🤝 PROJECT
CHANI iOS App
in conjunction with General Assembly
📆 DURATION
3 Week Sprint
🙋🏻♀️ ROLE
🛠 TOOLS
Figma | Miro | Trello | Zoom
😎 UX METHODS
😎 UX METHODS
C + C Analysis | Current State Usability
Testing | Affinity Mapping | Personas | Sketching | Wireframing | Mid-Fi + Hi-Fi Prototyping | Usability Testing
Chani
Chani Nicholas is a world renowned astrologer. Her corporation recently launched the CHANI iOS app. This app is described as "the #1 app for self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing." Along with horoscopes, the app offers personalized birth chart insights, explanations of current planet placements, workshops, journal prompts, and guided meditations.
Opportunity
The CHANI team came to us with known issues:
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Onboarding for new users needed to be more welcoming.
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Education for users with beginner level astrology knowledge needed to be created and integrated.
We ran the app through a 3 week sprint, excavated valuable unknown user pain points, and delivered solutions for all needs. It's like we were healing the healer! Ok that's a stretch, but, we were able to provide options for the CHANI designers and developers to implement in future version updates.
Empathizing with Research
GETTING STARTED
Astrology is a massive body of study. I personally know quite a bit about the subject and have even taught astrology courses. Other members of our team, however, considered themselves astrology beginners and knew little. They felt they needed a crash course.
To internally kick the project off, I familiarized the team with astrology terms and concepts featured on the app and pointed them to additional resources. We also collectively spent time getting to know the app and the CHANI brand.
FUN FACT: 5% of all app profits are disbursed directly to Black, Latinx, Native/Indigenous, Queer and/or Trans survivors of gender-based violence by FreeFrom.org 💝
COMPETITIVE + COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (C&C)
Astrology has surged in popularity over the past decade and the CHANI app is not alone. Ready to dig deeper, we wanted to take a look at what other astrology and mindfulness apps offer to pinpoint similarities and differences. We next composed a C&C analysis keeping a keen eye on features related to the known issues the CHANI team brought to us relating to onboarding and education for beginner level users.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS:
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50% of competitors are beginner friendly in that they offer detailed explanations of key terms.
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50% of apps in the comparative market offered optional guided tours after onboarding new users.
%
50
Competitors offering
beginner friendly definitions
%
50
Comparatives offering
new user guided tours
CURRENT STATE USABILITY TESTS
Next, we put the then current version of the app to the test. We moderated a group of 9 new users with beginner level astrology understanding as well as a group of 4 new users who considered themselves astrology veterans. We observed and prompted for feedback as they navigated their way from app download in the iOS store all the way through first time exploration. We were curious to see how feedback from these two groups would parallel and diverge.
Further, we ensured both groups moderated included representatives from three generations since the CHANI user base spans across Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen Xers.
It was easy to see what users enjoyed about the app.
💡 INITIAL INSIGHTS:
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8 of the 13 total users found the artwork "very cool" and "trendy."
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100% of Astrology veterans understood the terms with ease and felt the app was extremely in-depth, covering a wide range of advanced topics in a thoughtful way.
"Oh cute! I love this image!"
AFFINITY MAPPING
The next step in our research was to organize a detailed map of all the comments and information gathered during usability testing. This allowed us to identify trends in user feedback.
It was here we had our first eureka moment!
Not only were the known issues presenting themselves, we also uncovered pain points relating to how the paywall was introduced and paid vs free content.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS:
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78% of astrology beginners commented on not understanding the astrology terminology.
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56% of astrology beginners commented on feeling overwhelmed by content.
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9 out of the total 13 users commented on lack of free content before hitting the paywall.
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10 out of the total 13 users felt the introduction to the paywall was abrupt and repetitive.
Understanding Users
THREE PERSONAS
At this point we had deepened our awareness of the market and our grasp on the CHANI brand. We had also uncovered valuable user feedback about pain points in the current app. Our next step was to solidify our understanding of the users.
Applying the information organized in our affinity map, we developed 3 ideal user personas. Each persona
created was considered an astrology beginner, however, the generations differed in order to represent the 3 generations within the CHANI user base.
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Problem Definition
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Before moving into design, we used our research and clearly defined the problem.
Beginner astrology enthusiasts need an informed introduction to the CHANI app and astrology education that fosters an understanding of everything the app has to offer.
My Role
LEAD DESIGNER
As Lead Designer it was my responsibility throughout the remainder of the project to ensure we maintained the integrity of the CHANI brand within our designs. I did this by consistently referring to their style guide and UI kit, double checking that all our designs were infused with these established elements, and making sure the entire team had access to the style guide and UI kit.
It was also my duty to speak on the team's behalf during our bi-weekly stand-ups with the CHANI team regarding design decisions, progress, and next steps throughout the design phase.
Letting it Flow
SKETCHING + BRAINSTORMING
With a firm grasp on the problem and questioning how we might be able to solve the issues, we then moved into design ideation.
💡 KEY IDEAS:
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Create a tour to extend onboarding and welcome and familiarize new users with the app features.
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Develop a 'Star Guide' to strategically place throughout the app which will offer immediate definitions and explanations of astrology terms and concepts.
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Integrate options to sample content behind the paywall so users have a better understanding of what they will receive with a paid subscription.
Solutions?
MID FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Tightening up our initial ideations and expanding with more potential solutions, we created wireframes of our best ideas and linked them up in a mid-fidelity prototype.
The CHANI team, having known issues with onboarding, had been working toward a redesign. They provided us with mock-ups of their designs. We incorporated the CHANI team's onboarding ideas into our prototype so they could be run through usability tests.
ONBOARDING
💡 OUR SOLUTIONS:
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Added a progress bar at the top to inform users of the length of the onboarding process. The rest of the design is what was given to us by the CHANI team.
OPTIONAL APP TOUR
💡 OUR SOLUTIONS:
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Created the option for new users to take a look around the app with a tour. The tour highlights main navigation and what users can expect to find on each page as well as an explanation of how the 'Star Guide' will be there to keep them informed throughout the app.
THE 'STAR GUIDE'
💡 OUR SOLUTIONS:
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Iterated icon ideas, created an icon, and consistently placed the 'Star Guide' throughout the app next to words and concepts users struggled with.
REDUCING OVERWHELM
💡 OUR SOLUTIONS:
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Made sections expandable and collapsible to reduce information overwhelm and give users control over how much info they see while scrolling.
PAYWALL INTRODUCTION
💡 OUR SOLUTIONS:
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Integrated a way for users to sample content behind the paywall.
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Made content beyond the paywall visible behind a reduced opacity screen. This gives users a visual clue of how much content they will receive with a paid subscription and shows more of the artwork users enjoyed.
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Created an upgrade button and placed it throughout the app along with the paywall screen so users could click at their own choice and continue with conversion.
MID-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE USABILITY TESTING
We tested the mid-fi prototype with 7 new users.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS:
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Users confused the 'Star Guide' icon at the top right of the page as a logo.
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it was unclear the Morning Meditation was a clickable sample.
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Users expected a way to upgrade in the hamburg menu navigation.
Infusing Life
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
After solving for the pain points uncovered in mid-fi testing, we then brought our potential solutions to life in our final, hi-fi prototype.
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE USABILITY TESTING
We tested the final prototype with 5 users from mid-fi testing and 2 new users.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS:
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100% of users felt the onboarding process was simple and clear.
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100% of users knew exactly what was happening during the new user tour.
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There were no comments about being overwhelmed with information. Users were able to scroll through the content with ease.
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80% of users found the Star Guide helpful and/or intuitive. They clicked the icon and received definitions which is what they expected to happen.
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100% of users understood there is content beyond the paywall with the option to sample a bit of this content. There was no discomfort or confusion with being invited to upgrade.
Next Steps
MOVING FORWARD
As the project came to a close, we offered the CHANI team a few suggestions for further exploration:
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Iterate the Workshop page and retest. 4 / 7users found the workshop page in our final prototype confusing.
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Write and test copy to ensure the definitions and explanations are understood by astrology beginners.
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Ideate ways to incorporate more artwork into the app. During current state and hi-fi prototype testing users commented on how much they enjoyed the imagery.
Reflections
LIMITATIONS
The pandemic did hinder current state usability testing. Since we couldn't test in person, we had the extra task of creating a prototype of the current app to remotely test over Zoom.
Due to the short timeframe of this 3 week sprint, we had to forgo writing content for the tour and the Star Guide definitions.
WHAT WENT WELL
My astrology background was useful to this project. I was able to familiarize our team with definitions and concepts which helped them connect with the product. I was also able to easily find astrology veterans willing to participate in usability testing.
We had no problem finding astrology beginners to test with throughout the project. It was easy to see the general interest of people in astrology and we had many enthusiastic responses to our requests for testers.
The CHANI team was an absolute pleasure to collaborate with. Their communication and responsiveness throughout the project was top-notch. After receiving our final deliverables, they informed us that they were inspired by our findings and solutions. Continuing forward, the CHANI team planned to meet and iterate on how our solutions might be implemented in future updates.