Lifestyle product

Overview

The client is a Polish platform that provides a holistic approach to employee well-being focusing on supporting their health, personal development, and mental comforts by bringing together various services providers under one comprehensive product.

Goal

The aim was to develop a mobile app version of existing product, which was originally designed for use in a web browser.

What I did

• Translated web IA into mobile IA
• Prepared a conducted card sorting
• Build wireframes

TL;DR

Through card sorting, I developed a new logical structure to improve an outdated system. Additionally, I adapted the web information architecture for mobile platforms and created wireframes for the mobile interface.

Desk research

I began by reviewing the extensive materials provided by the client, which included well-defined personas and insights from recent user interviews. These documents gave me a clear understanding of the product's vision and value. One of the important outcome I found was that 60% of users were dissatisfied with how services were divided into predefined categories. Several services could logically fit into multiple categories, but they were only available under one, which confused users. They highlighted this as a significant pain point, and the client asked me to propose a solution to resolve this issue and improve the overall user experience.

Information architecture

While reviewing the existing architecture, I quickly recognized that proposing a completely new structure for the mobile version would not be ideal, as the current architecture was already simple and transparent, (categorization issue did not impact the structure). My main objective was to identify the key user stories and align them with the existing navigation. This strategy allowed me to develop a mobile information architecture that preserved the familiar structure while optimizing it for the new format.

I mapped out the existing architecture before developing the mobile version

Setting up card sorting test

To address the categorization issue, I launched a card sorting test - due to technical limitations, we were unable to conduct an open-type test despite my recommendations. I recruited 20 participants and awaited the results while simultaneously working on the information architecture.

The test helped clarify how users associate services with their categories, allowing for better alignment within the appropriate sections. My recommendation would be to conduct usability testing on wireframes to assess how the categorization functions within the overall application as a next step.

Wireframes

At this stage, I was prepared to create the wireframes. Once they were finalized and approved, I handed them over to the UI Designer, remaining available to assist with the design process as needed.

Introduced color coding for different categories on wireframes

Conclusions

I recall this project as being quite relaxed, primarily because the client had well-defined objectives, which greatly enhanced and expedited the delivery process. I was pleased with the attendance during the tests and how swiftly I received the results, which were quite consensual.

Retrospective insights - what I would have done differently now

1. (If not for the time constraints), I would create low-fidelity wireframes and conduct usability testing to complement the results of the tree testing - this approach would potentially allow me to identify any defects in the information architecture more effectively