THE CHALLENGE

Couchsurfing is on a mission to facilitate cultural exchange by connecting hosts with travelers all over the globe. I was brought in to help the product team solve the problem of declining user engagement with their iOS & Android Apps. The community was concerned too… there were less people willing to host & more surfers than couches.

Together we set out to improve the user experience for both surfers and hosts.

THE PROCESS

I kickstarted a user research practice to about the needs & motivations of the community. We ran user interviews and usability tests with 10 surfers and 10 hosts.

We were curious to learn: 

• How do users look for & connect with potential hosts before traveling?

• Why do some surfers have great difficulty finding hosts?

• How do hosts determine if surfers is trustworthy?

One of the things we learned was that the feedback system was not accurately capturing the mixed experiences users were having, thus degrading trust among hosts. We learned that surfers wanted to prove their trustworthiness, but were limited by the interface.

THE DELIVERABLES

Throughout the six months I assisted with this redesign, I delivered interactive app prototypes, UI style guide, custom icons and tons of in-person design guidance to my engineering pals. We added user-generated content and data visualization to profiles while refreshing the visual design to modernize the interface.

HIGHLIGHTS

• We built a feature to enable folks to "praise" each other after positive experiences. We introduced the idea of endorsements to highlight the strengths of each host/surfer.

• We added a dynamic map which shows dots on each place the user has traveled to while Couchsurfing, to help them build credibility.

• In addition to written accounts, we added a feature so they could upload photos with their new friends in each city, to serve as a memory book for their world adventures.

THE CHALLENGE

One of my projects at Pivotal Labs was contributing to Pivotal Feedback, a responsive web application that facilitate actionable feedback between “Pivots". The company culture encourages regular feedback and reflection to improve their work output.

Project leaders were concerned that many ‘Pivots’ had stopped using the app. Directors wanted to add features to help managers conduct annual reviews. Together we set out to learn about how individual contributors and their managers communicated with this tool, and why some stopped using it at all.

THE PROCESS

We conducted several rounds of user interviews to gain a better understanding of ‘Pivot’ feedback-sharing and pain points. We ran usability tests to identify problems that made the app hard to use. One of my favorite parts was when we ran generative research experiments, like the one where we brought stickers and markers and asked managers to design their dream management dashboard. That was so much fun, helped us gain buy-in from the team and empowered each ‘Pivot’ we interviewed to contribute to the design.

THE CHALLENGE

RaceSafe shares secure medical data so that marathon participants can receive better care at events. Our challenge was to design a live data dashboard to display urgent information to medical directors so that they can provide patient care quickly and effectively. 

First, we needed to learn about the most crucial information that’s needed to help them save the day.

THE PROCESS

My research partner and I conducted user interviews with 9 medical professionals to learn about their behavior, product usage, and pain points. We used card sorting to understand and validate terminology.

We created wireframes and high-fidelity mockups to communicate our recommendations based on those insights. While initially our leader thought we would be adding more data to the dashboard, our research indicated that we just needed to show the most important stuff front and center, with as little clutter as possible.

BRANDING & MARKETING DESIGN

The cherry on top was getting to design print materials for the Racesafe team. I created a fresh & modern style guide to guide this super-early-stage startup in their branding and communication efforts. I also designed & delivered business cards and a slide deck to help the UCSF doctor & founder build legitimacy while pitching VC’s for funding.

THE CHALLENGE

Cooking is often a messy process and mobile recipe applications are often unusable when your hands are sticky with ingredients. Annoyed by this problem, I set out to learn how others manage to practice digital recipes in the kitchen.

THE PROCESS

I conducted user interviews with chefs of all experience-levels to gain a better understanding of how they cook in the kitchen. I conducted online surveys to uncover trends.

THE CONCEPT
Armed with the insights gained through my research among amateur chefs like myself, I dreamed up a voice and gesture-controlled mobile application that teaches new cooks how to make delicious meals from scratch.

THE PROJECT

I helped the Shoelovers product team fix up their interface. An agency had designed screens for the development team using Photoshop, but as we know sometimes things get lost in translation. The front-end styling needed tweaking to reach the polished + high-end look they were aiming for.

I delivered an annotated document with styling and layout adjustments to help the front-end developers fine-tune the visuals, and the product team drive more sales.

THE CHALLENGE

John Deere’s most advanced tractors collect loads of data. My colleagues and I at Pivotal Labs were challenged to show how we might organize and present this complex set of data, with the goal of helping farmers run their machines more effectively.

We conducted user interviews with farm managers and audited the data available from sensors on their tractors.

Our team presented this concept for an interactive dashboard to help farmers could drill into their data & identify problems that might impact their yields.