Problem
Moving is a drawn-out process.
Procrastination is easy.
There is a lot to remember.
Working as a manager of a senior community, I saw first-class logistical planning for our new residents. I couldn’t help but feel envious of the luxury of having a dedicated Moving Coordinator who schedules movers, packers, decorators, and even arranging meals. Even with this top-dollar service, moving was still a trying experience.
So, what about everyone else out there moving?
Solution
Having a plan isn’t half the battle, it is the battle.
I wanted to develop a tool to help mitigate the stress and chaos of moving, starting from the moment a mover has their date. The initial idea was an app to take inventory of boxes with their contents or collect images of furniture to help movers visualize space in order to limit shuffling furniture in the new space.
However, primary research will reveal other priorities of movers….
Secondary Research
Moving is the most stressful life event.
Knowing the stresses of moving from personal and professional experience, I took to studying research to determine how impactful moving really is. I was shocked by many of the results, including One Poll’s survey naming moving as the number one life event that causes even more stress than divorce!
Competitor Research
No product provides daily prompts or active encouragement.
There is a plethora of information and resource-focused blogs, checklists, and guides on sites such as moveBudha and Pinterest.
Looking for something more interactive, I did a heuristic analysis on three applications. It is apparent that there are plenty of individual tools available but none included task management. Checklists are great but it is easy for users to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks.
User Interviews
What are the biggest struggles in the moving process?
Research at this point confirmed the expected stress points of the moving process, but I wanted better insight into individual methods and the reasoning behind those choices through user interviews.
To start, I conducted a screener survey to gather participants who have moved within the last 18 months, moved more than once, and use a smartphone daily for tools and apps.
Questions discussed in the interview:
1. How did your last move compare to others?
2. When and where do you start preparing?
3. What is your method for packing?
4. Do you use any tools for planning?
5. Did you use any moving services?
6. What was moving day like?
Journey Mapping
Mover Journey Map
Insights
Surprisingly, logistics is not the most stressful part of a move.
My affinity map highlighted so much more about where and how stress really develops. I was surprised to find that movers were getting exhausted before packing even started and continued even after the moving day.
Challenges go beyond the tangible requirements of moving.
Persona
Design
Focusing on features by frequency of use.
Based on User Stories, I chose to focus on only three features that would be used more on a day-to-day basis; daily tasks, checklist, and progress.
Design Choices
Progress Report
To provide encouragement and pace maintenance
UI with Bold and Vibrant colors/weights
Evoke a positive emotional response
Mobile app
Convenience for users’ activeness
Automated daily tasks
Avoid fatigue, forgetfulness, and overwhelmedness.
Checklist Customization
Checklists are not one-size-fits-all
Preliminary sketches
Test
Continual testing yields opportunities in each design iteration.
In each phase of development, I tested my design with guerrilla testing sketches, remote testing wireframes via Zoom, and unmoderated testing with Maze. Each round of usability tests led to improvements in information architecture, visual hierarchy, and general UI.
Maze unmoderated test
Refine
Three major changes from testing and peer feedback.
Over the course of this project, I continually tested iterations and incorporated feedback from professional peers and my mentor leading to three notable improvements.
Final Mockups
The final product design.
Play with my prototype here ↓
Style Guide
Personal Takeaways
Every day is a school day.
This is the first UX project that I ever took on. Looking back I can see such a learning curve and I am excited to be involved in a career that is always developing and changing. Throughout this project, there are a few lessons that really stuck with me.
Failure is the goal! Getting positive feedback is great but ultimately it wasn’t as impactful as the constructive. As a perfectionist, it was difficult learning my work was excellent every time. Throughout the process, I saw that without critical feedback, my app wasn’t going to be the most helpful tool I wanted it to be. Failure led me to deeper insights.
When in doubt, try AB Testing. With struggles like pinning down the best action words, I found that applying some of my old Marketing knowledge was very useful.
Components are your best friend. Early iterations only included one or two components in my design and that forced me to work much hard later on.
Don’t get distracted being solution-focused! The proof is in the pudding here folks. As I kept struggling with gravitating towards a solution prematurely, I resolved to post all of my discovery and testing insights on the wall in front of me. I kept the old adage in mind, “If you hear hooves, don’t assume zebras.”