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Project Overview
The Problem:
When new couples begin planning their wedding ceremony, they can be overwhelmed by all of the decisions, materials and responsibilities required to accomplish the task. Design an application to assist couples as they plan the ceremony for their big day.
The Product:
Our Day is a service app designed to help new couples plan, budget and share the specific elements of their big day so that events will run smoothly without their oversight.
The Goal:
The goal of the Our Day app, is to autogenerate schedules and timing, potential materials needed and will give our primary users the ability to assign responsibilities and events to VIPs in the wedding party.
My Role:
My role in this project was as Team Lead, Visual and Content Designer
Responsibilities:
In this project I conducted all elements of UX research, paper & digital wireframes, icon design, as well as the creation of both lo-fidelity and hi-fidelity prototypes.
User Research: Summary
After conducting a series of interviews with former brides & grooms, I compiled the research findings to generate 2 personas that would encompass the target user of this product. The users were broken into 2 groups: TRADITIONAL and NON-TRADITIONAL weddings.
TRADITIONAL participants tended to be younger with little control over their decisions due to the involvement of family and friends in addition to their inexperience with the wedding planning process as a whole.
NON-TRADITIONAL participants tended to be older and had clear opinions about what they did and did not want in their ceremony and tended to have smaller ceremonies. However, they often did not have an experienced officiant to guide them through their ceremony schedule.
Persona #1: Natalie
Persona #1: Natalie
Natalie is a traditional bride who needs to account for all formal rituals and activities in her wedding ceremony because she needs to know what materials to prepare and who she needs to have available to help ensure the day is a success.
Persona #2: Kevin
Persona #2: Kevin
Kevin is a non-traditional groom who needs to decide what to include in his wedding ceremony because he wants to create a memorable experience with his partner without meaningless rituals.
User Research: Pain Points
Necessary Materials
Users struggle to anticipate the necessary materials for the ceremony.
Timing
Inexperienced users have unrealistic expectations for the timing of the individual parts of the ceremony, causing unrealistic timelines & schedule disruption.
Delegation
Users spend time preparing prior to the event but have trouble sharing updates to delegated responsibilities without distracting from their enjoyment of the day.
Access for All
Once delegations of responsibilities are decided, all users must be able to interact successfully with the interface. Consideration of users with various vision, hearing and physical disabilities is critical.
User Journey Map
In creating the User Journey Map, I identified some initial benefits the app could provide to new couples starting their planning process.
Paper Wireframes
The paper wireframes account for scheduling, inclusion of participants and materials or props necessary to support each element of the event. Buttons and headers clearly direct the user throughout the flow to accomplish intended tasks.
Digital Wireframes
The home page features the Plan, Find, Budget and Inspo buttons as the main functions of the app.
Users are also able to create and assign VIPs to certain responsibilities. Delegating these responsibilities removes the pressure from the couple and puts the responsibility on trusted loved ones who want to help.
Next steps in the development would require design on the VIP's end. How would the delegated task appear to the requested user?
When users generate their schedule, they have the ability to edit specific events. Based on the designated start time, the app uses predetermined estimates for specific events. A brief explanation of the event and suggested materials that might be needed are provided. Users have the opportunity to edit these events or remove them entirely.
They are also able to connect specific vendors, family & friends (VIPs) who will be responsible for making these events happen. This feature ensures that the VIPs will know their responsibilities without direction, leaving the couple free to enjoy the day.
Low-fidelity Prototype
Users follow the prompts to auto-generate a traditional Christian wedding ceremony, or customize events for a non-traditional ceremony. In both iterations, users can edit and remove specific activities and assign VIPs. Certain events will have suggested materials for purchase as well.
Usability Study: Findings
Modified usability studies identified a few important pain points to inform my revisions throughout the design process.
Round 1 Insights
Round 1 Insights
Users need an option to select from a calendar or pulldown menu for their date/time options.
Users would benefit from more reliable or larger checkboxes.
A button to return to the “Add VIP” page needs to be added.
Round 2 Findings
Round 2 Findings
Users had trouble returning to the home page without an explicit “HOME” label on the icon.
Users found the buttons for “Add VIP” and “Assign VIP” confusing so revision to those terms are necessary.
Mockups
In my original prototype, I assumed users would write in their own dates and times. When observing participants actually use the app, I realized that it is helpful to see the calendar format to recognize the days of the week to ensure correct planning. In selecting the time, I found it important to differentiate “Noon” and “Midnight” for users who can sometimes confuse the am/pm as well as non-american users. And finally, I recognized that users only had the ability to go forward from this overlay. Adding a "close" icon would allow users to return to the previous page. Making these adjustments made a much smoother flow in the 2nd usability study.
The wireframe gave users a limited ability to manage and assign the participants who would assist with activities throughout the day. Instead, I created a new page, giving the user more control over the incorporation of that VIP. I have adjusted the size of the selection button to include the accompanying icon, since users previously had trouble selected the small checkbox next to the VIPs. Users can now create a new VIP, remove, edit and assign a VIP directly to their events. By creating a new page, users have more visual space to make and modify their selections.
Traditional Plan
Generated Schedule
Event Details
Add an Activity
High-fidelity Prototype
For the Hi-fi prototype, I expanded on a few pages to give users varied experiences within the planning process. In addition to creating larger more user friendly buttons, I’ve relabeled some elements to clarify confusion users experienced in the 2nd usability study.
View the Our Day Hi-fidelity Prototype here
Accessibility Considerations
High Contrast
High Contrast
In an effort to make the visual design more accessible, I selected field colors and text/icon color with a high contrast to ensure the most users are able to interact with the app as possible.
Visuals
Visuals
Each button is represented with words and imagery to support all users’ understanding of that element’s action.
Animations
Animations
All animations fall within the accessible duration range (150-500 milliseconds) in accordance with WCAG.
Takeaways
Impact:
Since I began working on this project, I’ve shared it with a wide range of people who have or are about to experience the anxiety and excitement of a wedding day. Repeatedly, I’ve heard from participants and potential users that an app like this one would’ve relieved so much pressure from one of the most important days of their lives.
What I learned:
In this design process, I’ve learned to step outside of my own biases and understandings. I have often thought I had anticipated all the needs of my users only to find that I’ve overlooked something so necessary. I’ve enjoyed learning about making designs more accessible, because ultimately the goal is to create a product that everyone enjoys using!
“Being able to share what I want and need and when it needs to happen is invaluable. I want to be in the moment and something like this would give me peace of mind so I can just enjoy my day.” - Participant X
Next Steps
Further design & development of pages to support the VIP features and the interface they would receive when being delegated a task.
Identify a series of standard events/activities for each type of ceremony to auto-generate all types of traditional events suggested.
Thank You...
for taking the time to view my design. I welcome you to explore my additional work on the rest of my site.
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