Humblebrag is an all-in-one AI assistant designed to empower professionals such as entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and content creators to build and nurture relationships in their network. I learned how to provide our client with suggested designs based on research for their product to go into MVP development beta testing. Thriving under unexpected circumstances, I took the initiative to step into a Project Manager role mid-project. This ensured the final designs were completed and a smooth developer handoff was made to our client.
Client:
Humblebrag
Role:
UX Designer
Year:
2023-2024
Discovering The Problem
Our client asked us to create an intuitive, user-friendly, and human-centered way for intentional relationship builders to curate, nurture, and activate the relationships in their network based on their current professional goals and interests. Increase customer acquisition and improve brand identity.
Project Duration: 17 weeks
As a UX consultant, my responsibilities for this project are the following:
Facilitated weekly client stand-up meetings
Conducted UX Research by conducting user interviews, creating a competitive audit, and building a user persona to gain deep user understanding and inform design decision
Leveraged primary and secondary research to create a comprehensive competitive analysis, identifying market trends and opportunities for differentiation
Transitioned into a Project Manager role mid-project, overseeing usability testing and final designs to ensure a seamless developer handoff to the client
Brought design into high-fidelity prototyping , iteratively refining them to optimize the user experience
Developed a project plan and managed timelines to ensure on-time delivery.
Defining the Scope
To understand how we can meet users needs, we approached this by identifying our research goals to uncover the following answers to our questions:
What are users’ current challenges in managing their professional and personal relationships?
What are users’ expectations, desires, and goals for networking and managing their professional relationships?
Can we identify any common habits, behaviors, or lifestyles of intentional relationship builders?
Understanding the Problem
In-depth interviews with eight intentional relationship builders and affinity mapping revealed four crucial insights into their needs. A key theme emerged: fostering connections based on shared interests. This aligns with the type of user engaging on Humblebrag's platform, and this valuable information will guide our design approach and next steps.
Research Findings
Based on the research findings, I realized that intentional relationship builders require a simple tool to stay connected with their professional and personal network, even when they are busy and short on time. In addition to quick access to their contacts, alongside features that personalized interactions and streamline this process
Design Direction
Our research led our design in the direction of:
Focusing on the relationship lifecycle, in order for AI to assist users with fostering their connections. This feature will empower users to prioritize their connections, deepen engagement, and achieve their personal and professional goals
Integrated software features seamlessly with both user needs and Humblebrags' business goals: This includes Gmail and LinkedIn integration, AI-powered templated messages, a centralized calendar, and automated notifications for important milestones.
Collaborating closely with my teammates and our client, I developed lo-fi and mid fi wireframes and prototype for Humblebrags mobile app. to design closely to user and business objectives. Additionally, I initiated two rounds of Usability testing- one on Zoom calls and another using Maze.co. This iterative process of the designs allows for improvements of the apps user experience.
Design Solution
Building on user feedback, I have moved forward with refining the designs to create high-fidelity versions.I streamlined the networking experience for busy professionals, allowing them to connect effectively even on tight schedules. We've kept data privacy a top concern , ensuring users feel safe and secure while building their network.
Takeaways
Early client engagement in research ensures inclusivity and leads to well-informed design decisions.
As part of the research phase, I learned to engage clients early and share findings and insights, which will help make sure they understand the design's potential and guide the design direction collaboratively.
Unexpected events can occur within project teams.
Due to unforeseen team circumstances, I took over as Project Manager mid-project and prioritized finalizing high-fidelity designs under tight deadlines. To ensure a smooth handover to developers and ultimately, a successful outcome for the client, additional usability testing was conducted in the mid-fidelity design phase.
Provide additional support after client developer handoff of final designs
Following the developer handoff, we continued to provide additional support to our client, answering any questions, comments, and concerns they had