Dr.Lambda AI
WEB APP DESIGN
. instructional experiences for the entire journey
——before, during, and after
Dr. Lambda is an AI-powered tool designed to create customized slides or social media posts from various file types. It aims to support educators, content creators, and professionals in efficiently producing visual presentations and engaging content. The product launched a month before I joined the startup team, but it still lacked certain features, such as user support, which increased the learning curve and risked creating a poor initial user experience. My project focused on addressing this issue by enhancing user guidance for Dr. Lambda, with a primary emphasis on improving the onboarding experience.
Over three months:
I designed and launched a comprehensive end-to-end onboarding experience and additional user support features.
I revamped the paid subscription features to ensure users are reminded of their benefits at the right time.
Context.
Role: Product Designer
Project Time: October 2023 - January 2024
Team Structure: 1 Product Manager, 1 Technical Lead, 2 Software Engineers, 2 Product Designers
Methods: Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Persona, User Flow, Usability Testing
Practices: Design System, Design Tools, Product Thinking, Visual Design, Interaction Design
GOALS.
Our goal is to provide users with comprehensive instructional experiences spanning the entire journey—before, during, and after using our product. By doing so, we aim to empower users to understand and leverage the full potential of our product.
THE PRODUCT.
. RESEARCH
We first examined similar products on the market, analyzing how they assist users in understanding and using the product.
Competitive Analysis
Intuitive interfaces and comprehensive onboarding strategies are important.
Maintain consistent and reliable tutorial guidance to prevent overwhelming users.
Avoid ambiguous descriptions of paid features and ensure transparency in guiding users towards making payments.
Users should have the freedom to use the onboarding guide and the option to backtrack if needed.
Key Insights and Pitfalls
To refine our design approach, I synthesized the interview findings and developed a persona alongside a journey map.
Persona / Journey Map
Interviews / Affinity Mapping
Users have limited patience for learning a new tool, exploring it on their own leads to frustration.
Users missed certain features during their interaction.
Users find the constant pop-ups for paid upgrades annoying, especially because they don't fully understand the paid features.
Users have high expectations for AI products, but the current product doesn't meet these expectations.
. DESIGN
Based on the results of our research and discussions with engineers and stakeholders, we prioritized the features to be designed. Our goal is to maintain a balance between design objectives and business objectives.
User Flow
Usability-Testing & Iteration
After completing the low-fidelity designs, we shared them with stakeholders and engineers, gathered feedback, and iterated to update the designs.
We then conducted user testing to ensure our low-fidelity designs were effective before moving to high-fidelity prototypes.
User testing revealed several issues, including excessive feedback inserts and a lack of intuitive presentation in the paid section. It also identified minor vulnerabilities in the user interface's structure, formulations, and interactions.
Design System
Before working on the high-fidelity design, we revamped Dr. Lambda's design system, refined the color palette, and created a series of essential components.
Final Designs
. FINAL DESIGN WALKTHROUGH
. REFLECTIONS
This was my first end-to-end UX project, and it was an invaluable experience that allowed me to comprehensively practice my research and interaction design skills. Throughout the process, I had opportunities to enhance my user research and testing abilities while also improving my UI design skills by learning various web page design guidelines. Additionally, collaborating closely with engineers and stakeholders taught me the importance of cross-functional teamwork in delivering a successful product.
During the design process, I realized how crucial the user support feature is, especially the onboarding guide. It is one of the primary levers for transforming users from Strangers into Explorers, Beginners, Regulars, and ultimately Champions. A few minor changes can significantly impact how users perceive the product. We should value all aspects of design, especially fundamental functionalities.