to ensure a smooth purchasing experience.
This analysis offered a comprehensive view of industry practices, which informed our approach to lead generation.

Stakeholder Interviews

Interviews with internal stakeholders, such as the Sales and Marketing teams, were conducted to better understand what they needed from this solution. The goal was to ensure that our design would meet the expectations and requirements of these secondary users.
The Sales team shared insights about the attributes of an "Ideal Customer," which included:
Both the Marketing and Sales teams sought to leverage this solution to capture high-quality leads—whether by re-engaging potential customers or identifying the "ideal customer" ready to rent. Their insights were crucial in shaping the final design.
By combining insights from user research, competitive analysis, and stakeholder interviews, we gained a comprehensive understanding of both user needs and business objectives, setting a strong foundation for the design process.

User Persona

Next, developing a user persona proved essential for understanding the unique needs, preferences, and behaviors of our target audience. By crafting this persona, the design team could align its strategies with the actual experiences of users, ensuring that solutions would effectively address their challenges. Below is a detailed look at the primary user persona, which serves as a cornerstone for our design approach.
Understanding the diverse landscape of our users revealed key insights into their preferences and behaviors. These insights help shape our design approach:
  • Many customers in this industry are more familiar with renting equipment on the phone or in-store.
  • Not all customers know what exact equipment (and/or equipment class) is appropriate for their job.
  • Some customers may not be familiar with all kinds of equipment categories and classes.
  • Customers might not always be certain when exactly they will need the equipment.

Brainstorming

Next, I facilitated brainstorming sessions to explore various design concepts aimed at enhancing lead acquisition. Building off the competitive analysis and user research conducted previously, I took out my pen and began sketching different ideas and concepts discovered during market research. The focus was on envisioning how these concepts could be applied within the context of DOZR.
Accompanying the sketches are pictures of sticky notes that document the diverse ideas generated during paired designer exploration. These ideas were categorized as “big bets” and “quick wins” to aid in scope definition, ensuring a strategic and balanced approach to the project.

Iterations

The design process involved multiple iterations, each guided by insights from team discussions and user feedback. As the lead on this project, I facilitated the review sessions to ensure alignment with our design and business goals.

01 Wireframing

Initial wireframes were developed to assess whether our design met user needs and business objectives. Key considerations included user engagement and overall functionality.

02 Medium Fidelity

This stage focused on refining our approach, integrating feedback to enhance user experience and present a clearer vision of the final product.

02 High Fidelity (Final Solution)

The final design reflects our collaborative efforts, successfully capturing lead intent while providing an intuitive user experience.

Final Solution

Now, we dive into the details of the final solution showcased earlier. This section provides a comprehensive view of the user flow and the thoughtful design decisions made to enhance the user experience.

User Flows

Evaluating the Design

In evaluating the final design, we refer back to the design principles established at the outset. This reflection ensures that our solution not only meets user needs but also aligns with our business goals.

Lessons & Next Steps

Not everything went as planned during this project, but each challenge presented valuable lessons. This section highlights key takeaways that will inform future initiatives and enhance our approach to design.

Lessons & Challenges

Next Steps

Looking ahead, we have identified actionable next steps to further refine our lead acquisition strategy and improve user engagement.
This project exemplifies the power of user-centered design and collaborative problem-solving. By leading the team through an iterative design process, valuable insights were transformed into a strategic solution for lead acquisition. This experience not only honed my skills in facilitating cross-functional collaboration and conducting thorough user research but also reinforced my commitment to delivering impactful design outcomes. As I continue to evolve as a designer, I am excited to leverage these lessons in future projects, further enhancing the value provided to users and driving business success.

Project Overview

During my internship at Solace, I led a competitive analysis to establish a user-friendly access request flow for our product. By evaluating various competitors, I identified key UX strengths and weaknesses, providing actionable insights that informed design improvements and guided strategic decisions.
How might we architect the access request flow to establish a
benchmark and enhance user experience?

Problem

The design brief outlined the need for an effective access request flow. I broke it down into key objectives and deliverables, identifying essential goals and questions to stay aligned with project expectations.

Methodology

Research Plan

To document the findings, I created a clear plan for capturing and analyzing the access request flows. A key challenge was involving two parties to capture the complete flow from both the requestor and approver perspectives.
To tackle this, I worked closely with another designer from the start, keeping us aligned on objectives and test scenarios. Our open communication allowed us to adapt as needed, ensuring the final documentation met the design team's expectations

Tracking Progress

To ensure thorough testing and documentation, I created resources like test scenarios and evaluation criteria to track task completion. This approach made it easy to see what was done and what still needed attention. It also supported efficient asynchronous collaboration, helping us stay aligned on progress and ensuring nothing slipped through the cracks

Asynchronous Collaboration

"In this project, I focused on creating a well-structured document to facilitate asynchronous collaboration with fellow designers. By clearly laying out the content, I efficiently captured observations and insights, serving as a vital communication tool during our syncs on next steps. This approach streamlined our workflow and enhanced our collective understanding of the project’s direction—less confusion, more clarity!

Findings

With the different flows captured, it was time for the analysis phase. I reorganized the findings to enhance readability, making them easy for the designer and the team to revisit later. This clear layout not only made our insights more digestible but also set us up for smarter design decisions down the road!

Test Flow

First, I identified the test flow. This was crucial, as different tools had varying use cases and flows. By extracting the most generic flow, I laid the groundwork for a more effective analysis.

Research Matrix

I proposed a format for the research matrix and collaborated with the lead designer to find the best way to present our findings and analysis. By keeping the lead designer in the loop and regularly asking for feedback, I ensured the compiled information would be valuable for both them and the team. This iterative process allowed us to implement changes before finalizing the product.

Test Flow Tracker

To document our testing process effectively, I created a test flow tracker that outlined each step of the access request flow we were analyzing. This tracker enabled us to capture observations in real-time and ensured we covered all essential aspects during our evaluations. By using this organized approach, we maintained focus and clarity throughout the testing process—no detail left behind!

Final Matrix

The final matrix compiled all screen captures, along with good and bad UX observations and identified patterns.
To enhance usability, a detailed legend was included, allowing the designer to easily reference specific examples during the design process.
The layout was intentionally designed for readability and clarity, ensuring that even those unfamiliar with the project could quickly grasp the findings. This thoughtful formatting not only improved accessibility but also provided a comprehensive resource for tracking the origins of our recommendations and insights.

Insights

Cool, now what?

From the analysis, I gathered valuable insights that highlighted effective design elements and areas needing improvement. These insights were key in shaping our recommendations for the access request flow, ensuring we prioritized user needs and created a more intuitive experience. Feedback from the lead designer and the team further refined our understanding and approach—turning good ideas into great solutions.

UX Reviews

Regular UX reviews and frequent syncs with the designer were crucial in ensuring that the document remained useful and concise for the team.
This collaborative effort led to a streamlined summary of key recommendations that emerged from our analysis. The final product was not only shareable but also easily digestible, allowing team members to quickly consult it for guidance on the project's next steps.

Next Steps & Lessons

Throughout this project, we gained valuable insights into the dynamics of asynchronous versus synchronous communication. Leveraging both methods allowed for flexibility and efficiency, ensuring all team members could contribute meaningfully regardless of their schedules.

Additionally, the handoff phase highlighted the importance of clear documentation and actionable insights—tackling the age-old question of, 'Cool, now what?' By framing our findings to guide the next steps, we facilitated a smoother transition and empowered the team to move forward with confidence.

With the recommendations in hand, it’s time for the lead designer to consider these insights and weave them into high-level mocks. This thoughtful integration could shape the project's architecture, ensuring our findings directly inform the design process and elevate the overall user experience.