Hover: Events Concept
Evaluating a potential product pivot
CO Everywhere had successfully launched a consumer app that focused on location based social data. But growth had plateaued, and the team wanted to evaluate a potential pivot. Could the existing technology be leveraged to focus just on event content? Would there be an audience for such an app? We wanted to test our ideas quickly, and fail fast if necessary. We had a small team dedicated to the task.
My role was to lead the design and evaluation of the new concept. We iterated frequently, and built prototypes to put in front of potential users for feedback.
Each iteration began with sketches. Whiteboard sessions and paper wireframes worked well for internal buy-in amongst the small team.
From there I would jump to higher fidelity designs and prototypes. I worked closely with our developer to build iOS prototypes for key features.
Screens from early design prototypes
We regularly recruited people for in-house user testing. This allowed us to get fresh eyes and feedback on early concepts and prototypes at various stages of development. To help us evaluate the overall desirability of the concept, I conducted sentiment card sorts with these participants. I also ran remote unmoderated user tests on competitor apps. This combination of techniques helped us learn what did and didn’t work well, and compare reactions to various products and approaches.
Tasks from in-house user testing
Sentiment card sort
This process allowed us to make informed, quick iterations. We focused in and refined the features that needed more exploration, and removed the ones that were not essential to improving the user experience. After several rounds of prototypes and tests, we released a beta version of the app while we continued to evaluate.
Refined designs that made it into the beta version of the app
Our conclusion was that we could build an events app, and there would be an audience for it. But to meet the needs of the audience we could not just fall back on existing technology. The company would need to invest in content curation at a level they were not prepared to do. This insight armed the team with the confidence to prioritize their efforts elsewhere, saving valuable time and resources. They eventually pivoted out of consumer apps altogether and into the B2B space.