Pollination Group - BHP
The Problem
Establishing User Needs through
Competitor Analysis
The competitor analysis allows us to asses platforms/solutions already in the market, enabling us to see what has already been done what has worked and what hasn’t.
User Interviews
Through conducting interviews with potential users, we were able to gain an understanding into personal experience, motivations and general behaviour.
The key take aways from this include;
Through carefully curated questions we were able to find answers into areas that would concern our human centred design solution, this is what we found:
Mapping Key Information
Taking the key information and interpreting it by using a empathy map to gain an understanding of how the user may be thinking & what the key indicators are influencing them.
Using the data to drive a solution
After carefully sorting through the data, finding common themes and key areas we are able to begin the ideation process.
The ideation process begins with a wide scope of rough ideas that are derived from the organised data & ideas sparked by prompts.
Ideation
An ideation session took place we were able to rapidly brainstorm as many ideas as we could based on insights found in the interview process & previous research.
Users Flows
User flows feed off the ideation process allowing us to map out potential direction for the solution. The user flow below shows us the flow uploading content, with the key outlining pages/actions & options at each step of the process.
Wireframes & User testing
After making sense of the user flows from the previous steps we began to create simple black & white wireframes that would lead the user testing stage. These screens would help drive our testing stage enabling us to narrow down what would work for our final design solution. From the testing phase we were able to understand the users:
Story Lab Application Solution
Storylab is a mobile application that aims to help community leaders & network members share their stories across the world in a number of different environmental projects by Pollination in an easy and user-friendly manner. The idea of Storylab is for users to create stories with options of different media types in the easiest way possible. Users are currently disengaged with the current methods in place so the making a mobile application with an easy step by step create process makes information quick & easy to share. Users working on projects are often in remote areas and may not have easy access to computers.
Being able to upload information on the go while the projects are fresh in their minds would be reflected in their stories. The create process is an easy two part process which runs through location, media upload, title & text, linking projects & categories as well as adding contributors if need be. The contributor tool leaves the option to give credit to others working on the project & the option to add content giving each post more credibility.
Next Steps
Following the user testing stage and development of the first hi-fidelity prototype we were given lots of feed back and were able to recognise areas for improvement.
Testimonials
I had the pleasure to work with a team of the aforementioned designers through a research project they delivered for the Foundation as part of their work with Academy Xi. They were tasked with assisting us to explore user experience and design options for an early-stage project called ‘Story Lab’ which is part of the Foundation’s strategy to mobilise the power of story for positive change and evidence of impact. The project they worked on is complex, with two Australian organisations acting as data stewards, and another seven organisations from different countries working in multiple languages as data owners and providers. The team also faced time and resource constraints in helping us to determine a way forward. Despite this, their work was outstanding. The team conducted thoughtful and detailed research, ranging from competitor analysis to collating insights from interviews with our users. They were extremely responsive to feedback and able to modify their thinking and move forward in an agile way. To the conclusion of the work, they presented a strategic design solution that we will be taking forward on the project. I would not hesitate to work with them again, and highly recommend their skills and expertise to others.
