Hi I'm Maayan, Head of Design at Ovvio and today, I will take you through the Part 2 of our re-design process. I will be giving my insights on transferring data, goals and research conclusions into an actual user interface; with the mission of making life easier for professional services employees.
*If you haven't read Part 1 yet, here it is! I'd recommend starting there and coming back here to get the full picture.
Go with the Flow...
Based on the knowledge and data I gained through the discovery process, I created two optimal flows for my users. One for the "Project manager" and one for the "Team member". Both flows were built on the base of current journey and designed to increase productivity, decrease time waste and reduce the error range.
I then started mapping all elements needed for each step of the way in order to keep these flows flowing;) This was the first stage in the object map* I created to structure the hierarchy and connections between the software elements.
*Object mapping is the ability to establish a correspondence between objects belonging to heterogeneous models and diagrams. You create mapping between objects to setup a structure for data movement and transformation. Data comes from a data source and is loaded in another target database or model.
At this stage I was ready to start my ideation process, and what better way to ideate then the "Crazy 8" method! So I took my beloved pen and a big sheet of paper, and started sketching.
I love this part, it's like every piece of information I gathered in my head, get together and come to life on the paper. No judgement. No limits. No time. No restrictions.
With great (and some crazy) ideas, I approached the founders. If there's something I enjoy even more than scribbling, it's brainstorming with an intelligent, creative and innovative group of people. There is so much you can learn from discussing "Crazy 8" ideas. Together we took some big decisions which formatted into the product new guidelines.
Time to get visual...
I believe that a good product design process is built from:
75% - Understanding (discovery, research, empathize, define)
+ Defining (problems & opportunities, ideation, exploring)
25% - Materializing (prototype, test, implement- UI)
Now that I had my 75% behind me, with lots of insights, thoughts, knowledge and ideas, I was ready to get to the materializing stage. I created prototypes and wireframes. Validated them through user testing and gained approval from stakeholders.
This process included a visual quest from all design aspects, while keeping Ovvio's "character" -brand and story- in mind. I created a mood board with a combination of colors, themes, shapes, typography and icons.
This board is created to act as a compass and it will always remind me of what Ovvio looks like - how it talks, how it feels.
Ovvio is a complex software with many functions and view options - it was built to hold a huge amount of data. Therefore, I had to find a way to create a graphic language that fits the mood board but above all is functional, practical, and clear.
I started by creating a unique set of icons, from there I continued to create buttons, and then tied it all together into one whole unit. I created high-fidelity design mockups while building a unique design system with all the menus and tool bars, elements and components.
The End. Or, is it only the beginning?
All this time our product kept moving forward; our users were using it, giving us feedback, and we had our product road map to keep us on track. Piece by piece, we added features and behaviors first, and then implemented the new design.
Product design is a never ending story. There's always more to drill in to, new features requests, new ways to look at it with innovative ideas to make it even better and more accurate. So I'd say, this is not the end of Ovvio's story, it's only the beginning!
