Streamlining the search process to help students find cafes to study at
Coffee Table is an end-to-end mobile app designed to help people find and discover optimal study spaces in their local area. The app aims to reduce the amount of time people search for local study-friendly cafes -- so you spend less time deciding, and more time getting work done.
The scope of this project will focus on creating a minimal viable product (MVP) to serve as the starting point for future iterations.
UX + UI Designer
5 Weeks
A sense of urgency (or lack thereof) can make the search process a delightful or frustrating experience. Because the search process is non-linear, finding "the right place" is a major roadblock for users in achieving the greater goal of doing real, productive work. But the definition of "good spot" is subjective to each individual. Users need a more efficient way to determine if a location would be the "right" study spot for them.
Understanding user needs and pain points
You might find some promising places on Google and Yelp, but when you get there, you can't find a place to sit or it doesn't quite meet your expectations. There are no current apps in the market that are dedicated to helping people find cafes to study at. Thus, it became even more important to understand how users were currently finding and discovering places.
Competitive Analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis to learn about the competitors and identify areas of opportunity. I examined content and layout by comparing features, search and discoverability functions, and user ratings and reviews. I discovered gaps in information. For example, a user might prefer Yelp to read reviews from real people but then use Google to see popular times.
Users spent too long deciding on a place
Some people are constantly searching for places ahead of time. Some even plan the day before to save time.
Users want to know if a spot will be "good"
When deciding, participants want are trying to get a sense of the study environment but the information is limited, irrelevant or hard to find.
When studying at a coffee shop, users care about:
Ambiance such as aesthetic, lighting and noise level
Location such as distance from home, distance from friends and ease of parking
Layout such as size of space, availability of outlets and ease of finding seats
All users wanted to find a good study spot, but I discovered that a sense of urgency influences how a user will go about searching for a place. If you had more time, you might enjoy browsing around. If you really needed to study, you just wanted to find the right place ASAP. Users typically either stuck to tried and true favorites or were always in search of new places.
I created a customer journey map to outline the process of how the average user would go about searching for a place to study and understand the greater context beyond the app. This step by step visualization helped me define key actions and touchpoints at different stages of the process.
This approach helped me identify areas where the app could create the most impact and value to users - the search and find stages. Thus, it was important to focus on optimizing the search and find stages of the process by optimizing search and discoverability functions and enhancing the decision making process to help users better determine if a spot would be "right" for them.
I started with a quick lo-fi wireframe copy of my identified competitors to learn more about how information is structured and organized. Because this was an entirely new concept, I wanted the design to feel familiar but curated specifically for my users. This approach not only helped me learn to prioritize my content, but also gave me inspiration for components and features that would be most helpful to my users. Throughout the design process, I kept the following considerations in mind:
What information is helpful to users? What is necessary? What is a nice-to-have?
What is the best way to display and organize the information?
I sketched and experimented with different structures to figure out the most effective way for users to scan for information and sort through their options. On the homepage, I wanted create different touchpoints for exploration and recommendations . This is a great way to encourage people to start searching, even if they might have no idea what they want.
I sketched and experimented with different structures to figure out the most effective way for users to scan for information and sort through their options. On the homepage, I wanted create different touchpoints for exploration and recommendations . This is a great way to encourage people to start searching, even if they might have no idea what they want.
Before shipping the final product, I conducted a usability test to validate if the information provides users with a better idea of the study environment. All users found the app intuitive and easy to use.
However, users were confused about the review summary. The rating metrics were ambiguous and unclear to users. Usability testing revealed that this feature was not yet ready to be published and required further exploration, research and testing.
Filter by distance, amenities, noise level, type of seating and more.
Usability Testing: For future iterations. I would love to conduct an iteration to explore how people perceive or quantify rating coffee shops to study at. There are plenty of apps that capture how people summarize a dining or food experience, but none currently exist that accurately measure how people study.
Learning how to deal with choice paralysis: Since this project started entirely from scratch, I focused on rapid exploration to quickly decide which option would be the best fit for the direction of the project. I used to find myself in constant choice paralysis because there were so many directions you could take. However, being able to explore the breadth of ideas helped me feel more confident about my decisions because I knew exactly why the other solutions weren't the best design approach for my target users.
