Elevating User Experience at Yellow Dog Pilates
Project: Transformative UX Design Project
My Role: UX Designer / UI Design / UX Research / Prototyping
Who I Worked With: Collaborative effort with Yellow Dog Pilates owner
Background:
Yellow Dog Pilates, a private Pilates studio sought to revolutionize user experience across all touch-points, initiating a comprehensive three-month UX design project. My role as the sole UX designer involved strategically applying design principles for impactful outcomes.
The Problem and Goals Overview:
Yellow Dog Pilates faced significant post-launch user dissatisfaction, necessitating a comprehensive UX overhaul. The initial design failed to align with user needs, resulting in suboptimal engagement. The identified problem areas included addressing complaints about lengthy and complicated booking processes, enhancing user options such as RSVP, purchasing additional classes, invite functionalities, and upgrading the generic design/UI on third-party software.
To tackle these challenges, the goals were set to streamline the booking process for user ease, introduce a fresh visual identity, and implement user-friendly options for add-ons.
Unveiling User Insights and Crafting Personas:
Following the immersion phase, a comprehensive two-week research endeavor unfolded, utilizing surveys and interviews to gather invaluable user insights. The data harvested during this period became the bedrock for developing a persona, personifying the target audience as Colleen. Colleen's goals, frustrations, and aspirations emerged as guiding beacons, shaping design decisions throughout the entire project. With the persona in place, a precise problem statement was formulated, consolidating research findings to effectively address user pain points and organizational challenges.
Problem Statement
From Ideation to Integration: Designing the User-Centric Experience:
The design journey progressed with the visualization of Colleen's interactions through user journey mapping, a pivotal step in identifying design opportunities and pinpointing pain areas. Moving seamlessly, low-fidelity wireframes were crafted, aligning intricately with user needs. Through iterative prototyping, user flows were refined, ensuring a natural and intuitive navigation experience. Usability studies played a crucial role, in guiding the evolution from wireframes to refined mockups based on user expectations. The integration of visual identity components followed, marrying aesthetics with usability in adherence to design principles. Culminating in the development of a hi-fi prototype, this phase synthesized user feedback to deliver an interface harmoniously balancing functionality and aesthetics, marking the convergence of design principles and aligning with accessibility considerations. The transformative journey was not just about refining user interfaces but about crafting an experience that resonated with the user at every touchpoint.
Sketching out the vision: Screens & user flows
Evolution of the homepage design: initial sketches, wireframe development, and high-fidelity mockups, guided by user insights.
Low-fi: Laying the foundation with wireframes
High-fidelity immersion: Bringing the concept to life
Conclusion:
User feedback served as a compelling testament to the immediate impact of user-centered design, with heightened user excitement and anticipation reflecting the project's success.
Learnings and Continuous Improvement:
The project underscored the pivotal role of user-centric design, leveraging usability studies and peer feedback as guiding principles. These elements reinforced the iterative nature of the UX design process, emphasizing the significance of ongoing improvement.
Future Exploration:
While the prototype signifies a noteworthy milestone, the journey doesn't conclude at this juncture. There are forthcoming plans for additional usability studies geared towards validation, further user testing to uncover any unmet needs, and a steadfast commitment to integrating valuable insights from beta testers for ongoing refinement. It's crucial to note that the project was handed off, and regrettably, I wasn't able to partake in the subsequent steps. Nonetheless, Yellow Dog Pilates' UX design journey exemplifies an unwavering dedication to prioritizing user satisfaction and purposeful interaction, showcasing an ongoing commitment to enhance the overall user experience.
