This image shows the goals and distractors workshop.
Goals and Distractors Workshop
Aligning Our Vision
In the alignment phase, we hosted a Goals and Distractors Workshop—crucial for refining our project direction and uniting the team.
Workshop Insights
Defining Clear Goals: We honed in on our objectives, focusing on scoped, value-driven goals. This led to strategic prioritization, especially for key deliverables like the front-end prototype.
Identifying Potential Distractors: We pinpointed distractions to avoid, such as unnecessary device compatibility or complex features, which could divert us from our path.
Strategic Outcomes: Our brainstorming sessions, with color-coded post-its, directed us towards a lean MVP and away from feature overload.
Focused Execution
The workshop’s outcomes were key in steering the project towards success, ensuring our efforts were concentrated and aligned with delivering a user-centric product.
This image shows the user segmentation and parameters workshop.
User Segmentation & Parameters Workshop
Understanding Users
Conducted a User Segmentation & Parameters Workshop to align our design with user profiles and needs.
Key Actions
Mapped User Segments: Utilized color-coded notes for visual profiling of diverse user groups.
Set Design Parameters: Assessed users' sustainability knowledge and digital engagement.
Outcomes
Empathetic Design Strategy: Developed features that resonate with users' environmental values.
Pain Point Mitigation: Addressed issues like information overload with clear, actionable tools.
Purposeful Development
Our insights led to a purpose-driven product, deeply connected to user motivations and challenges.
This image displays best-in-class experiences.
BEST-IN-CLASS EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS
We conducted a deep dive into best-in-class experiences, benchmarking against industry leaders to elevate our user interface. Our initiatives included:
Benchmarking Excellence: Analyzing top applications to guide our feature development.
Insights & Outcomes: Integrating innovative features to enhance user engagement, with a focus on intuitive design and usability.
This exploration directly informed our strategic approach, resulting in a user-centric, superior product experience.
For the brainstorming sessions we dove into a series of workshops, breaking down the brainstorming into four strategic parts.
The image shows the four sessions of the workshop from one of the left to four on the right.
Session One: Inform & Educate
First, we tackled how users can get savvy about their carbon footprints. It was a great exchange of thoughts on simplifying the data while keeping it interesting.
Session Two: Monitor & Report
Next on the agenda was figuring out user preferences for tracking their carbon trail. We brainstormed user-friendly features that deliver insights without the headache.
Session Three: Advise & Action
We then shifted gears to what actions users can take. Our discussion centered around integrating simple, actionable steps for a more sustainable lifestyle.
Session Four: Implementation & Integration
Finally, we focused on making our ideas a reality. We strategized the best ways to fit these new features into the app's ecosystem, ensuring they enhance the user experience.
Takaways
These workshops were instrumental in piecing together a product that's not just innovative but also grounded in real user needs. They set the stage for a tracker that's ready to help users make informed choices.
After the rich ideation and brainstorming sessions, we transitioned into a critical phase for Project Carbon – the prioritization of ideas and defining the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) through user stories. This stage was divided into four focused workshops, each designed to refine our approach and ensure that the solutions we devised could effectively address user needs and project goals.
This image shows the first and second sessions.
Session One: Prioritization for MVP
In our first session, we tackled the task of categorizing the solutions generated during the ideation phase. Using the “must-have, should-have, nice-to-have” approach, we meticulously sorted the features and solutions, ensuring that our MVP would include the most essential elements necessary for user satisfaction and project viability.
Session Two: Value Matrix
Next, we delved into the value matrix workshop, where we assessed our solutions based on their feasibility and potential impact. This matrix helped us visualize where each solution stood in terms of delivering value to the user and the project, allowing us to make informed decisions on what to prioritize in the development process.
This image shows the third and fourth sessions.
Session Three: Assumption Drafting
This workshop focused on outlining the assumptions and questions that surfaced at this point in the sprint. We aimed to identify the most crucial ones to explore further. The session was pivotal in ensuring that our research and development efforts would remain aligned with user needs and expectations.
Session Four: Assumption Mapping
In our final workshop, we parked our questions and assumptions. Each participant read theirs aloud, explained their thinking, and placed them within a framework for group discussion. This collaborative approach enabled us to refine and group assumptions, leading to a more streamlined focus for our subsequent research and development efforts.
The Outcome
The culmination of these sessions was a comprehensive list of user stories that the Project Carbon experience needed to encapsulate. With this solid framework of prioritized features, crucial assumptions, and a clear MVP outline, we were well-equipped to move into the next stage of prototyping, confident that our groundwork would lead to a product that resonates with our users and stands firm on a foundation of real-world applicability and user-centric design.
This image shows iterations of the high-level flow.
High-Level Flow Construction
The design phase for the project was initiated by mapping out a high-level flow to define the user journey. This strategic outline was crucial for visualizing the key stages users would encounter, from initial discovery to in-depth interaction with the platform. It set the stage for a coherent user experience by detailing the sequence of user interactions and ensuring a logical progression through the platform's features.
This image shows the first version of the prototype.
Core Task Flow
The Core Task Flow was thoughtfully designed to guide users seamlessly into Project Carbon. Utilizing the Cibc spotlight feature and a prominent position on the CV page, we ensured a smooth entry into the application. The initial interface that users encountered was a clear visualization of their carbon footprint, categorized for easy comprehension and further exploration. This deliberate design choice encouraged users to delve into their personal environmental impact, with a focus on recent transactions and their respective carbon scores.
Onboarding Flows
A robust onboarding process is vital for user retention and engagement. Our onboarding flows were crafted to inform users about what to expect from Project Carbon, providing context and clarity on the platform’s capabilities. We designed these flows to be informative yet not overwhelming, ensuring that users felt equipped to navigate the platform and empowered to start their journey towards carbon footprint mindfulness.
Future State Flow
Anticipating user re-engagement, the Future State Flow was developed to keep the user experience fresh and relevant. When returning to the app, whether through a push notification or other means, users would find new insights and suggested actions awaiting them. This proactive approach was designed to sustain user interest over time, fostering an ongoing commitment to carbon footprint awareness and reduction.
This image shows the three flows created for UX testing.
Prototype Creation for User Testing
For the user testing phase, three distinct user flow prototypes were developed:
Core Task Flow: Showcased the primary functionalities of the Carbon Tracker, including categorization of carbon impact and transactional footprint scoring.
Onboarding Flow: Designed to educate users about the tool's features and their role in tracking and reducing their carbon footprint.
Future State Flow: Focused on re-engagement, presenting users with future insights and recommendations upon their return to the tool.
This image highlights some of the findings from the 11 sessions.
User Testing Collaboration
I collaborated closely with the user research team, contributing to the design of prototypes and participating in 11 insightful user testing sessions for the CIBC Carbon Tracker. While the user research team led these sessions, my role was to support the process by attending and observing, providing design insights where necessary. The findings from these sessions were integral to refining the tool.
Session findings
Comparison and Accuracy:
Participants found comparative analysis with the average consumer both insightful and motivational, prompting introspection on their environmental impact.
The accuracy of carbon footprint data emerged as a critical user need, with calls for the inclusion of non-transactional activities to ensure a comprehensive view.
Awareness and Corporate Responsibility:
Users were positively receptive to CIBC's recognition of climate change, with many curious about the bank's efforts in reducing its carbon footprint.
The bank's tracking of carbon transactions was met with approval, though some users noted difficulties in locating this feature within the app.
Education and Tailored Advice:
There was a clear need for education around carbon metrics, as users struggled to find meaning in the data without proper context.
A desire for more personalized advice was evident, with users requesting lifestyle-specific suggestions that could lead to meaningful change.
Video walkthrough of the final experience.
This image shows the final experience.
Final Prototype sections
We meticulously built out the entire experience, drawing on extensive feedback from stakeholders and insights gleaned from user research sessions. The final design reflects these contributions, showcasing a cohesive user journey from start to finish.
Entry Point: The journey begins on the CV page, where users are greeted with prompts and spotlights, nudging them to discover the carbon footprint tracker. This seamless entry mechanism ensures users are effectively drawn into the experience.
Onboarding Flows: Once engaged, users are guided through a series of onboarding screens, designed to educate and prepare them for what lies ahead. These flows set the stage for interaction, explaining the tracker's features and benefits.
Core Task Flow: The central component of the experience, where users interact with their carbon data. This flow was crafted to showcase the tracker's capabilities in a user-friendly manner, providing immediate value and encouraging ongoing engagement.
Future State Flow: Looking ahead, we designed prompts that would re-engage users, bringing them back to the tracker with timely notifications and updates on their carbon footprint journey.
Project Takeaways
Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement: Early involvement of stakeholders was key to integrating a wide range of ideas, ensuring their needs and visions were embodied in the final design.
Feedback-Informed Design: Regular feedback from stakeholders and insights from user testing sessions were pivotal in refining the experience, demonstrating the value of a user-centered design approach.
User Research Insights: The user research sessions were critical in identifying areas that needed improvement, simplification, or further iteration to enhance the user experience.
Collaborative Success: The project's success was greatly attributed to the collaborative efforts across departments, fostering a sense of shared ownership and satisfaction with the end product.
Reflective Learning: The 'Roses and Thorns' exercise at the project's conclusion provided constructive feedback, highlighting strengths and opportunities for growth and informing best practices for future projects.
