Case Study 3: App Startup Service Design

It’s never too early to involve SD thinking and tools!

UX Design

The approach

Service Design

A summary of steps from early in the exploration stage:

• Freeform ideation considering the app vision, mission, and goals, capturing a wide range of hypotheses in the form of expected user stories and app features that would solve these hypothesised issues

• Sufficient secondary research to form an early overview for operations on a range of topics, including market research, mobile app user research, mobile app metrics, and regulatory frameworks surrounding international apps

• 1st rounds of surveys and contextual interviews with potential users, considering both app aims and including app-use observations with blind and visually impaired users

• Data analysis to inform refining concept, singling out hypotheses with early validation, and some low-fidelity prototyping

• 2nd round of surveys and interviews with potential users, with some exposure to refined concept and low-fidelity prototyping

• Data analysis, establishing the main aim and the prioritized features, and creating early outlines for user personas

• Customer journey mapping for MVP and customer journey mapping for desirable full-feature version

• Detailed service blueprinting for MVP and outline service blueprinting for desirable full-feature version

• Brand guidelines and logo design

• Prototyping for different versions

• Planning and organisation for development of MPV

A great app idea may take some time to get legs, and that is the perfect time to form a solid foundation. While the service design approach will differ greatly from that of a mature organisation, it’s never too early to involve it in decision-making, before bad flows and inconsistencies with inflexible structures are grandfathered – or hardcoded – in.

This is a real project, but it’s still very young, so elements of what is described may be considered conceptual. Specific details may be limited for this reason.

This app has two different aims, one with a utilitarian basis and the other with a sustainability and social responsibility basis. A large amount of research is required to ensure that the main focus will be on the correct aim, to ensure viability and product-market fit.

Alongside confirming the need for this app concept with these users, an example of research being done is about how blind and visually-impaired users use mobile apps, to inform decisions about the app design. Interviews with this user group are an excellent starting point, but to inform actual design decisions, it’s best to set up a practical environment to observe them using their apps.

CX Strategy

Research

Due to the early stage, significant time and resources are being allocated for exploration.

SD tools have been very helpful in directing strategies and ensuring that there are no oversights. It is very difficult to curb detailed dreaming beyond the planning horizon when you’re excited about a project, and SD tools have been instrumental in establishing what should be included in the MVP.