Zachary | UX Case Study
An application to give peace to people in tech
The problem
Growing up, I became the kind of friend that was a go to option for a lot of people when they needed to know something about technology, or to troubleshoot their problems and get their computers fixed. Moreover, they wanted to drag me into hardware stores if they wanted to buy a brand new machine or upgrade an existing one. That’s when I realized that, although everyone includes technology in their lives, they are still unaware of the hardware that’s best for them.
In the end they end up spending more money than they need, or end up settling for a lower performance computer.
ComputerHope, a long running PC website concluded over multiple studies that most owners run into problems within the first four years of their purchase and instantly decide to upgrade their hardware without realizing the true root of the problem. To put it simply, people don’t have the time to research, analyze or over complicate their buying process.
A little background
According to Gartner Dataquest’s statistics, in April 2002 the billionth personal computer was shipped. The second billion mark was supposedly reached in 2007. It is indeed no surprise that users around the world own at-least one desktop computer/laptop at home. When they face an issue with their systems, they end up spending a lot of money for things they don’t really need or stop using them altogether out of frustration.
Therefore, I hypothesized that people are in need of a product that needs to educate their owners of the technology trend and tell them if they really need an upgrade and the magnitude of impact it would cause if they did.
Research
Although there are a lot of benchmark tools available on the planet, rarely any of them makes it simple for the user to understand what they need to know.
I managed to do some digging and analyze some products out there that would appeal to the daily user.
To really understand the problems the users were facing, I conducted a survey and asked participants what annoys them the most. The responses were taken from people who have different experiences with technology and people that come from different walks of life.
From what I understood, users needed a product that would help them make better purchases and also cut costs.
There are three things I needed to focus on:
- 1. The Experience: Users needed to be shown how dramatically an upgrade would improve their current system also while spending as less as possible.
- 2. Overwhelming factor: Due to the rapid technology that’s evolving day to day, it’s important not to bombard users with ads to buy new products or get notified when a new product is available.
- 3. To be user inclusive: People that use the product might be ‘tech gurus’ or simply a person who just wants to use their pc faster. My main goal was to design a product in such a way that if needed, the user can thoroughly understand what parts he needs to buy as well as the impact it has on the performance.
Starting the Design
Before I started to get my hands dirty, I took a good look at the user flow thoroughly just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
Carving out a detailed user flow helps you think & be more clear of your intentions for the product. Often, I make two flows:
1. The overall run around
This user flow usually consists of a rough flow of what the user journey might feel like. It isn’t organized; it isn’t clean but it helps me get a clear idea of what the app is supposed to look like.
2. The Specifics
This is a more clean, redefined version of the same flow.
Story-boarding
To truly understand the user, let’s create a persona called “Callum the curious.” He begins to fiddle with his computer and is a day-to-day average user. During one of his PC uses, he realizes that something is not right. The boot seems to be too slow.
He starts to panic.
He proceeds to launch Zachary to tell him what’s wrong. After a quick few minutes, Zachary tells him that there are two ways he can proceed:
- Upgrade his hardware
If Callum chooses this method, Zachary suggest memory sticks to him for purchase. Moreover, it explains why he needs it and what difference it makes. Only after Callum agrees, Zachary will proceed to add those items to his amazon cart for easier checkout.
2. Optimize memory & clean junk.
This is the second option Callum can go through. If he doesn’t want to spend money on new hardware, Zachary suggests to clean junk files & clear caches to boost performance.
Mockup
The first thing I did was iterate over multiple sketches & different versions of wire-frames to figure out the best possible layout needed for the app.
One of the strong points I wanted the user to indulge in was the face of the app that made them feel calm and more in control. I spent hours trying to put myself in the user’s shoes to make the interaction feel seamless & smooth.
After I was done with the initial mockup, I shared these screens with some of my friends who were designers to get their input. A fresh set of eyes always seem to help, perspective wise.
Prototype
[If you’d like to see the live prototype in action, visit my website! Cheers.]
Evaluation
The hard work was done. It was finally time to call some participants and try to put them in a day to day user’s perspective.
I conducted fifteen minute one on one interviews with 10 participants and asked them to use the prototype while I watched closely. I gave them different scenarios to act upon and noted down observations.
The experiment was conducted in a quiet room with a PC that needed upgrades.
User’s pain points
I sat down, listened to what the users had to say. To summarize among the participants, their answers were:
- “This application has potential, but the dashboard seems a bit complex for me. For a day to day user, I really don’t know much about CPU’s, GPU’s & their capacities (or what those numbers mean).”
- “It seems like it’s a sugarcoated effort to collect data so companies can sell hardware to users.”
I noted down these observations in multiple color coded sticky notes. Concerning ones in orange, minor UI flaws in yellow & user preferences in pink.
Takeaway
To address user concerns and privacy, I made sure to include a privacy notice in the app after launch. But here’s what I learnt from this experiment.
- Empathy: to put simply, although participants needed an app to fix their issues and tell them what to do, but it was also important to make the user not feel overwhelmed by the information. Simply because they seem to feel inferior to do so. To not shame them but to make them understand what was happening was a winning conclusion.
- Professionals need control: Although the prototype is built to cater all audiences, professionals needed a way to have more control over their pc. Hence, I introduced two modes (Simple & Advanced user). By switching between these two, the app can behave according to the preferences of the user.
- Fun learning experiment: The major thing I learnt while doing this experiment was that users are genuinely interested in products that help them understand the world better. They are striving to get to know things, and better themselves every day.
Besides, it was a fun experiment & a kick-ass case study.
To view the live prototype of the app: click here
