The Problem
Role
Lead Product Designer
After launch, OTTO had no dedicated product designer for over a year. 😱 As new features and UI updates continued to be released, inconsistencies, usability problems and overall lack of product quality was evident.
I developed a product improvement plan that I pitched and got buy-in from management. My goal was to drive adoption rates and user satisfaction with the product through usability testing, product and service mapping, navigation redesign and implementing a style and component guide for consistency.
Research and Strategy
Heuristic Evaluation
I kicked off the project with a product evaluation using Jacob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics. I provided design solutions to my findings and communicated to the team the priority of each issue.
Usability Testing
The qualitative insights from usability testing were invaluable. I conducted a series of task-based tests to discover:
How usable is this product?
Are users able to achieve their goals?
With what level of satisfaction?
I documented and shared my findings with clear areas for improvement in the following:
Information architecture and navigation
Status indicators and system feedback
UI consistency
Content strategy
Service Blueprint
The product team and department needed to better understand OTTO and its relationships with other products and services from a high-level. I paired with the lead developer and created a service blueprint to visualize OTTO’s role in the ecosystem.
Consistency and Enhancements
Design System
I developed a design system that leveraged reusable components, working closely with the dev team throughout implementation.
Navigation Redesign
The most apparent frustration users had during usability testing was navigating throughout the portal. The navigation structure was disorienting and unclear. I redesigned the page structure and delivered the following annotated designs for review with the dev, product and management teams.
Results
After over 6 months of working towards improving usability and driving user satisfaction, OTTO is thriving. The tool is the first of its kind and has been nominated for an award for internal digital products at Disney.