Improving the experience of sharing contact information for a personal CRM app.
contactcode | IOS app
ContactCode App
ContactCode is a personal CRM providing valuable data to increase ROI, productivity & saving time. This iOS app replaces the paper business card in a better way for the environment and builds a more meaningful connection between people. The app has the ability to create, scan, share & save business cards. I worked with the company to help them define their user and streamline critical user flows.
Goal
Identify where the user feels friction or ease within the existing flow of sharing their contact information.
Identify what the user finds is valuable within this app
Challenge
The stakeholders of ContactCode expressed they do not have many users. The small users that have tried the app claimed the flow is confusing and not easy to use. This led us to the agreed-upon question…
How might we ensure users feel confident they are sharing their contact info correctly?
Process
Research
Competitive Analysis
User Surveys
Personas
Architecture & Interaction Design
Sitemap
Sketches
Wireframes
User Flows
UI Design
Brand System
IOS UI App
Iterations
Hi Fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing
Conclusion
Retrospective
Research
The idea of sharing your contact information digitally should be simple. It is a common challenge with a thousand different solutions. This got me asking, why does it never feel solved if it is so simple?
Competitive Analysis
One insight that came out of the competitive analysis was the realization that all the products were designed for a vast market, and thus, aren’t serving anyone particularly well. Some quick personas that come to mind are sales reps vs. personal business referrals. This realization led me to ask…
Who is this product for? Who would find value in ContactCode & ultimately benefit from this app?
Persona
Who is our target? After researching the existing product, our initial persona changed. ContactCode’s target audience is Gen Z sales professionals & small business owners. Young professionals who care about building relationships in a progressive, sustainable way.
Findings:
Provides value
An intuitive & visually appealing product
A tool that allows user to be more productive
The product aligns with user’s values & beliefs
Survey
I surveyed 4 sales professionals through Typeform to gain insight on how they build client relationships, their time management, and what tools help them achieve their business goals.
I asked questions like…
Tell me about the last time you found a new client. What did you do first?
What’s your relationship like with your clients? Are referrals important to you?
How much time do you typically spend on tracking emails, calls, and meetings? Do you use any tools (software/apps) to help you?
What is the biggest pain point related to managing your connections & connecting to potential clients?
What could be better about how you manage your interactions with your clients & potential clients?
State that referrals & personal client relationships are highly Important
Average time spent tracking emails, calls and meetings
Multiple CRM tools are their biggest pain point for managing their connections
I also analyzed data from a Competitor Analysis conducted by a team of students at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business in the Fall of 2019.
Architecture & Interaction Design
Existing Flow
I evaluated the existing flow of sharing contact information on the ContactCode App. I also tested the app with a small test group to gain more insight. Based on this research, it was clear that the current state causes users confusion and uncertainty. One critical issue the lack of a clear CTA to share. The share icon was easy to miss. The language used to describe filter options left the test group with many questions.
How can we make sharing the user’s contact info more intuitive?
New User Flow
For the new flow and wireframes, I focused on two main goals:
Reducing confusion by creating more clearly defined CTAs
More consideration to the experience of a non-user receiving contact information
Home Screen
I knew from our data that the original home screen was confusing, so I prioritized small batch testing to validate whether my potential design iterations were solving the problem. My first iteration can be seen above. Since the icons were not understandable to the users, I tried adding defined buttons with clear labels.…. However, the new round of testing showed this solution was still confusing to users. In the tests, people questioned what all the different icons meant and felt unsure what would happen if they selected each. I realized that the icons of the contact card they were sharing were not understood and it was too much information to process. I used this information to iterate on another version.
Quick Sketches
What were we missing? I went over my recorded test sessions and really listened to the feedback. The participants’ priority was who they needed to follow up with, who was a hot lead, and they didn’t want to see their own card on their home screen.
Branding & UI
I originally designed the ContactCode logo a few years ago. The stakeholders wanted to keep their signature green color and also freshen up their brand.
Email of card received by non-user
Usability Testing
Goals
Identify how confident a user feels sharing their digital business card
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the user interface on the ContactCode app, and provide opportunities for improvement
Asses how this app is valuable if at all to the user.
Note frustration, satisfaction & duration for all
Moderated Test Sessions
Wins
Share card task had 100% completion with no errors
Interface pleasing
Users navigated to analytics 100% completion with no errors
Improvements
My profile or cards needs to be clearer and hidden
Although sharing card task was easy, participants were not 100% confident, were looking for another way
The top filter tab was unclear. 100% of participants expressed confusion around the language used
Unmoderated Test Sessions
Wins
Share card task 100% completion all users stated that they completed the task correctly with 5 clicks (goal 5 clicks)
Interface pleasing mean score 4 scale 1-5 5=very pleasing
Navigation to analytics task 100% completion with no errors
This app would be useful to a sales professional “I have to chase up leads for my business a lot, so this would be ideal - I use a CRM but not always that easy to find these details out at a touch of a button” - Mastertester101
Improvements
Although sharing card task was completed without error, testers were not 100% confident. “I was completely confused at the beginning because I wasn't sure what this app could actually do, but as I looked around, I became more comfortable. Though I wasn't very confident through the tasks.” -joc88
The top filter tab was unclear 100% of participants expressed confusion of language used.
Changes to Make
More Iterations
New Filter Category Names
From my usability tests, it was evident that the tabs were not completely understood. New and Recents could mean the same thing and participants had so many questions with each category. I referred back to my video footage of each usability test and noted any comments made of the filter. Questions the participants asked or comments of what their exceptions were. 60% of the participants were looking for the words Leads & Deals. 100% of participants highly valued the Follow Up category.
New Home For Cards
From my usability tests it was evident that the tabs were not completely understood. New and Recents could mean the same thing and participants had so many questions with each category. I referred back to my video footage of each usability test and noted any comments made of the filter. Questions the participants asked or comments of what their exceptions were. 60% of the participants were looking for categories titled Leads & Deals. 100% of participants highly valued the Follow Up category.
What’s Next?
I am in the process of confirming all layers, components, and frames are organized and titled correctly to ensure a seamless handoff to the developers. I am also collaborating with the developers to see how we can scale and keep improving this product. We are building more flows together and will do more testing soon. Digital products are never finished. They are living, growing. They constantly need to be evaluated & improved upon.
Conclusion
Being the sole UX Designer within this small start-up was extremely challenging. I found finding and leveraging outside mentorship for this work to be incredibly valuable, and I'm grateful for my mentor’s insight & guidance. The various challenges I faced taught me about persevering within the design process and why research, iteration, and testing are valuable approaches.
Key Learnings
I conducted in-depth interviews with the stakeholders to gain knowledge of their products. In addition, I went through the app myself (many times) and observed participants using the application to understand the product & discover the problem fully.
I took a step back and evaluated my design, always referring to my research. Keeping what worked while iteration and deleting what didn’t.
The freedom of being the only designer at a start-up is fun. It’s so fun until it’s not. This is where my mentor was invaluable. Collaborating & building relationships with the developers were key to help drive my design to achieve the desired outcomes.
Thanks for taking the time to view my case study.