Case Study: Permanent Legacy
01
Overview
Permanent.org is the equivalent of a file storing 'time capsule' for the web, with the ability to withstand time, natural disasters, and technology changes. This was a large, robust and dynamic system that had never received any serious design attention.
I was called to assure the system was ready for launch. Permanent.org needed the following:
· UI architecture
· A UI kit & guide built off of their branding system
· A navigation strategy
· UI Page Layouts
· UX flows for major tasks
02
System Architecture
Upon arrival there was only a vague sense of how the user would navigate the system. To begin, I led an architecture workshop where the internal team and I articulated every step a user would take to reach their goal and what they would need to help them get there. We created as many recognizable patterns as we could to simplify the system which cut down on the amount of unique page use and assured a sense familiarity to the user.
To test our ideas, we elicited the help of focus groups at key points along the way for feedback and iterated our designs to address their feedback accordingly.
03
Creating UI Consistency
Once the brand specifications were confirmed and in place, I was able to translate them into UI elements. A UI standards library was then composed to explain layout & design specifications as well as usage specifications.
04
Ease of Use
Smartwebs had a history of help calls due to incoherent and confusing user flows. To understand why user needs were not being met we launched an email survey that asked the users questions like “What is the primary thing that frustrates you about using this software”. We also conducted usability lab studies where executives in the field were interviewed and shown different user scenarios and solutions to those scenarios.
Issues like ‘Trouble navigating’ and ‘Losing work’ were among the highest problems users were having with the system. From this feedback, I reengineered the navigation system accordingly. This resulted in prioritized link placement, fewer pages, less clicks, and a clear knoweldge of their location in the system at all times.
I also, suggested an expanding right drawer feature that would allowed the user to reference other pages while staying on the page they’re working on.
Designing a foundation for the future of multiple software products
01
Overview
Permanent.org is the equivalent of a file storing 'time capsule' for the web, with the ability to withstand time, natural disasters, and technology changes. This was a large, robust and dynamic system that had never received any serious design attention.
I was called to assure the system was ready for launch. Permanent.org needed the following:
· UI architecture
· A UI kit & guide built off of their branding system
· A navigation strategy· UI Page Layouts· UX flows for major tasks
02
System Architecture
Upon arrival there was only a vague sense of how the user would navigate the system. To begin, I led an architecture workshop where the internal team and I articulated every step a user would take to reach their goal and what they would need to help them get there. We created as many recognizable patterns as we could to simplify the system which cut down on the amount of unique page use and assured a sense familiarity to the user.
To test our ideas, we elicited the help of focus groups at key points along the way for feedback and iterated our designs to address their feedback accordingly.
03
Define UX Flows
After gathering data regarding user personas and their goals, I began laying out low-fi conceptual prototypes. These gave a rough visual insight into each step a user would take through the system.
These prototypes were completed in Axure and were finally used in a heuristic evaluation to analyze issues like system feedback and overall user satisfaction.
The lo-fi prototypes enabled the team to bring fast design iterations to the system when testing feedback-suggested edits or solutions.
04
A Model for Module Design
To help developers manage the large number of modules needed for this application to be efficient, I designed a model for how all modules should be composed and laid out. These efforts reduced developer design time drastically and preserved consistency throughout the system.
