BabyFeed Mobile App
Baby Product Reviews App
Context
Parents, especially fist-time parents, purchase significant volumes of products based on the reviews / recommendations of online reviewers (many of which could be false or planted by the company). However, personal recommendations from people you know and trust carry more weight.
There are many different types of baby/child products, and it’s difficult for parents to know whats the best option for thier child. Many spend a lot of time searching online, only to be frustrated and overwhelmed. Thus, the creation of the BabyFeed Product Reviews App is intended to serve as a solution to this need.
Solution
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Create a baby product review app (BabyFeed) based off product reviews/recommendations from friends and family that the users know and trust.
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Create a product that serves as a “One-Stop-Shop” for the user that provides them with product lists, access to reviews of these products from friends/family/actual users, and then allows for the opportunity to make a purchase or add the item to a registry to be shared with friends/family.
Project Goals
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Gather user insights --- needs, wants, expectations.
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Develop a user responsive phone application
My Role
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Facilitate project from conception to delivery of High Fidelity Interactive Prototype --- User Researcher / User Experience Designer / Product designer.
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Market Research (User Profile / Competitor Analysis)
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User Research - User Persona / Affinity Mapping / User Flows
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Low Fidelity / Mid Fidelity / High Fidelity Wireframes
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Usability Testing of Prototype
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Deliverable - Interactive HiFi Prototype
Understanding the Problem
Market and User Research
Competitor Analysis
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Initially, I took the opportunity to observe the major competitors of this app in hopes to discover potental pain points that could be addressed by features in the BabyFeed App. This process allowed me to find new ideas and opportunities.
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Competitors: Babylist (Web/Mobile) / The Tot (Web)
BabyList (Web/Mobile Competitor)
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Overall, the Babylist Website/App is a very strong product. I found that this application actually aligned very closely to the ideas of the BabyFeed App. The app mainly focuses on creating a registry for parents-to-be as opposed to building a community.
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Improvement Opportunity: Build an application that focuses on establishing a healthy product review community to build buyer confidence.
The Tot (Web Competitor)
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The Tot, is also a strong competitor to the BabyFeed App. The Tot is a web based only product. The site allows for users to build a registry and purchase products directly through the site. Similar to Babylist, the application does not focus on building community and focus on the product reviews.
User Persona
User Interviews
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20 - 30 Zoom Interviews
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Interview Goals -
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Discover the methods of how first-time parents undergo the process of making purchase decisions for their children
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Understand pain points for users when they go through this process
Find out what features users desire in an app
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Design of the Solution
Design Process Overview
Interview Questions
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Where do you live?
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What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
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What are some of your favorite brands?
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Please tell me about your process for purchasing child products when having your first child.
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How did you go about deciding what products to purchase?
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What websites, blogs or apps did you find helpful?
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How did you determine whether the product would be useful for you?
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How would you describe the experience overall?
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What aspects of your overall process could be improved?
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What aspects of your overall process did you like?
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How did reviews influence your purchasing decisions?
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(If users played a significant role) Who were most reviews that you considered done by?
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How do you feel about an app that provides product recommendations based off reviews from your personal friends and family?
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Do you have ideas of some features that you’d like to see in such an app?
Design Decision
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For the design of this product, the intentions were to create an interface that is clean and decisive. When users utilize the app, the idea was to have a product that was intuitive and resourceful for the users. The product design evolved with multiple iterations of different concepts. The ideation flow began with brainstorming using the 4-Step Sketch design process. From these initial design ideas, the low/mid/high fidelity wireframes were evaluated and flushed out over multiple iterations.
4 Step Sketch
Low/Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Final Prototype Design
Final Design
The final design produced a product that meets the expectations of the end user. The homepage feed provides a platform to view product reviews from friends/family with the option to toggle between “global” users of the product to gain a more robust review scope. The color palette consisted of a light green, soft purple, light grey, and dark green. The chosen font was an Avenir medium of different sizes.
Challenges
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Onboarding Process/User Flow
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Users do not want to sync their contacts during the Onboarding process
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Users do not want to be bombarded with a long/tedious onboarding session.
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The solution was an initial pop-up from the homepage after the user has registered. The user then had the option to continue with the process of syncing friends or progressing to the main features of the app.
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Cart/Registry Integration
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Originally, the Cart and Registry stood alone as separate pages within the app.
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The solution was integrate the Cart option with the Registry page. This allowed users to create a registry to share and then from the registry add items they’d like to purchase to their cart.
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Result
This project was a wonderful opportunity to provide the user with a solution to their baby product buying needs. Ultimately, the product solves the issue that first-time parents have when faced with a process that seems very overwhelming and daunting. The BabyFeed App provides a platform to establish buyer confidence through product reviews that are provided by people they knonw and trust.
This project was a great opportunity for me to grow as a designer and gain further experience in the User Experience Design process.