Train Monitoring application concept
For this project I was asked to take an existing web application and improve the user experience, as well as update the interface to match current brand standards. After doing some empathy mapping and journey mapping, I was able to find some frustrations that users were experiencing within the application and use that as a base line for improving the experience. I then mocked up the interface once I got a clear understanding of all functionalities needed from the users input.
Finding a single point of contact to get the requirements from was the biggest challenge. Additionally, within the last weeks of the project the stakeholder decided to pivot in a different direction; having a limited number of days to design a brand new dashboard/ experience.
The Problem
The development team had originally built this application without UX or UI input this whole time. And Instead of having any documented user stories or requirements, the developers were just being told by multiple people which functionality to add. At the very last minute I was requested to jump in and design "just one" dashboard screen. I did my best to force a quick design process, conducting a couple interviews as well as running some short empathy / journey mapping exercises with the users of the application to understand their frustrations with the product and to see where the areas for opportunity are.
By reaching out to the correct people I was able to get a group of users together to conduct some user research before taking on this project. This research helped to drive my designs instead of being based on stakeholders opinions. I went ahead and designed two different concepts and by comparing the two through guerilla A/B testing, I was able to figure out a look and feel for the new UI of the application.
The Solution
Even though this was the most chaotic project I have ever been on and the concept design was never fully developed, it served as an important learning experience. I had a chance to lead the project and follow a UX process which helped me to gain context and ultimately to design the project based on research rather than opinions.
The Result