PLEDGR is a productivity tracking (SAAS) application that has combined the excitement of social networking and the power of community with proven goal-setting strategies to help users achieve goals. It features built-in tools to enable users set goals with photos, add deadlines, add reminders, save notes, integrate with third party calendars, integrate with social media, and even dare their friends to achieve goals.
Role: UX Researcher
I worked with PLEDGR from 2018-2020 on a contract basis. I reported directly to the lead project designer and founder. I had the opportunity to work on many projects with PLEDGR ranging from competitor comparisons all the way to figuring out most user effective app layouts and designs. Using both qualitative and quantitative research I felt qualitative research was the most commonly used during my tenure.
User Profile Homepage Layout and Design
- One of the biggest Pre-Launch research opportunities I was a part of was finding the most user friendly and visually appealing layout for the “User Profile Homepage”
- I was on a team with other UX researchers and designers also involving the founder of the app from time to time
- Tackling such an impressionable task involved working in a high pressure and fast paced environment, which personally is an environment I thrive in
- We decided on going with UserTesting.com, SurveyMonkey, and in-person formats for conducting our research
- First we had to figure our what would be included on the homepage so we started with card sorting, tree testing, and eye tracking tests to give us our starting point
- Secondly we had to decide on the layout and color scheme, for this we conducted focus groups, five second testing (my personal favorite), tree testing, A/B test, and eye tracking
- With the data received we then worked with Sketch on the wireframing and prototyping of three (3) different designs to be then further tested
- We determined to then conducted user interviews, five second testing, A/B test, small focus groups, and usability test to research the overall design to best fit with our target users and the most visually appealing for everyone
Market Research (1)
- One of the biggest questions that needed answering was “Who is the user?”
- While PLEDGR is an app for all we still needed to discover who was going to use the app most to influence product features, design direction, and user experience
- With a somewhat larger research team from all across not only the U.S. but the world we decided to personally dive into field studies and get out to interview and survey the public and people around us
- Additionally to field studies we also used UserTesting.com and SurveyMonkey to help us reach a broader market conducting monitored interviews and focus groups
- With a resounding interest for the app coming from the higher education and young adults we then were able to create User Personas that would most align with who our users are
- The research and personas created allowed us to then suggest for the stakeholders/investors to partner PLEDGR with Campus Kickstarter, allowing for more access to The University of Texas, New York University (NYU), University of Rochester, Cornell University, and Columbia University and further giving an avenue for future research more aligned with “Who is the user”
- Roughly two weeks after the information was presented a partnership was made with Campus Kickstarter