App for VA SYD
UX/UI/Research/Usability test/Redesign
Sector: Public sector/critical infrastructure
Project time: 10 weeks
Brief
VA SYD has an app for customers to read news and receive notifications about waste collection and water shutoffs. The VA SYD website allows customers to login and utilise various e-services, not available in the app.
This study evaluates the benefits and feasibility of redesigning the app to include the e-services while still supporting the current functionality.
VA SYD decided to first target private homeowners as they are frequent users of the existing e-services on the web.
My role
As part of a team of three I took on the roles of: researcher, strategic planner, UI designer, prototype designer, moderator for user interviews & usability testing, stakeholder manager and project manager. We all contributed equally in all parts, what set me apart would be my ability to focus on the goal, keep the team moving forward and make sure we had time for each stage of the design process.
The design process
EMPATHISE
- The market and competitors were assessed and SWOT analysis performed.
- Stakeholder interviews to understand the company goal and customer base.
- Study of brand documentation, visual identity, etc.
DEFINE
Collected data fed into an affinity mapping session to identify patterns and gain insights. The MoSCoW-technique was used to prioritise essential features and to ensure alignment with stakeholder priorities.
Vision for the VA SYD app
Problem statement
"VA SYD's customers are currently unable to access key e-services directly within the app and are instead redirected to My pages on the web. This breaks the in-app experience and creates friction for users who expect to complete tasks seamlessly within a single platform. Resolving this issue is important to ensure VA SYD delivers a consistent, intuitive, and seamless customer experience regardless of whether customers choose to use the app or the web."
IDEATE
Workshopping and brainstorming using insights from the Define phase.
PROTOTYPE AND TEST
Lo-fi prototype
Ideation arrived at providing a set of user configurable widgets on the start screen to cater for personal preferences and priorities.
Best practices were applied throughout the wireframe and prototype design. For example the 7 principles of design; balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, proportion, repetition/pattern and unity.
User test 1 lo-fi prototype
A lo-fi paper prototype to evaluate the navigation design and labels.
Lo-fi prototype with annotations after paper prototype test
Inclusive design and accessibility testing was performed alongside the prototyping and testing, ensuring WCAG 2.2 compliance throughout.
Usability test 2 hi-fi prototype
Three participants navigated a scenario in a hi-fi Figma prototype and the metrics of completion time, error rate and satisfaction rating were collected.
Hi-fi prototype with annotations after usability test 2
Conclusion
The tests showed that participants were positive about getting e-services in the app and the new design was perceived as major improvement over the current one.
It was found that the web also provided operational info that is not included in the app, adding this operational info as well as e-services to the app would make it a one stop shop for customer needs.
Challenges
The main challenge is converting customers to use the app.
Outcome
The full report was delivered to VA SYD and was very well received. VA SYD is now considering continuation and implementation.
Knowledge gained and next steps
Finalise the prototype with all views.
Create more personas reflecting a wider range of VA SYD customers.
Run more usability testing with several user flows and test groups.
