me&u - Services
Role
Lead Product Designer (Scalability squad)
(1 x PD, 1 x PM, 1 x Tech Lead, 2 Devs, 1 x QA)
Timeline
2-3 sprints in FY 2022-2023
The Challenge
Managing Services within me&u's ecosystem posed significant challenges. In the hospitality context, these dictate menu displays, like breakfast or happy hour. However, their complex design baffled both external venue managers and internal experts. Many venues leaned heavily on me&u staff, consuming up to 6 hours weekly, to decipher and set up their services. This highlighted a pressing need for a simpler, more user-friendly system and a systems thinking approach.
Company
me&u
An Australian firm pioneering seamless table-side ordering and payment solutions to transform the hospitality experience.
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Storybook, Hotjar, Google suite, Metro Retro, Jira, Confluence
Before
After
"Venues are missing peak trading opportunities, resulting in significant revenue loss"
Research and discovery
-
User Journey Maps: Mapped user paths to pinpoint friction areas.
-
User Interviews: Gathered insights from venue managers and patrons.
-
User Shadowing: Observed staff interactions with the me&u platform.
-
Hotjar Analysis: Tracked user behaviors and interface interactions.
-
Venue Assessment: Analysed venue feedback and identified recurring issues.
-
Competitor Analysis: Looked into how our competitors such as Mr Yum and POS's were organising this information
-
Tech Assesment: Analysed what we currently have to work with in terms of data from APIs and where we would need to make changes.
Research Results
We identified a pressing need to comprehensively overhaul our services. To achieve this efficiently, we segmented the revamp into distinct epics: Service Visualiser, Service List, and Create Service Page.
From the research the problems varied by user but were also connected. The main problem was knowing what services were happening and when and knowing which service was live. For this reason we started with the Service Visualiser. In this case study I will go into detail on the service scheduler mainly and show some of the work we did on the other connected epics.
User Stories & Definition
Collaborated with the tech lead and project manager to craft user stories, ensuring a thorough understanding of both end-user requirements and system constraints. This collaboration helped clearly define the design challenges based on user feedback and system requirements. After this we used a MOSCOW method to priotitise these stories. In my process I value tech input highly and usually will ask for a few tech spikes in the sprints previous to what we are developing to make sure we have less surprises.
Ideation with Feedback Loops
Embarked on a brainstorming session to propose a range of creative solutions. Regularly engaged the tech lead to vet ideas for technical feasibility, and maintained iterative feedback loops to consider impacts on the entire system.
Worked on very basic wireframes to get feedback from advanced users.
Prototyping & Tech Integration
Developed low to high-fidelity prototypes to visualise and test design concepts. Worked in tandem with the tech lead to ensure designs were not only user-centric but also optimised for system performance.
A big part of this project was making sure the visualiser felt natural to use and getting the interactions right took alot of back and fourth with the frontend dev and I.
Testing & Iteration
Utilised both user feedback and system perspectives to refine designs. Ensured that the solutions met user needs while also enhancing system harmony and efficiency. Also took the it to design jam sessions to help figure out some new patterns and layouts for items that were not already in the design system.
We iterated by making the service containers as seen on the left smaller so more content could fit onto the page, changing the colour tokens and by adding a service popover after we recieved feedback that users would like to see a quick overview of the service.
In this time I spend alot of time on calls with the squads frontend developers to make sure we are both happy with the process and the finished outcome.
Initial roll out
Findings
After a month of rolling out our refined design, we gathered invaluable feedback from users. We identified that the decisions to simplify and restructure information within pivotal sections significantly boosted user clarity and navigation efficiency.
Furthermore, the introduction of the popover feature was particularly well-received. Users found this tool beneficial in providing deeper insights about the service at hand, further enhancing their interaction with the platform. Such was the impact of the popover, it garnered enough attention to warrant its own epic for detailed refinement and enhancement. This reaffirms my belief in iterative design, where user feedback directly informs subsequent improvements, ensuring we remain aligned with our users' evolving needs.
Further work
-
Popover Enhancement: The initial positive reception of the popover feature cemented its significance. We dedicated focused efforts to further refine its interface, ensuring it provided users with clear, concise information at a glance. Its intuitive design made accessing deeper insights about a service effortless.
-
Service List: Recognising the need for organised, easy-to-navigate service data, we introduced the Service List. This centralised hub presented users with an overview of all available services, streamlining the process of selection and management. The layout was designed for quick access, reducing the time venues spent toggling between different services.
-
Create Service Page: To simplify the service addition process, we unveiled the 'Create Service' page. This intuitive interface empowered users to effortlessly add new services, guiding them through each step with clear prompts and validations. Collaboration with our tech lead and project manager ensured the backend supported this streamlined process, while our design thinking approach ensured a user-friendly experience.
Overall the services project was pretty huge, but so were our gains...
Reduction & Reconfiguration: By streamlining content based on continuous user feedback, there was a 25% increase in user comprehension, evidenced by a decline in support queries related to service features.
Emergent Requirements: Post-launch, addressing the surfaced additional requirements resulted in expanding our feature set making our product more versatile and user-centric.
Feedback-Driven Growth: The service enhancements improved operational aspects for our venues, resulting in a 32% increase in peak-time service usage. However, the evolving epic also emphasised the agility of our design process, leading to bi-weekly iterations based on dynamic user feedback.