Deliverables
User Interviews User Testing Experience design UI Design Interaction Design Prototyping
Project Team
Toby Margetts - UX Director - Squiz Jake White, Sr. Account Manager - Squiz Sonia Pitton, Sr. Project Manager - Squiz Carl Johnson - Programme Director - SSCL
Overview
The Brief
Having worked exclusively on myHub from its beta launch in 2018, I've been fortunate enough to have gathered a wealth of data on my journey. Previous iterations of myHub were very much considered MVP’s with tasks from the backlog being executed as time went on. Whilst myHub 2.0 was considered a successful rollout, the efforts were always constrained by budgets and deadlines.
A dedicated project team was assembled by Squiz & SSCL, and the task for myHub 3.0 was to take all of the issues from the backlog and evolve the product further.
Key areas of focus within my role involved a data driven restructure of the IA, a full aesthetic makeover to align with the new brand, the addition of multiple tasks and user journeys, personalisation including SSO and a new user dashboard, a new design system, and many more tasks.
Thanks to our MVP versions, we had been running Hotjar and google analytics api’s beneath the hood. Through use of Funnelback, we also had a consistent log of data surrounding what users were searching for, and how successful they were in doing so.
Key stakeholders in the project stressed prior to any research and data being presented that they were keen on myHubs third iteration to take a huge step in personalisation and collaboration.
The Problem
With myHub 2.0 having been in the wild for over a year, we carefully monitored the user experience through multiple feedback/data channels and gathered many change requests that were out of scope within the existing version.
We collated enough information to showcase the level of requests that were out of technical feasibility, and delivered a fairly damning insights report into how requests weren't fixable without adopting a completely new approach and strategy to what myHub is.
Research Synthesis
We wanted to get to know how users were getting on with myHub, and to enable us the opportunity to create a truly user-centered experience, we conducted the following tasks:
Interviews
We interviewed various teams from various organisations that had adopted myHub as a tool. The target was to discover the pros and cons of their experience using the product.
Observed User Testing
We prepared a script containing instructions that we wanted to ask organisation employees to conduct, and screen recorded conference sessions to enable ourselves an insight into how users navigated their way through the existing.
Hotjar & Analytics Observation
We implemented the Hotjar heat mapping into the front end of the website to further enable us the opportunity to analyse user behaviour, as well as monitoring a GA dashboard implemented in the early stages of the 1st iteration.
Qual/Quant Informed Opportunity Definition
We utilised all of the qualitative and quantitative data to gather and project problems statements.
Solution Brainstorming
Utilising all of the information gathered from the steps above, and working with the project team ideating solutions. The outcome being a low fidelity prototypes, and a user journey map projection.
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Understanding 1
Cookies have their limits. Return users hold very little joy in interacting with myHub unless they're only using one device. Even then, performing repeat tasks still consume an unnecessary amount of time.The existing iteration of myHub relies on cookies to show a user their recently visited operations.
Understanding 2
Dated user interface often deterred users. The existing user interface failed to engage with its audience to its full capacity, and resulted in users opting to attempt to conduct tasks that were actionable on myHub over the telephone.A common theme during user interviews was the use of the words "too much going on", indicating that users were overwhelmed by the number of tasks presented in their viewport.
Understanding 3
Redirects cause dropout. During some of the actions users were asked to conduct, we noticed a high level of disengagement and confusion.
Understanding 4
Almost every single user lost their way. One of the most glaring pain points throughout the entirety of our moderated user testing sessions was the number of users that lost their way. The lack of user autonomy presented itself in multiple ways, from visual language & information architecture to UX copywriting.
Wireframes
I collaborated with the project team regularly, and hopped on daily huddles with Programme Director Carl Johnson to work on conceptualising all of the data drive we had collected.
We whiteboarded concepts, had them technically sanitised, and created a backlog of potential functionalities and features we could apply to the new hub.
Final Design
I tested and prototyped multiple iterations of the final design, putting in front of existing users to gauge their reaction and oversee them conducting a few simple tasks. This allowed me to narrow down multiple variations of each page to one consistent templated solution.
Off the back of this, I worked with senior engineers in identifying flexible templates to accommodate for the unique functionalities of various organisations. This involved understanding how different API feeds would impact on design, and what meta-field data required design treatment.
Reflection
From the release of myHubs 3rd iteration, myHub went from serving 17 to 22 central Government bodies and up to 300,000 potential users, answering queries across HR, IT, Recruitment, Finance and Accounting services.
To date, myHub has contributed to in excess of £100million in government savings, and is forecast to exceed over £400million of government savings by the end of October 2023.
