Notice
Designing a review blogging platform that empowers the community to highlight local businesses.
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Summer 2021
2 Weeks
TOOLS
Adobe XD
SKILLS
Product thinking
User research
Motion Graphics
Interaction design
Visual design
OVERVIEW
Background
During the summer of 2021, I participated in the Instagram x Adobe Creative Jam design sprint competition with one other USC student. We had one week to virtually collaborate, research, ideate, design, prototype, and present our Android application. The issue that was given to us was that big businesses have unlimited marketing resources, whereas small businesses and freelancers have to keep hustling to continue revenue flow.
We decided to create Notice, a discovery app that allows users to read and write blogs about experiences created in local businesses.
DESIGN QUESTION
How might we design a solution to empower the community to highlight small businesses and/or creators through a platform of discovery?
RESEARCH
User Research
First and foremost, I knew that any proposed solution would need to satisfy a genuine need. To this end, I spent the first day of the design sprint holding 20-45 minute calls with five people who wanted to find and use the services of small businesses. From these interviews, I identified two main issues with current platforms.
Target Audience
In addition to conducting competitive analysis, we created user personas to guide us through the design process.
Competitive Analysis
Before jumping into the solution, we decided to research the hardships of discovering local businesses. We started by analyzing existing discovery platforms such as Yelp, Google, and online blogs.
ISSUE 01
Lack of comprehensive information and credibility
Online reviews are often vague, do not share detailed experiences, and focused more on quality rather than the full story.
ISSUE 02
Lack of a platform to share in-depth experiences with businesses
While there are many platforms to review businesses, they are often not geared towards comprehensive writing.
IDEATION
Opportunity
Through our research process, we understood that with our target group of 20-35 year olds, the app should be more than just about discovery, and instead, have a primary focus on content creation.
Users can upload content in the format of blogs, where they share their in-depth experiences from businesses through pictures and written reviews. Users also enjoy a personalized space where they can discover detailed reviews about businesses.
DESIGN
Creating the Experience
To create an effective and user-friendly application, we broke down each interface with its function and our rationale behind them. Through this process, we were able to narrow down the functions and created a user-oriented interface.
Home Page
The home page is where users can discover reviews from other users. We made it an immersive photo-based feed to reduce decision fatigue and promote high-quality photos from writers. We took inspiration from Tik-Tok's vertical feed for familiarity and to ensure intuitive navigation.
Blog Post Page
The blog post page is where users can read the posts by other users. We focused on legibility and content hierarchy for a clear and straightforward reading experience. We added a bottom tab for functions such as like, share, and comment to increase engagement. We also referenced Google’s Material Design to implement the floating action button for quick access to the business page.
Business Page
The business page is where users access the businesses’ services. We focused on making actions such as call, map, website, and save visible to make using the services of the business accesible.
OVERVIEW
Final Solution
Personalized Feed
The onboarding quiz affects the feed to recommend reviews and businesses specifically catered for users and their tastes.
Search For Businesses Based On Your Needs
In addition to a personalized feed, users can easily search for specific reviews, users, and businesses to dive deeper into their interests.
Discover In-Depth & Personal Reviews on Local Businesses
Users can read comprehensive reviews that share the full story the writer experienced with local businesses.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Focus on the user
Considering that the app relies on user engagement, we wanted to maintain a focus on the user needs. By narrowing down features and focusing on discovery, reading, and writing we were able to make Notice’s designs to be straightforward and align with our user’s needs.
If I were to continue on this project, I would love to explore other functions to incentivize users to write more.
Improving content hierarchy
In creating each interface we were attentive to the organization, scale, and contrast of each component to make sure that users will be able to find the information they need to accomplish their task. By focusing on the details I was able to establish each element in its rightful place and help the most important elements stand out.
With more time, I would love to delve into a deeper understanding of content hierarchy to improve accessibility.
Write Blogs On Local Businesses And Share Your Taste
Users can upload their experiences with local businesses on Notice through a quick and easy process.