User Personas, Use Cases, Information
Architecture, Wireframes, Hi-Fi Mockups
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Goal - Ruckus needed an SMB end-user (mom & pop shop owner)
app providing mobility first solution for managing their network
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Challenges - The app offered several complex
settings such as multiple access points, SSIDs and WLANs, but the target users
(shop owners aged 50-65) had very basic technical skills. The challenge was to
present all the settings in a simple way, without overwhelming the user.
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Solution - After carefully categorizing various network settings and finding a logical workflow, a step-by-step
settings approach was designed instead of offering a choice to the user to pick
any settings to start with. This helped in getting over the initial block for
the user on where to start. Each setting was broken down into 3-4 steps, and
all advanced settings were nested under a button. This way only important
information was presented at a glance without the need to worry about any
advanced settings. All technical terms like SSID/WLAN/Network Diagnostics were
replaced with simple terms like "add a location" or "check
network health"
To define our average user, initially we described the user persona in text, but later designed an analytical/graphic version of the persona for at-a-glance reference throughout the project.
We defined a simple information architecture, the most-used features were simple (network health, router setup) and the additional fluff like social media or reward points were categorized separately - because not all SMB owners might use it on a daily basis.
Once we knew our user and the overall flow of the app, we quickly listed two of our main use cases - One where the SMB owner sets up their router for the first time and the second case where he returns to the router settings to check updates/alerts/notifications
We also listed the current features set, and made a few suggestions about additional features. Since this app was geared towards older SMB owners who may not particularly be social media savvy, we suggested the addition of easy social media management features, adding multiple owners (generally older SMB owners would have someone younger in the family help them with the router management, so multiple user access was helpful).
Once our basic use case scenarios and list of features was ready, we dived into wireframing the app! Below are the wireframes for the first use case (initial setup)
After the wireframes were in place, we defined a high contrast color palette and art direction - since this app was aimed at older users, most of whom required optical readers. I tried to use perfect compliments orange and blue, in contrast with dark brown and yellow.
We also made the customer settings more orange and employee settings more blue, to differentiate between the same sets of settings defined for two different groups!