Quick Start 🏃‍♀️

Overview

Workers using GetHomeSafe begin their day by creating and starting an activity, which includes details about what they are doing, where they are going, and how long they expect to take.

Many workers typically start the same activity each day with identical information. As a result, the flow for creating an activity becomes unnecessary.

Business Problem

The app's existing flow for creating and starting activities worked well for users who needed to adjust their activities daily. However, it was less ideal for those who didn’t need changes and had to go through the same process each time. Leading to frustration for users with repetitive tasks.

User Problem

Creating an activity can be time-consuming and frustrating, especially for users who are new to the app—particularly if they are repeating the same task each time. This time can cut into their working day.

Goal ⭐

Introduce an effective way for users who repeat the same activity. This will save time, reduce frustration, and improve the experience, especially for new users and those with repetitive tasks.

This aims to make the app more user-friendly and appealing, particularly to users who aren’t confident with technology.

Assumptions

I assumed users who repeat the same activity daily and want a quick, simple start without learning the app. I needed to ensure any new features were easy to use and didn’t add complexity.

Discovery

Research

Research involved reviewing data reports to analyze statistics. Since creating and starting activities was done by hundreds of different users in various ways, interviews weren’t conducted as they would not have provided a consistent view of user behaviour.

Instead, data analysis allowed us to identify trends and patterns across the entire user base.

  • GetHomeSafe offers different ways of starting an activity. Finding the most used method could provide insights on what to target.

  • With help from the developers, we could compare user and organization data with activities to evaluate how often activities were repeated.

  • Timing the activity creation process showed how much time was spent creating activities. This insight highlighted opportunities to streamline the process and save time.

  • Since supervisors could start activities for users, determining whether this was done more frequently by supervisors or users could reveal where improvements were needed.

    Understanding this would help focus efforts on enhancing the experience for the appropriate group.

Findings

  • Less than 50% of users were creating a brand-new activity each time. The majority of which were from the app.

  • Some activities were started without any details being changed and, therefore, didn’t reflect the users' actual tasks. It seemed that some users were only interested in using the app's features.

  • Favourites were a popular feature, allowing users to create and save an activity for later. The drawback was that the user or supervisor had to create the activity first, and once saved, it couldn’t be edited or reused in the future.

  • Some supervisors created activities for users and instructed them to start them.

    However, this approach was individual and didn’t accommodate the entire organisation.

  • From our own use of the app, we discovered that the fastest way to start an activity was in three steps. Could this process be shortened?

Define

Challenges

  • Introducing a new flow without disrupting the existing one.

  • Accounting for our entire user base.

  • Reducing as much confusion as possible.

Ideation

I didn’t expect this to be a large project. I created a mind map to generate ideas. By beginning with a few core ideas, I could branch out and explore different ways they could work. This approach also helped me find connections and possibilities.

Evaluating ideas from an effectiveness and user-friendliness perspective, one idea stood out above the rest. I decided to move forward with it.

It was straightforward yet had significant potential without introducing complexity. Its simplicity also made it particularly appealing.

Develop

Concepts & Wireframes

I created multiple prototypes based on the user flows I mapped out to find the most effective solution. While one variant was most promising, I presented several user testing options. This ensured flexibility and allowed for feedback, giving me different perspectives and opinions.

As the objective was to help users easily start and repeat an activity, simplicity was a key focus. I created wireframes focusing on starting activities and asked participants (friends) to simply “Start an activity”.

I provided different variants and observed their interactions.

As expected, the variant with the 'Quick Start' button outperformed the others.

Placing the setting for supervisors to manage which activity would be started was straightforward since it aligned with the existing workflow. We didn’t feel the need to test this, as it was designed to be (hopefully) self-explanatory.

Final Solution

Keeping things simple was my main focus. I reduced the number of steps by introducing a "one-click start" feature, which saves users time. I placed the quick-start button on the home screen so it’s the first thing users see when they open the app.

Since creating activities is still the app's main purpose, I made the quick-start button secondary for now. If users prefer this flow, it can easily be switched to the primary option in the future.

I also made the button really clear and easy to spot to help new users get the hang of it quickly and avoid confusion.

Delivery

Release

To avoid confusing existing users, the release was not mandatory. Instead, an announcement was sent to administrators with details on how and where to set up the "Quick Start" feature.

Results

Release Strategy

  • The feature was optional, avoiding disruption for existing users.

  • Administrators were informed via email and given setup instructions.

Outcomes

  • Quick Start became a highlight in product demos, simplifying training for new users.

  • It saved time and improved the experience for workers with repetitive tasks.

Conclusion

The Quick Start feature aligned well with GetHomeSafe's mission of providing easy-to-use safety solutions. It addressed key pain points, though future efforts should focus on driving adoption among existing clients.

Moving Forward

  • Explore better ways to promote and introduce features to existing users.

  • Gather more feedback to refine the solution and assess long-term impact.

Takeaways 

  • Always explore multiple ideas, even when one seems ideal.

  • Simplicity is crucial to the success of any feature.

  • Focus on adoption strategies alongside feature design to maximize impact.