A research case study of a product in alpha launch
Team
Client + Founder
Lead UX Researcher - Leah Heifetz
Tools
Mila Note
Duration
2 months
Skills
Discovery Research
Competitive Analysis
SWOT Analysis
UX Analysis
Overview
The Context
I worked with an entrepreneur who wanted to create a parental control app that teaches kids to navigate technology.
Their initial request was for a series of mockups that they could present to potential investors for alpha launch. I advocated for UX research and emphasized the importance of discovery and understanding in order to create an MVP. Doing so steered the client to realize the value of research from a high level product scope. My main goal was to:
The Process
I used the Design Thinking Process to investigate the problem and explore various potential solutions, focusing on the Empathize and Define phases of the process.
The Solution
Design a parental control app that enables the parent user to monitor and access their child’s activity from a parent dashboard, all while teaching the child healthy screen time habits.
Empathize
To get started I needed to know who we were designing for and why. I synced with the client and was able to answer:
Who are we designing for?
For parents to monitor their kids’ screen time.
What are we designing?
A user-friendly, responsive mobile app featuring a parent dashboard to monitor multiple children and devices, and kids dashboard for earning screen time.
When will the design be used?
Parents will use the app when wanting to monitor their kids activity on and off devices; kids will use the app when wanting to earn more time on their device.
Where will it be used?
Parents and kids can use the app from any location as long as they have wi-fi.
Why will people use the design?
Parents want to be informed on their kids’ device usage while teaching responsible technology habits.
With a better grasp of the project direction, I got to work listing possible problems, assumptions and best solutions.
Assumptive Problems
parents need a way to monitor their kids online activity
Kids are spending too much time on screens
Kids do not know how to manage screen time: no limits, no balance
Parents manage screen time with restriction
Parents feel overwhelmed by constant management of screen time
Problem Statement
Parents need a way to monitor and decrease screen time, teach responsible screen time habits, and transfer device ownership/privileges to their kids, because kids nag their parents for time on their devices without learning useful screen time management skills.
We will know this to be true when we see app downloads increase, parents reporting less time managing kids device usage, and users progress from free to paid subscriptions.
Define
Competitive Analysis
I identified the top competitors based on features and app store rankings. My goal was to see what the competitors did well, where their pain points lie, and opportunities missed. I then summarized key insights to apply to the product design.
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SWOT Analysis
Conducting a SWOT analysis for each competitor helped me identify their successes and spot areas of opportunity.
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UX Analysis
I then went on to provide concrete design critiques for the client to understand best practices in UX/UI. I looked at the competitor apps plus an analogous product as an example of successful UX. This proved to be invaluable information for the client.
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Concluding Thoughts
Next Steps
Surveys and Interviews
Were I to continue with the client, I would formulate and conduct surveys and interviews with current users of parental control apps. This would give me insights on why and when they use parental control apps, tasks they perform in the app, and pain points they experience. I would chart findings into an affinity map to discover commonalities between users.
User Persona
I then would define a persona based on findings from the affinity map. The persona would serve as a guide for a user journey, user stories, task flow, and all sequential design artifacts.
Takeaways
UX is not linear.
The client wanted to jump straight into mockups. She had conducted market research, had a direction for the product UI, and had a deadline. I quickly learned that as a designer I need to be agile and get up to speed quickly so that I can design meaningful deliverables.
Advocate for the product.
At the same time, while I was ready to create mockups without conducting research, I explained the benefits of UX research and discovery and how it would contribute to the overall success of the product. The client ultimately saw the value in research so we established our research project goals and I got to work.