Stable manager | StartUp
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The application was created long before the Junior UX Designer course began. When I created it, I had no idea what, where and how. Fortunately, it turned out that it wasn't so bad, but the project needed to be refreshed. The project is theoretical for the needs of the portfolio. I don't have the financial resources to carry out real research, so I took advantage of the help of friends from the equestrian environment.
Brief
As the owner of two horses, I often encounter a lack of organization in dealing with the stable. Everyone who has their pets wants the best for them. Hence the idea for applications - how to improve the flow of the most important information in the stable. I wanted to create an application thanks to which horse owners can easily communicate with the owner of the stable and other horse owners. I did a reaserch on the internet, which showed that there are major deficiencies. There are similar applications but each is missing something. As benchmarks, I chose the Google and the Facebook application. Why? You will learn further :)
Strategy
The product will be targeted at horse owners and stables. Thanks to it, it will be possible to easily understand each other in the most important matters regarding both horses and everything related to them (booking a square, hall, visits by a blacksmith, veterinarian, feeding, letting the horse out in the paddock, arranging trips to the forest together). Using the application will be possible in both the basic and paid version - extended. The market is not big but the competition is small and weak. Target customers are people aged 16-40, operating phones and tablets without problems, people who are up to date with technology, this is a rather wealthy part of society. I intend to create an application that will be easy and pleasant to use.
UX workshop
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I focused mainly on in-depth interviews. I chose 10 people who are 16-40 years old. I asked them questions in various circumstances (in the stable, at competitions, during the field trip to the forest, sitting on a horse). I wanted the conversation to be loose and free. I mainly asked about the problems they face in the stable on the road of communication. I asked them what they mainly care about. What should an ideal stable be (from the point of view of the horse owner). Thanks to this, I was able to gather information on what the most important to horse owners is, what their problems are.
Persona
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During one of the trips to the forest (of course on horseback, in a larger group) I was able to determine what the persona should be. It seems to me that asking people under natural circumstances during a loose conversation can give very good results. After returning from a walk, I quickly wrote down what we had agreed so that I would not miss anything. Below is the result of our work.
User stories
The next step was to save the features and functions of the application that are important to the user. I wrote to several people to come back to me with information about what they expect from the application. That they would write me exactly what functions are most important to them and why. Here are a few examples.
As a horse owener I want to be able to change my horse's diet immediately if the need arises.
As a horse owener I want to be able to reserve a training so that nobady interrupts me in the preparation for the comeptition.
As a horse owener I want to be kept informed about the most important things that happen in the stable, to be able to control.
Customer jurney map
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To create a customer jurney map I had to think about how and when to do it. As I wrote above, the project is theoretical and I don't have the financial resources to do real research, so I used friends from the equestrian environment. To create the map, I needed to gather several people at one time and in one place. Fortunately, this was done during one of the trips to the competition. We have created a visual interpretation of the relationship between the product and the user. We set the goal that our persona wants to achieve: Ania is in competition with one horse, the other stayed in the stable. Between competitions she has some time and would like to go to the stable to ride a second horse. She needs to reserve a riding ground and contact the owner to get the horse off the paddock.
Value propostion
Why should you buy from us? To show the unique value of my product and the benefits of using it, I created Value proposition Taking the opportunity that we were a larger group at the competition, I used my friends and together we determined what Ania cares about, what she is afraid of, what she would like to achieve. Then, based on this, we determined what the product should offer.
Business Model Canvas
In the next step, I wanted to transfer the product vision into a business model in which I described clients, their relations with the product, channels I reach them, value proposition, key actions thanks to which I will provide this value proposition, resources I need, partners with whom I will cooperate, costs which generates my business as well as revenues and profits :)
Competition analysis
As I mentioned earlier, the competition is small but the market is also small so the product must stand out. I started to search forums, riding groups and ask friends in the community. On one equestrian portal I found a list of the 10 most interesting equestrian applications. I looked through them to see what they are, understand their UX solutions and get inspired. According to the information collected, it appears that there is no application in Polish that would help manage the stable. There are several foreign language items. However, it seems to me that in each country, horse riding is at a different level of development, which means that there are different needs and problems. However, this is only my supposition not based on any research or facts. Another aspect is that not everyone has to be fluent in a foreign language, especially since the target group starts at 16 years old.
Another argument is that the applications that I have viewed leave much to be desired After installing one of them at the beginning I had a problem with registration. Based on the collected information, I gathered strengths and weaknesses of my idea and presented them in the SWOT analysis. As I mentioned above, the project is theoretical and all the research was done in Spratan conditions. If I were to create a product for a customer and I had financial means, the research would have to be properly planned and carried out in appropriate conditions. It would be important to choose respondents, arrange questions, conduct in-depth interviews, sort cards, usability tests, and eyetracking
Nielsen's heuristics
When designing applications, I wanted it to be simple and quick to use. The product can be used in various conditions: when riding a horse, in the woods, in the cold, in the dark. Each action should be summarized, returning to the previous window should be simple, the option of approving the action or canceling it. The user in every place should have full control over what he wants to do.
Information Architecture
After talking with friends and determining what is important for the potential user, it's time to plan the content. In real research I would sort the cards, but because the project is theoretical I had to deal with it differently. I designed the content according to my assumptions (in fact I should do it by sorting cards with respondents) then I asked various people to find themselves in this information architecture. The testers were to find the information they needed, e.g. their account, a friend's from the stable, contact someone, sign up for a ride, add an important announcement and save something to the calendar. The biggest problem for me was the naming of the cards and writing simple instructions.
Home page
Home page is a menu that redirects the user to further subpages. I wanted the menu to be very easy to use and read. The application will be used in different conditions. The user should be able to use them, e.g. in the cold in gloves, or with one hand (because with the other he is currently holding a tether on which he is leading the horse)
Account
In the event of any problems with the horse (which I do not wish to anyone), the name and telephone number are the basic details that are needed to contact the owner. I also added a call button so that the application directly connects the user to the system on the phone (a similar solution is at Google, e.g. after entering the phrase Google restaurant search for restaurants nearby, gives examples and the possibility of contacting by phone or calculating the route on the map). There is also the possibility of direct redirection to the messenger. At the moment, this amount of information is enough and there is no need to add more data. In addition to the individual account, the user should top up his / his horse's account. There is also only basic information such as name, date of birth, breed, contact to the vet, blacksmith and a place to enter other information important for the owner (e.g. barley allergic horse).
I wanted to make the transition between accounts as easy as possible.
How do I search for another user's account? I had no idea how to prototype it, so I'll write. In the top panel there is a search window in which the user enters the name of the colleague. The search engine helps to find suggestions (just like Google does).
Product description
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Login screen
To maximally facilitate the possibility of registration and logging in, I used the method of logging in through a Google or Facebook account. More and more websites and applications are using this method and it is a great convenience for users.
Notice board
Sometimes it happens that the owner does not appear for several days in the stable (he has a lot of work, is sick or is on vacation). Many stables have their private groups on Facebook, but not everyone has an account there. The bulletin board is great for providing important information. And so we have a general table available to everyone. There is also a private board on which the user can write an advertisement directly to the owner of the stable or a friend from the stable. The board has only dates and titles of ads, only when the user clicks on the advertisement that interests him the application shows the entire content of the message. This makes it easier to find what the user currently needs. The application also shows new, unread messages. This is an important element for the user not to miss any important messages
Training
Some stables limit the number of horses in a square or hall. This is done to maintain safety while driving. The application facilitates the opportunity to sign up for training. The user can choose the training location (outdoor square, hall, or lunger) and the type of training (individual riding or training). You can save another user for the ride. I decided on such a solution because the phone is only a device that can discharge. In this situation, you can ask someone else for help.
Feeding
Feeding is another important topic for horse owners. This is especially important before a competition or a vet's visit. As a rule, the stables have 3 feeding, the application allows you to add more meals because there are horses with ulcer problems that should get a meal more often. You can easily switch from one horse account to another. Editing feeding is also easy.
Calendar
As in every subpage, it was also supposed to be simple and legible. Calendar for monthly distances (months can be changed by swiping right or left), clearly marked events, the ability to save the event and add it to the board, and the ability to sign up for a ride.
Messages
When designing the subpage with messages, I modeled myself on the Facebook messanger. There is no point in changing something that is good and works :) The messenger shows unread messages by marking them with a different color. At the top is the panel for finding friends. You can scroll it by sliding your finger to the right or left. You can also use the search window. Users can easily leave the conversation and return to the previous window.
Menu
There is a clearly visible menu on every subpage. The user can easily move between subpages. The logo located at the top as in every application and page leads to the application's home page.
I invite you to see the prototype. There are a few things that I did not know how to present, but all the deficiencies are described above :)
