Aromar

Discovery

Understanding what the user needs

Research

Doing a market research regarding which other companies are out there offering either the same or similar product or service is always helpful as a guide when starting an investigation. This allows us to see new opportunities and / or shortcomings in the product or service to improve.

I started my research by conducting a series of interviews and surveys. In total I interviewed 5 people, 2 actual clients of Aromar and 3 potential ones. I also gathered 37 results from my survey.

Define

Focusing on the right problem

Results

have hired a similar service
in the past.

would prefer to have an easier and more direct way of communicating their needs to the service provider, maybe through an app or website.

consider such a service is
VERY important.

User Persona

After a more careful analysis we can identify the following motivations and frustrations:

- The main motivators are around prestige: having a well-scented business shows a good social status and makes the brand identity stronger.

- The main frustrations revolve around communication: rescheduling an appointment, requesting new products for the next visit, or choosing a unique aroma for the business.

Statements

Solution

Based on Carola’s needs I proposed to develop a scheduling tool: a portal where the client can receive and check all the information about the upcoming and past appointments with the scent service, as well as communicate their needs and concerns in a simple, intuitive and organized manner.

Since Aromar already has a website that is known by their clients, I decided to incorporate this tool as part of it.

User Journey

Current state - The pesistent communication between Carola and the service provider put the social status that she wants to display at risk.

Ideate

Generating and prioritizing solutions

Brainstorm --> Site Map

Different ideas became visible but only few were manifested in a positive way when they were carried out digitally, always taking into account the problem to be solved.

The MoSCow method is perfectly adapted for this stage of the process, allowing the exact features -Feature Prioritization- that are needed to solve the problem to be determined with great clarity.

Finally the Site Map becomes visible.

User Flow

This flow shows the path that the user needs to follow in order to quicky modify her appointmet with the scent company given that her final goal it is to save time and focus on her office tasks.

“Carola wants to change some details in her next appointment”

Implement

Designing the solution

Prototype

Like I mentioned before, the web page already exist but in order to provide a better communication I brainstormed a new feature. So, in the same menu bar I added a login section. A virtual space where clients can access their agenda, account and service support.

In the following mid-fi prototype demonstration I briefly show how all these features are connected: wireframe. Now the user can simply follow this path to achieve his goal.

Iterations: this part of the process is always one of my favourites. After several back and forth interactions (interviews) with the user(s) I was able to define and polish the proposal. The solution grows stronger and stronger.

Visual Design

During the process of finding a good proposal to solve the communication issues, I was also able to find a new concept for the UI around this.
In other words, part of the solution includes a new UI proposal for the web responsive app.

Moodboard

This is the moodboard I prepared for this project. With the data obtained in the research step I chose these images for inspiration, which guided the design of my solution. Key-words: elegant, simple, organized, professional.

UI Kit / Design System

--> Colors

--> Typography

--> Components

Final Screens

The proposal of this hi-fi prototype is to develop a scheduling tool: a portal where the client can receive and check all the information about the upcoming and past appointments with the scent service, as well as communicate their needs and concerns in a simple, intuitive and organized manner.

The scheduling portal client tool
1./ The user arrives first to the landing page of Aromar.
2./ Next, the user can login by filling up his personal information (user name + password) and pressing the login button.
3./ The next page is the personal landing page: the client portal. From here the user can do several things like checking her agenda, account, technical support.

In this flow the user will change some details for her next appointment.

Reflection

Learning & Next steps

To conclude: I’d like to mention the learnings I had while working on this project: there is a need to remove friction in communication between companies like Aromar and their clients, and this tool has the potential to do that. This is a win-win situation: the company can grow faster, and the clients can focus on their own businesses instead.
‍
Next steps: in this prototype I focused on the agenda, but there is a lot more that can be developed: the account information and technical support sections, and the product store and catalog in the menu section. Also, and even though this tool was designed specifically for this client, I feel that there is a lot of potential in expanding this tool and making it customisable for any company that could make use of it. Of course, testing goes next, but testing and prototyping is a never ending process.