design process
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research
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define
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ideate
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design
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test
User Research
Research involved creating and conducting interviews to better understand the user and their needs.
With the information gained, I could then empathise with the user, understanding their problems. Pain points could then be identified, and personas, empathy maps, and user journey could further be developed.
To conduct interviews, I interviewed 5 adults, ageing from 18-38, over the phone to understand their challenges when it comes to buying snacks at the cinema.
Pain Points
With the information gained from the user interviews, a summary of everyone’s challenges can be summarised in three main pain points.
The longest time spent in a line to get snacks is said to be 30 minutes. This causes many users to miss the beginning of their movie.
Users become impatient when waiting for their snacks. When the wait becomes too long, users may end up leaving the queue.
Some users find that it isn’t worth waiting in line to buy snacks that are costly, so would rather try and sneak outside snacks inside.
Personas
Two personas were created to show the two different groups when it comes to buying snacks at the cinema.
Problem Statement
“Esther is a cinema lover who needs a quick and easier way to buy snacks at the cinema because waiting a long time in line ruins her experience.”
Problem Statement
“Jeremy is a student who needs a way of buying inexpensive snacks for the cinema because he doesn’t earn a lot of money.”
Empathy Maps
Empathy maps were further created for both Esther and Jeremy to have a deeper understanding of the user’s needs.
These identified what the user says, thinks, does and feels.
User Journey Maps
User journey maps for Esther and Jeremy were made to understand the tasks and feelings the user does and feels throughout their journeys of going to the cinema. It also identified areas of improvement that could be used to better the experience of the user.
Goal - Buy tickets and snacks to watch a film in the cinema.
Mind Mapping
To begin my ideate phase, I used a mind map technique to map all the features the app could possibly use according to the needs of the user.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
My mind map had a lot of ideas that would benefit the user in many ways. However, If I was to just focus on the three primary pain points of the user, I would use the pre-order of snacks idea and the student discount idea in my main design.
To continue the ideation phase, I started sketching some wireframes that implemented these ideas.
User Flow Chart
For this user flow chart, some of the ideas from the mind map and sketch frames were used to show how the user will navigate through the app. The process of pre-ordering snacks off the app has been illustrated.
User task: Use the app to place a ticket and snack order.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
To start my design stage, I developed my paper sketches into digital wireframes on Figma.
High-Fidelity Wireframes
After many iterations on my wireframes, I started building high-fidelity prototypes. I considered a colour scheme and kept this in mind on every screen.
Here are my final designs.
Accessibility considerations
For people with vision disabilities, e.g. colour blindness, I made sure that it was not just colours that were used to differentiate between different items.
I used different font weights to help with this, and the primary colours for the app are colour blind friendly.
Prototype
To test my final design, I created a working prototype to show how the end user would work their way through the app, from the splash screen to the confirmation screen.
Design System
Going forward
What I learnt
This whole experience taught me how empathy is such an important role when it comes to designing. Without knowing the real needs of your user, you may be creating a product that only benefits yourself. This also being my first case study has really been rewarding for me. I have gained a lot of experience that can be used in the future, as well as learning a great UX tool - Figma.
I have also learnt that what what you may think is the best solution, may not be the best solution for your user. All your focus should be on the group you are creating for.
Challenges
A challenge I faced while designing was limiting all my creative ideas to just a few. As a designer, it is important to make sure each idea is beneficial to the user.
Another challenged I faced was not comparing my designs to those who have been designing for 5+ years. This case study has taught me to be confident in my designs - excepting all constructive criticism, as this is what will elevate my designs and make me a better designer.