Maintenance Request Mobile App
UX Case Study - Design Sprint
A convenient way for property management companies and tenants to easily report, track and manage repair requests.
Competitive research
Proof of concept
Competitive analysis
User surveys
Persona
Wireframes
Flow diagrams
Mini usability studies
Low fidelity mockups
Hi-fidelity UI
Prototype
Design system
Heuristic evaluation
UI Accessibility
Project/When
What
Why
Maintenance. Mobile App (iOS)
Jun 2023-July 2023
Mobile App (iOS). Design Sprint.
UI Design Constraints
Portfolio Spec Project
Role
Category
UX.UI Designer, Art Director
Real estate. Service Industry
Software
Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flowmapp, ProtoPie, Principle, Bravo Studio, Notion
Why I made this project
For tenants, dealing with maintenance requests feels like a big burden. Having an app that helps tenants quickly report repair issues or security concerns and get these issues resolved in no time and without much fuss, is a real deal breaker.
For larger apartment complexes, the App helps to efficiently manage maintenance requests and track progress so that tenants can get the help they need quickly and with minimal effort and in a timely manner.
Goal: Design MVP App screens for a common apartment repair request while meeting core users needs. The experience helps users to be more productive and have peace-of-mind and the APP helps keep tenants happy.
Stakeholder Interviews
RESEARCH
During the initial interviews, I gathered evidence for the problem space and understanding at a deeper level. Next, I considered what this means for project goals.
Primary research included: red route analysis, priority reviews, value proposition, impact matrix, product concepts, design priorities and a UX roadmap.
Whiteboard sessions, features audit and mental models
Market research
To better understand the market and gather evidence, I started with market research. This challenged my initial assumptions and helped uncover user's needs.
The claim
The United States needs 4.6 million new apartment units by the year 2030 or it will face a serious shortage. As renting becomes more and more of a lifestyle choice, and not just an economic one, apartment demand will be driven by all age cohorts at every income level, and meet this growing demand. In addition, as many as 11.7 million older existing apartments could need renovation during the same period; unnecessary repairs and lost money will be a huge issue for management companies.
The problem
The fastest growing markets include Raleigh, Orlando, Austin, Charlotte, Jacksonville and Las Vegas, each of which is projected to need apartments totaling 40 percent and greater of their current supplies.
A system to help control apartment repairs, billing, tracking, and community is critical.
Competitive analysis
First things first, I analyzed the most popular app in this space – looking at both the repair request system and the the negative app comments to find patterns. Part of my goal was to learn more than I knew before I started with research and discovery and get deep understanding of journey-level pain points; at what cost to the business needs.
The good:
All apps allow users to search for stores nearby and buy locally.
The bad:
There is no way to see the product before registration (App 1, App3) and there's no next-day or same day delivery option (App 2, App3).
App 1
Experience Audit
I studied in-depth behavior patterns for the business requirements and uncovered a growing need for a convenient, easy to use system for managing and tracking requests, as well as opportunities for improving journey-level pain points planned with a business service map.
Let's learn where the users got lost. User survey and usability tests
I conducted a quick online survey among people who are eco-friendly on Twitter. To obtain a baseline understanding of how users viewed the repair request App and behaviors when given tasks, I created a questionnaire, paper prototypes and Low-Fidelity wireframes for user testing and research. Output highlights current user behaviors alongside users’ stated needs.I aimed understand usr friction patterns through observation of task-driven testing. I created the F2F research to understand the users, their needs, emotions and behaviors. Have tenants ever tried a mobile repair request App? How successful were they? Have they had and good or bad experiences in the past with requests?
Then, I surveyed and interviewed language learners to gain insight into their motivation and pain points. Here is my research plan.
What: Support call Metric pain points from web analytics and heatmaps. From the survey results, I found out that:
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63.6% of users spend less than an hour studying a week, and 36.4% spend 1–3 hours studying per week. No one spent more than 3 hours.
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When asked how difficult it was to maintain a daily learning practice on a scale of 1 to 10, everyone chose 5 or above. 9 was the most popular with 6 votes.
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Users say that language learning is difficult because life gets in the way, hard to follow a routine, there is a lack of motivation and no access to fluent speakers.
User failed to add a request properly...why? What's the most important factor you take into account while filling-out a remote form for an apartment repair request? 75% of users abandoned this process of xxx on checkout.
3 participants
Price
25%
Convenience
34%
Delivery time
31%
Other (please comment)
10%
Users didn't like ....problems from the comments
I can't browse products before creating an account - no idea if it's worth it!
Esther
I needed something for Tomorrow and the closest delivery was in a week...
James
Because of the app I found a local store nearby that I can simply go to by foot.
Keiko
Mini-usability test
Paper prototypes
Worked through the scenarios one by one; allowing persona to perform that task: Minimalist constructed...fast to build and fast to change...for usability testing. The design was overload and overly-complicated.
I conducted usability testing with 6 participants over Zoom, each lasting about 30 minutes.
The objective of the test:
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Observe if users can accomplish the specified task. If they made a mistake, can they recover?
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Identify areas of the app that requires a change to improve user performance and satisfaction
With the provided feedback, I created revisions to fill the gap between my understanding of the users and what the users experienced.
Rich data from user interviews- 'watching' representative users use product, usability: Why. What areas do i need to address first? Solutions for these problems.
What does success look like and how to measure it. Efficiency= time to complete task, satisfaction=happiness with system, effectiveness= reduction in user errors. Ex. User take 20% less time to complete tasks with new system / process compared to older system. 50% or no data entry issues. New version of App and user satisfaction goes from 3/5 to 4/5 review stars. or user churn.
CURRENT STATE: Participatory Design / Super-Low Fidelity/
Guerrilla Research
What I learned about the user...to make informed design decisions. What I learned from users
User Interviews 2/4 Most people use map features regularly and navigation features when they’re taking an unfamiliar route. Being prepared is important and usually requires too many apps. Infrastructure, not bike technology, prevents people from seeing biking as a viable commuting option. A small subset of riders use apps for tracking their rides. Usually those people track other physical activities as well. Many riders are interested in reviewing past routes but won’t download an app just for that.
Opportunities Immersion / Hypothesis Concepts
Provide on-bike displays that provide information without requiring interaction while riding.
Provide the rider with confidence that they’ll always be able to find their bike, even when it’s stolen.
Provide the rider with what they need to know to be prepared for the journey ahead.
Support both the native who knows where they’re going and the visitor who needs more help getting to their destination.
Balance showing the rider what’s most relevant in the moment with the big picture.
User Needs
CityBike / Connected Bicycle User Interviews Strava Google Maps Dark Sky Cyclemeter Komoot Map My Ride Apple Activity MapOut Buienalarm Weather Underground “I need to know where I’m going and the basics of how to get there.” “I need to be aware of construction and other obstacles to my commute.” “I always check to make sure the weather doesn’t catch me by surprise.” “I like knowing how far and how fast I went.” “I like seeing past routes so I can decide which routes to repeat and which to avoid.” “I need an app that doesn’t take my attention away from the ride.” “I want to see all of my rides in one place so I can compare them and see my progress.”
Notable comments
ESTHER
"Change the text and share something about the collection you would like to feature."
JAMES
"Change the text and share something about the collection you would like to feature."
KEIKO
"Change the text and share something about the collection you would like to feature."
Impact from initial research shows
Informed decisions based on research data=FUTURE STATE. Real human behavior to inform my process. In-depth behavior patterns > quantitative data. There is a growing need for a convenient, easy to use, affordable service with fast delivery available form local stores. Deep understanding. Shared what they liked and disliked. confirm your product is solving the right problem, in the right way
• Find out whether the repair scheduling process is clear and useful
• Find out whether the navigation made sense and effective for users
• See whether participants can successfully create a request and submit easily
• See whether participants notice the ways to track and edit their request
1.5 Impact of Research
INSIGHTS FROM TESTING AND EXPLORATION:
- The questionnaire provided key metrics of success and friction areas be used in design solutions and used throughout the project
- Usability Tests helped condense my perspective on the problem and creating actionable goals used to develop a strategy
- User Observations defined behaviors and emotions created from my F2F interviews/tests. This helped uncover raw, hidden gems and unlocking user behavior and desires.
RESULTS
The analyzing friction patterns showed my assumptions needed to be redefined. Areas of immediate consideration:
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Usability friction pattern when navigating through experience
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Users confused with step sequence
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Bloated steps and overly complex
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Inefficient ways for users to edit or update the repair request
This contextual insight and feedback helped me redefining my user-centered approach, gain fresh objectivity and aid with solutions in mapping a future 'to be state' all while forming a single point of truth.
REDEFINED PROBLEM STATEMENT - SETTING
Esther needs a way to effectively access, track, update and quickly request the apartment repair App in order to get her repair issue resolved as fast as possible and track the outcomes.
Distilled Findings and Experience Goals
CURRENT STATE of the interface system. Reduced user bias with experience map by focusing on the problem from valid data. Extracted pain points and user goals: stages in user tasks. Direct quotes, user goals, actions, pain points: Pain point dot voting = top issues. Priority Map/Invert to Goals or benefits "Reduce the need to enter complex data into mobile App" or find an alternative to enter this data. Don't forget to balance business needs with user needs: fixing ones with biggest impact.
Target personas
I created two personas based on two types of users for the app: the store owner and the client. Who is the target user? Creating personas is a way to imagine who I would be designing for. I listed the goals & needs, motivation, and fear & frustrations.Active observation as a humble apprentice: user quotes = rich/facts. Listened for their goals and how they achieve them with actions..."can you tell me more about that or what you just did...I noticed that you....(explain it to me)" What does a typical day look like for Ashley? What does she value and think about? How are her actions different — or the same as her thoughts?
Design influencing through empathy
Indepth behavior patterns > quantitative data. There is a growing need for a convenient, easy to use, affordable service with fast delivery available form local stores. Deep understanding.
Customer Journey Map: IF Esther were to come across Enjoy Korean, what would that look like and how would it help fulfill her goals while removing her pains? A customer journey map is a visual storyline of how the customer engages with our product, service, or brand.
Ideation & sketches
HOW WE MIGHT?
After the research phase, I can deduce that the users need help keeping a routine and want to learn a language the non-traditional way.
How might we help people build structure and context of the Korean language while keeping them engaged?
How might we help people who struggle to learn Korean accomplish their goals?
How might we increase engagement and interaction with Korean learning on a daily basis?
In the most creative step of the design process, I came up with solutions and created an information architecture. Followed by that are sketches, mid-fidelity wireframes, usability testing, and a UI kit.Design Charrette and Possible Futures. Explored different sets of potential, novel ideas and refined these for my new designs. with focus on user pain points and user centered goals. Got reality checks by referring to the personas and explored different alternatives. Internal Design Workshops using Design Charrettes and Possible Furtures Brainstorming techniques. to synthesis. Informed decisions based on data. Reduced user bias with experience map by focusing on the problem from valid data. Extracted pain points and user goals: stages in user tasks. Direct quotes, user goals, actions, pain points:
The solution
Organic food awareness has been growing has been growing in the last 10 years. The market is now estimated at around $10B worldwide.
User-centered possible solution
There will be three journeys.
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Onboarding Experience. This flow focuses on building a routine and creating personalized lessons for users.
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Song Lesson. Of the three types of content available in EnjoyKorean, I chose the song to explore and design a lesson.
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AR Translation. This flow allows users to engage in real documents and allow them to come back to the app to study.
I organized all the pages according to each journey and listed items seen on each page. The square boxes represent call-to-action buttons.
Prioritize minimum-majority and absolutely neccesary requirements, goal setting-metrics, easy to track B measure success with usability tests /system metrics. Most important features first, Created a STORY MAP with requirements for NEW STATE with priorities. Nice to have features were lowest on my priority list. Build> get feedback(goals/metrics) . A/B
User scenarios & storyboards
In this journey, Esther discovered her passion for Korean and found ways to study, but with no success. The image above shows that Ashley comes across Enjoy Korean, as it guides the way to meet her goal.Reduced user bias with experience map by focusing on the problem from valid data. Extracted pain points and user goals: stages in user tasks. Direct quotes, user goals, actions. Storyboards= shows user needs, design concepts, input conditions and outputs in UI. User's needs are meet by these purposed solutions.
I have ideas to remove pain points flush out solutions into Scenarios and storyboards- make solutions useful, viable and useable,. Understand how my ideas will work in reality. = creativity tempered with reality workable interactions, prevent errors, user behavior. meets goals, users needs and closer to true design solutions.
Metrics demonstrate the value of my user-centered design methods and removes user pain points:
Efficiency: 20% faster input
Effectiveness: 50% fewer data errors
Satisfaction: moves from a 3/5 to a 4/5 star rating
Keypath Scenario
Alongside the information architecture, I sketched my ideas on my iPad, keeping in mind the user’s pain points and motivations.Indepth behavior patterns > quantitative data. There is a growing need for a convenient, easy to use, affordable service with fast delivery available form local stores. Deep understanding. Shared what they liked and disliked.
Fix the
pain points
=
Users love
the product
Flow diagrams
To outline the necessary app functionality, I created a flow diagram of the main tasks the user can do. One of the flow is shown below. MVP and pivoting to test new (idea) hypothesis, feedback from users, learn from feedback and iterate=build -measure-learn (for improvement).
Information Architecture
Indepth behavior patterns > quantitative data. There is a growing need for a convenient, easy to use, affordable service with fast delivery available form local stores. Deep understanding. Shared what they liked and disliked.
Lo-fidelity wireframes
MVP: To outline the necessary app functionality, I created a flow diagram of the main tasks the user can do. One of the flow is shown below. Rapid Iterative. Low Fidelity Validation for my UI designs: meet users needs.
FPO: Image of App Flow
Issues / Recommendations
Issues / Recommendations
High-fidelity UI & Design
Realistic experiences. Once the initial flows were created...user scenario....UI = Commincate good design addressing utility, useful, easy to find, tasks, usability, desirable.
I started by defining the font and color structure for design system....
FPO: Color /Fonts/ Icons, imagery , illustrations , Design System, Art Direction, Mood Board
FPO: High Fidelity UI - Interaction Model
24 high-fidelity designs were created
High-fidelity functional Prototypes
Once the initial flows were created...user scenario....
Rapid Prototyping
User validation
Once the initial flows were created...user scenario....
I started by defining the font and color structure for design system....
Indepth behavior patterns > quantitative data. There is a growing need for a convenient, easy to use, affordable service with fast delivery available form local stores. Deep understanding. Shared what they liked and disliked.
Key takeaways
Worked through the scenarios one by one; allowing persona to perform that task: Minimalist constructed...fast to build and fast to change...for usability testing.
Effectiveness: does it do the job>
Efficiency: Is it easy ti use as possible?
Satisfaction:Does the user enjoy what they are doing?
>> Thought and emtotion= Humans think and feel.
Reflection
What’s Next?
I have a huge list of features to add to Enjoy Korean so I want to work on that!
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Add sounds to lessons. How can I use hearing as a form of learning to teach users more about Korean?
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A skill test to identify user skill level due to the hardships of self.
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Premium Version. Without a source of income, it is hard to imagine a service like this being supported
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Creating a screen for the profile and word bank.
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Example sentences. What if users can see more example sentences related to a specific grammar rule during a lesson?
Lessons Learned
I understood how important the design process was to UX but this case study taught me exactly how. I subconsciously thought of what the final design of Enjoy Korean would be like even before I started, however, after the research and defining phase, that completely changed. Through research and analysis, I learned aspects of the learning process I wouldn’t have known otherwise. For example, before research, I thought most people study through an academic textbook or with a tutor. Although many people opt for this method, mobile apps and media learning were the top two in my survey. Through this, I learned that my assumptions are wrong and that I shouldn’t come to a conclusion based on what I think.
This was the main case study I presented during my interview and it ultimately helped me to demonstrate my design process, problem-solving skills, and ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and concisely. Thanks to this case study, I was able to showcase my strengths and secure my first job as a UX Designer.
