WeWa.life Mobile App Research
WeWa.life needed to understand how users viewed their platform
Challenge
The client needed to identify any issues with the high fidelity prototype before their development team moved forward.
We conducted usability testing of the prototype with target audience members to gauge comprehension, overall usability, and to provide feedback on the interface, features, and functionality.
How might we quickly gather user insights from the target audience to confirm usability and viability?
Scope
The scope of this project included usability testing so the stakeholder could understand overall usability and viability to determine which features to implement for product development.
Constraints
We had a ten week timeline to plan the research study, recruit participants, and test the existing prototype.
Implementation
We created a testing plan, recruited participants, and conducted both user interviews and usability testing.
Our Goal
Standard Beagle worked with the client to develop a usability testing plan that would answer the client’s key objectives:
- Send out a screener survey to identify participants within target audience
- Usability test 5-8 users from each category
- Ensure that application direction was valid
- Analyze the research and present the findings to the client
Our Solution
Based on the findings, we recommended some features either be iterated to better suit user needs or less emphasized in the final project.
Results
Overall, the research study provided a wealth of information. Participants found the application to be useful, user-friendly, and valuable. However, users expressed the need to have more visual cues such as subheadings and brighter call to action buttons.
The startup won an award for its work in the AHQR digital health challenge.
The AHQR Digital Solutions to Support Care Transitions Challenge honored WeWa.life with First Runner Up as a result of both the caliber and research value of the submission.
The founder thanked Standard Beagle for our work in understanding use cases for the app.
Our Process
Understand
We started by meeting with the stakeholder to review the current design and to understand the customer.
User Testing and Research Plan
We knew to truly understand the customer, we needed to plan out what our research would uncover. We created a research plan for our testing. This plan captured the specifics of how we recruited, who was be tested and how they were be tested. We also documented which questions were asked, and how we planned to capture the data. This research plan included:
- How does the target audience manage medications?
- What are the pains and goals?
- What is the audience’s feedback on the concept?
- Is it useful or not?
- Is the concept valuable to the target user groups?
- What features are most useful?
- What features are least useful?
- Who are the key users?
- What are additional opportunities?
Recruiting Participants
We created a participant screener in order to qualify participants before moving forward. This ensured that all participants fit the general profile of the target audience and helped us collect more accurate qualitative data.
The screeners were distributed on social media, Reddit forums, and applicable Slack channels. The participants were qualified based on their responses.
Explore
User Research and Testing
The next step was to schedule the 10 structured remote, qualitative user interviews and testing with screened participants.
Recruitment took about a month. The required number of participants were identified and received email and telephone follow ups. To ensure the participants were qualified and able to participate in the research, each participant was screened then scheduled for the interview.
We decided to conduct remote, moderated testing to protect the health and safety of our participants. Through the recruitment process, we began to understand who might use the application.
A total of qualified 10 individuals participated in the research study; five from each key user profile type.
The sessions were conducted via Zoom, recorded, and transcripts were generated using Otter.ai.
Gathering Data and Debriefing
During the testing session, two researchers were present. The lead researcher who led the discussion and another who observed behavior and took notes.
After the completion of each session, the researchers debriefed to identify noteworthy quotations and to disseminate the meaning behind participants verbal and nonverbal behavior. An insights write up was completed for each participant.
In addition to the notes and debrief, participant quotes were pulled from the interview transcripts to ensure all key ideas were captured.
Design
With the data we gathered from the research sessions, we needed to uncover key takeaways and similarities between participants.
Affinity Diagram
Following testing, we organized the results in a digital format and externalized the interviews as an affinity diagram. We synthesized the findings and uncovered key insights from the users.
Each of the participant quotes were organized by similarity in the diagram, then insights were drawn from the data.
Study Report
Following the analysis, we wrote a report capturing key takeaways by combining the insights from the session debriefs, session notes, and affinity diagram. We also suggested potential action steps based on the findings.
The report covered:
- participant demographics
- general impression of the application
- favored features
- least favored features
- suggested iterations
- opportunities for growth
- minimum viable product (MVP) validation
Create
We created a presentation highlighting key findings to present to the client.
Research Study Presentation
The research study report was long and verbose. To break down the complex ideas into tangible, high level takeaways, we created a slide deck to present to the client. The slide deck highlighted:
- key aspects of the research study
- how we conducted research
- participants description and demographics
- participant perception of the product
- highlighted impact of features
- and included recommendations for improvement
Research Presentation Slides
Validation
With the study completed and our slide deck ready, we scheduled a meeting to present our findings and validate our proposed solution through conversation with the stakeholders.
Presentation of Findings
We scheduled an hour long meeting to present our findings to the client. We discussed how participants found the application to be useful, user-friendly, and valuable.
We highlighted how users expressed the need to have more visual cues such as subheadings and brighter call to action buttons.
Through conversation with the client, we were able to further validate the research we completed by comparing findings from other research studies their design team completed.
