Challenge

Managing the swift launch of an early-stage product for pilot clients, resulted in fragmented experience and unstructured production process.

A few clients were onboarded early on with the agreement that their feedback would actively shape the core product development. The requirements were entirely different, although some features could be repurposed. To be efficient in meeting clients deadlines, the MVP version of the app for each client had to be built on a single-tenant architecture, and features were not created in modular. As a result, the app’s features were scattered between various apps versions, and it lacked a cohesive and unified product.

In also dealing with the expedited launches, the product development process of the our core product were not established collaboratively and iteratively. We were constantly trying to please the clients' last minute requests within such a short timeline, and that made team overworked and caused a little delay in launching the product. It was a battle between satisfying clients needs and being pragmatic with how much we can tank in with our nimble team.

THE PLAN

Balancing priorities of different needs within the team with a goal to implement structure.

Having a better grasp at the situation, I quickly understood that my responsibility and goal was not just to design the core products, but to also implement some sort of structure or system in how the team functions. Before the team gets further drowned with impossible tasks and let clients control the core product, we needed to quickly instil some stability within the team.

Out of the many needs, it is imperative that the MVP core product must be the first foundational piece within the company. That would steer more sales, guide future iterations, essentially keeping the business going. Hence, I worked closely with the team to relentlessly churn out the core product rebranding, architecture, flows, core features, design and test before launch.

process: define ux strategy

Prioritising research and design methods within the limited resources that works for the team.

While I was eager to fully incorporate a comprehensive UX process to maximise product quality, I understood the need to be pragmatic. Given the constraints, I opted for a streamlined, iterative Double Diamond approach. This allowed me to quickly understand users, rapidly ideate, and test solutions efficiently, ensuring we delivered a user-centered product within the tight timeline prior to launch.

another Challenge

Meeting the high volume of requirements was a struggle for the working team.

The team managed to run a few rounds of core product releases with pilot clients still onboarded. While we had an organised way of researching and designing, we still struggled with managing the relentless demands of requirements of clients.

The issue was agreeing to almost all of client's feedback without discussing with the working team on feasibility. While the feedback were all insightful, with a given deadline, it caused a strain on both me and the developers. I wanted to prioritise having stable products that promised high quality key features for each launch, rather than delivering buggy products with a plethora of features (that would only serve one type of client).

process: agile ux

Navigating high client demands with flexibility, collaboration and scalability in product delivery.

Only the developers team were using this AGILE method in dealing with tasks, but I suggested to have it implemented within the working team as well. I collaborated with the CTO to understand their established sprint flows and then devised a release cycle plan for rolling out upcoming releases. It encapsulated both the developers and my designing streams, due dates, development phases, deliverables, streams, and workload durations.

Next, I created a backlog that housed both sprint feedbacks and stakeholder requirements, treating it as our 'Master backlog', a single inventory for all requirements. This ensures we did not miss out on any requirements shared or discussed. I also used the same document for Sprint planning, identifying which ones to be included in each release based on priority criteria. Not just that, but the team also used it to track release progress and store design links.

Yet another challenge

Underutilising team's diverse contributions reduces collective innovation and valuable insights.

With sprints running smoothly, I gained more bandwidth to focus on ideating and designing thoughtful, user-centered solutions. As the sole UX Designer, I recognized the value of tapping into the team’s collective expertise to brainstorm and validate ideas. Initially, this process followed a top-down approach, but given the small size of the team and the diverse skill sets each member could bring to the table, it became clear that everyone’s input and unique perspectives were essential to creating more effective and well-rounded solutions.

Process: workshops facilitations

Underutilising team's diverse contributions reduces collective innovation and valuable insights.

I led and facilitated a series of internal workshops on Miro, engaging the team to tackle high-level Epic requirements. I organised intensive collaborative sessions focused on idea generation, feature prioritisation, and user flow critiques. Each team member was given the space to contribute their insights and opinions, ensuring a comprehensive perspective. By the end of these sessions, we achieved a unified consensus on the next steps and features roadmaps.

Outcome

We managed to launch the core product which had interesting and useful features both suggested by clients and brainstormed by the team during our product roadmap sessions.

Impact

• Creating a system boosts our efficiency and productivity, helping us achieve our organisational goals.
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• Instilling a user-centric and collaborative mindset right from the start within the team. I encouraged the team members to look out for the underlying reasons instead of merely accepting informations.
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• It was delightful discovering how I actually enjoy managing the product despite having to split between logical thinking and creative output.