Find A Carer is a platform that allows self employed Carers to connect to potential clients in a marketplace style platform. I was asked to design a user dashboard for clients based off a list of requirements provided. This was the process.
THE CHALLENGE
As the designer, my initial role was to inspect the existing interface for findacarer.com, providing comments and advice on what I think could change to make the interface better and provide a better experience for its existing and/or future users. The platform is intended to act as a marketplace to connect people that can’t afford to go to nursing homes or need carers full time carers with people who are willing to work as a carer.
They haven’t had direct contact with a designer during their process of building their branding and idea and it wasn’t until after my interactions with them, that they realised the importance of having a designer on their team. Having a UX designer know the exact ins and outs of how an interface should work really made a different to them as I showed them how a simple design can really impact on the user and enhance their experience.
DISCOVERING THE PROBLEM SPACE
However I noticed that website looked quite clinical with a lot of content explaining how the portal works and why one should join, rather than revealing ease of use of this marketplace and showing visuals to make it more welcoming. I discovered a problem space while testing the sign up process. I noticed that once I logged in, I was redirected back to the homepage with only a small drop down tab to indicate that I now have access as a user on the platform. With the main users ranging from the elderly to people with disabilities, it was a confusing and not obvious way to use the platform and because of their disability or age, they may not be able to identify certain links and aspects of the website or find the necessary pages.
FINDING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM SPACE
After noticing this, I put together an in-depth analysis of my thoughts on the website and highlighted my thoughts on how I viewed the page and what I think the users may be thinking. I got in touch with Customer Care, the Program Developer, Founder and Marketing Manager in Melbourne and gathered their thoughts on the existing website and asked them how they felt about it, what they liked and what they would change. A lot of their comments crossed over with my own however the biggest problem that keep surfacing a direct link to my observed problem space.
From the discussions I had with a range of staff, I came to the conclusion that the user needed a separate place to enter and see everything clearly once they’ve logged into the interface. When I pitched the idea to have a dashboard designed and developed, the idea was welcomed however uncertain about how to execute it. From this I took initiative to design what a dashboard could look like for them, providing them with two different design ideas so that they are presented with the and invited to participate in the design process.
DESIGNING A PROTOTYPE
I was pushed out of a lot of comfort zones creating this prototype, having little experience in web design, as well as learning how to use Sketch for the first time. I started off by designing what the dashboard would look like from the carers perspective, [there are three types of users that login to the platform; carers, clients and service providers], knowing that each varied user should be seeing different things once logged in. The first design I provided took aesthetics directly linked from the existing website, with a flat one page with a side bar of hyperlinks. The second design was inspired by existing interfaces such as Facebook and Instagram, taking known features and elements that are universal so users from all ages and ability would understand how to navigate the system. I sent the two versions heavily annotated to everyone on the team and requested feedback. A few members of staff made the effort to call me and discussed their thoughts on the design.
FEEDBACK AND PIVOTING
Everyone that provided feedback were drawn to the second design as it had the ability to display everything clearly and all the necessary information was easily accessible. However, I had to pivot the design after having contacted the developer. I was exposed to very tight restrictions that he was able to work with and had to remould my design to an existing layout that can be easily developed from bootstrap and highcharts and confined to a 12 guideline column. This not only opened my eyes to new available resources but also encouraged me to learn and speak directly to people that I would be working with in creating end products such as the developers. Without steering away too far from my original design, I adapted it to fit the new layout keeping in mind that it needs to be able to be buildable.
