Product & Experience Design for SaaS Start Up

Product & Experience Design for SaaS Start Up

AOS Empowers Users and Fights Poverty With a Clever Multi-Sided Marketplace Experience

Client

Act of Service (AOS) is a Christian SaaS startup that donates a portion of its income to charitable organizations fighting poverty. AOS aims to offer products and online services that help users generate income and develop new skills, resources, and experience. AOS must create a minimum viable product to support its goals for itself and its users.

Problem

As poverty grows worldwide, AOS aims to solve this problem by developing a product that reduces poverty and income inequality while enabling financial freedom.

User & Audience

AOS focuses on attracting working-age individuals and families trying to create financial freedom or have incomes near the U.S. poverty line. To better understand and address their needs, user personas were developed, helping to tailor the product to AOS's target audience.

Scope & Constraints

The project aimed to develop and showcase a mobile app that facilitates AOS users in increasing their financial freedom thus reducing poverty. AOS's vision to accommodate all employment environments added a requirement for a physical product to be integrated with the digital solution.

Role & Responsibilities

As the only designer on the project, I was responsible for every aspect of the design process. Alongside collaborating with the stakeholders to form the product, my responsibilities included conducting research, iterative ideation, creating wireframes and sketches, and developing prototypes.

To Prioritize People AOS Embraces Social Enterprise Thinking to Create Humane Solutions

Social enterprise thinking prioritizes people and the planet over shareholder gain, operating through a human-centered design approach and design thinking process. Social enterprises span every industry and can be funded by various means, provided they generate revenue while creating a positive impact. AOS's project goal is intrinsically human-focused with a substantial social component, which led to the use of social enterprise thinking in developing a solution for AOS

Lock Refinement
Enhances the Form and develops the Function to optimize Usability

After selecting the form from the initial ideation phase, a fourth round of ideation was undertaken to refine both the function and form of the lock. This stage aimed to optimize the design for usability and efficiency.

The refinement process included creating detailed sketches of the lock and Wi-Fi connector from various perspectives. These drawings ensured that the design was cohesive, functional, and aesthetically aligned with the brand's vision.

Additional sketches focused on the internal structure of the device, detailing the layout for housing the lock's internal components. This stage was crucial for integrating all functional elements, ensuring the lock's efficiency and ease of use.

The refinement process included creating detailed sketches of the lock and Wi-Fi connector from various perspectives. These drawings ensured that the design was cohesive, functional, and aesthetically aligned with the brand's vision.

Additional sketches focused on the internal structure of the device, detailing the layout for housing the lock's internal components. This stage was crucial for integrating all functional elements, ensuring the lock's efficiency and ease of use.

Sitemap Ideation
Constructed the Optimal User Experience for the Mobile App

Sitemap ideation was crucial for designing the structure of the mobile app's digital experience. The process involved two phases: creating an initial sitemap and refining it to optimize the user experience.

The initial sitemap was sketched by hand, allowing for a quick and efficient visualization of the app's architecture. This phase focused on brainstorming and mapping out the app's structure based on anticipated user needs and engagement patterns.

The initial sitemap was then refined to better align with the final product features. This refinement included reorganizing and adding content to key areas such as the home and market pages, as well as introducing a dedicated lock page. The updated sitemap was digitized to enhance clarity and usability, providing a clear blueprint for the app's development.

The initial sitemap was sketched by hand, allowing for a quick and efficient visualization of the app's architecture. This phase focused on brainstorming and mapping out the app's structure based on anticipated user needs and engagement patterns.

The initial sitemap was then refined to better align with the final product features. This refinement included reorganizing and adding content to key areas such as the home and market pages, as well as introducing a dedicated lock page. The updated sitemap was digitized to enhance clarity and usability, providing a clear blueprint for the app's development.

Userflow Ideation
Produced the User experience of the solution's central Features

User flow ideation aimed to visualize how users would interact with the primary features of the solution. The process was conducted in two phases: initial task flow ideation for three major features, followed by refining these task flows into final user flows.

The initial ideation focused on three key features: adding a service to the market, selecting a service from the market, and accepting services from customers. Task flows for these features were hand-sketched to quickly explore and visualize user processes, ensuring they met user needs effectively.

The initial task flows were expanded upon and digitized to create detailed user flows. These final user flows offered a clearer visualization of user interactions and available options, improving the overall user experience and aligning with the final solution's features.

The initial ideation focused on three key features: adding a service to the market, selecting a service from the market, and accepting services from customers. Task flows for these features were hand-sketched to quickly explore and visualize user processes, ensuring they met user needs effectively.

The initial task flows were expanded upon and digitized to create detailed user flows. These final user flows offered a clearer visualization of user interactions and available options, improving the overall user experience and aligning with the final solution's features.

Solution Satisfies Stakeholders with the help of the Mobile App and Lock Prototype

The project concluded successfully, with stakeholders expressing strong approval of the mobile app and lock prototype. They believed the lock could be effectively produced to facilitate in-home user access. While some were concerned about the lock's practicality for commercial use, stakeholders felt it would suffice for small businesses.

This experience underscored the importance of considering both company maturity and priorities during product development. For AOS, which is still in its startup phase, prioritizing robust security measures was a critical decision. Establishing trust with users is vital for new companies like AOS.

This project highlighted the significance of assessing risks and creating effective solutions to mitigate them. While a less security-focused approach could have been taken for the minimum viable product (MVP), doing so would have heightened the risk of harming the brand's reputation.