DanceQuest
Overview
Initial Research
Contextual Inquiry
Role
Deliverables
Time
DanceQuest is a responsive mobile website that uses gamification to help dancers track their dance growth and be better motivated to practice by providing fun and easy to use methods. In this case study, I strove to understand user goals and needs through research and create features based on my findings.
User Research, Ux Design, Information Architecture, UI Design
User Personas, Sitemap, User Flows, Wireframes, Low to High Fidelity Mockups, Usability Testing, Prototype
June 2022
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
I reached out to 5 dancers in the dance community in Southern California to learn about their experience and behaviors on tracking growth within dance. I chose them based on their current involvement in dance and overall dance level. I wanted to understand what were the pain points for dancers in relation to practice and identify what could help alleviate that.
Key Insights
Research Deliverable
  • Steezy and Building Block
  • Offer a wide range of choreography classes but lack a way to track progress
Choreography Sites
Habit Tracking Apps
  • Habitca , Momentum, StickK
  • Not directed to dancers but used to track progress
Bottom Line: Dancers lack a way to track progress and current tools are too broad and overwhelming
User Personas
Iteration 3: Quest Screen Identity
Storyboarding
I crafted several user personas to capture the research insights. In this process, I identified the goals, needs, motivaitons, and pain points of the intended users.
Feedback
  • Users felt the dashboard screen and quest screen were too similar
My Implementations
  • Added to stats information
  • Minimized space by implementing scroll
  • Added headers and reduced use of character info across screens
Takeaway 1: The user is integral to every step in the design process
  • Designing cannot begin without a fundamental understanding of the problem and the user
  • Good research will inform decisions and prevent us from being overwhelmed with options
Takeaway 2: Feedback is valuable
  • Feedback makes sure that we are designing with our users in mind
  • Iterations get us closer to fulfilling our user's needs and goals
What I Would do Differently
  • Prioritize main features and be cautious of feature creep
  • Get more feedback early on prevent backtracking
After understandingthe perspecitve of the user through How Might We and Point of View statements, I begain brainstorming solutions for the problem. The storyboard here was created to address what I had learned about dancers.
The solution I decided on was to encourage dancers to learn choreography and record themselves through gamification. What I needed to do next was to idenitfy the key features and logically plan out each step within their flows. It was imporant to incorporate what I learned in the user personas. The user flows needed to be efficient and easy to understand.
Iterations
Usability Testing
Testing Takeaways
IDEATION
INformation Architecture
Design System
WIREFrAMING
PROTOTYPE and TESTING
REFLECTION
I remotely conducted usability testing according to my own custom script with 5 dancers who were chosen from the initial user interviews. The usability testing objectives were to: Confirm that the flows were understandable and error free Gauge user interest and satisfaction with prototype
Interviewees descrbied that dance is most fun when done with a like-minded community where feedback can be given and dancers can feel inspired by others. The social interaction helps invigorate dancers when practice may be tough.
Growth in dance is hard to capture but dancers felt they recognized it most easily in the form of videos. Many interviewees expressed past experience of recording their progress through a visual format over time. However, there is low motivation to record videos because the activity is not engaging and dancers find it a chore to do.
Tracking progress needs to be relatively simple without too many options. The interviewees expressed a sense of overwhelmingness with current tracking apps and preferred focused applications.
I compiled and ordered user feedback in terms of frequency and severity Common Themes
  • Distinction between screens
  • Reprioritization of flows
  • Positive feedback to ui choices
Iteration 1: Dashboard
Feedback
  • Users expressed a difficult in navigating to other areas of prototype from dashboard screen
My Implementations
  • Added in simple navigational buttons at top of page
  • Well received with further testing
  • Personalized suggestions from onboarding info
  • Took advantage of mobile scrolling feature
Iteration 2: Sign Up Flow
Feedback
  • Users often would go to Get Started as first action
My Implementations
  • Extend the Sign Up Flow as it is a necessary step for first time users
  • Include onboarding process
Dance is a social activity
2. Growth is understood visually
3. Simple is better
Built upon the structure that was informed by the user flows and incorporated my UI choices. The wireframes acted as the foundational visual for what the final prototypes before testing.