Short Stacks UX

client

My role

UX Research/Interaction/Visual/
Motion/Designer

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Short Stacks App

This project is for a group that calls themselves the "Short Stacks." They coined this name because most of the dogs in their group have short statures. The Short Stacks met each other while they were spoiling their dogs at an establishment called Yard Bar in Austin, TX. They decided they wanted a way to coordinate meet-ups without having to use text messages or popular social media platforms.

Problem

When interviewing the group, their main concern was being able to inform each other when they intended to visit Yard Bar without inundating each other with group text messages, or needing social media accounts.

Project Goal

The goal of this project is to create an app where the Short Stacks members can leave messages in an activity feed. This will allow the members  to see whether or not anyone in their group plans to visit Yard Bar when they plan to go.

A portrait of a red and white corgi.

USER RESEARCH SUMMARY

I conducted interviews to understand these users and their needs. They liked being able to coordinate meetings at Yard Bar, but they had many concerns, such as device compatibility, using social media, and sharing with people outside of their group.

Pain points

One
Not everyone in Short Stacks has the same type of phone. Two thirds of them used Apple where the rest used Androids. The texts for Android users were sometimes annoying and confusing due to lack of compatibility.
Two
Some people in the Short Stacks don't like using popular social media platforms to communicate with family or friends. They'd rather have a  private app for their group so they don't have to log into Facebook, Instagram...etc, to coordinate hang outs.
Three
Sometimes audiences on social media aren't very supportive of pet posts, so this group wants to have a platform where they know everyone will be excited to see what their dogs are up to.

target audience

A persona for Short Stacks. Jane Daniels is a 68-year-old retiree who takes her two dogs everywhere.
She especially loves Yard Bar because she's met an array of friends who love their dogs as much as she does. Her goal is to stay as social and as busy as possible now that she isn't working. She enjoys meeting up with friends at the park, but she also dislikes group texts. She'd prefer to see a list of when her friends plan to show up.
Persona of Devon Baker. He is a 32-year old graphic designer who loves to visit his friends at Yard bar during his lunch hour. However, sometimes his breaks aren't as predictable as he'd like. He would like a way to check on the time his friends plan to visit the park as he's leaving so he knows what to expect.

sitemaps

A sitemap for short stacks showing the user flow of the App.

Paper wireframes

Paper wireframes for the short stack app

Low-fi prototype

When I started creating my low-fidelity prototype, I realized I had a few missing screens in my paper wireframes, such as a section to post the time user's will be at Yard Bar, and what it would like if someone commented on a time the user posted. I included that in this prototype before testing it out on the Short Stacks group.

An image of the low fidelity prototype for the short stacks app.

usability study

One
All of the navigation buttons and form fields needed to be adjusted to navigate easier.
Two
The users wanted to customize their messages to their fellow Short Stacks, rather than enter a time using a form field.
Three
Editing the user profile wasn't intuitive and the users wanted to be able to go through that process step-by-step.
Four
The users wanted to see a functional search feature.

MOCKUPS

Login Page

I made the field forms and buttons larger, and removed the less accessible color on all buttons throughout the app. I also made the login process more interactive in the final prototype.

A before and after picture of the login page for short stacks after user feedback.
Mobile App - Profile Page Edit

The profile page didn't really stand out when comparing it to the activity feed. It needed more presence and the ability to customize it for each of the Short Stacks's dogs.

A before and after picture of the profile page for short stacks after user feedback.
Activity Feed

The activity page wasn't as clear as the users would like. It was hard to differentiate one user from another. The final prototype took these design issues into consideration.

A before and after picture of the activity feed for short stacks after user feedback.
Search Page

The search bar was originally at the bottom, next to the keyboard. This wasn't intuitive for the Short Stacks users, so I moved it to the top. I also made this section more interactive in the prototype so the user had a better sense of its functionality.

A before and after picture of the search page for short stacks after user feedback.
Other Design Considerations

The users really wanted to see what it would look like to change profile information, so I made sure to make this as interactive as possible in the prototype. I also made the notifications look cleaner and easier to understand.

Four updated screens showing the edit profile page, the camera roll, a preview of the profile image. and the notifications page.

HI-fi prototype

An image of the high fidelity prototype of the short stacks app.

takeaways

Impact:

All of the Short Stacks group loved the most recent prototype of this app. Their feedback really encouraged me to make a design that looks and feels better to the users.

What I've Learned:

I need to ensure that all buttons and fields are large enough when I create my prototypes. I also discovered, that if it could be customizable and interactive, users probably want those features when they test prototypes.

Final app


The final app allows the user to navigate the app as Pixel, one of the Short Stacks' pets. It demonstrates how the sign in process works, how users will navigate between their fellow Short Stacks' profiles, and how the pages and menus will appear when users change profile information, add friends, and post comments.

Please note: Sometimes Webflow (where I host this site) doesn't handle embedded Figma prototypes well. If you notice anything strange while you play with the Short Stacks app here, please try it out in Figma.

next steps

One
Test completed app on Short Stacks members.
Two
Note any additional features they may want to implement in Short Stacks version 2.0.
Three
Create prototype with new features and test on Short Stack members.