SOCIAL IMPACT PRO

Social Media Monitoring Platform

Project Management | Research | Wireframe

Prototype | Interaction Design | Visual Design | Testing

Tools: Balsamiq, JustInMind, Adobe Illustrator

Timeline: 1 year

Background

OssaLabs uses proprietary software algorithms to simplify vast collections of social media data into a format that can be quickly assessed and understood. The goal of the product was to allow users to distill down large volumes of data so that they can make faster, more informed decisions. To do this, we developed an algorithm that provided context to data that would otherwise be meaningless. Below are the primary benefits of using this tool:

Monitor large swaths of social media space effectively and efficiently
Gather better business intel to improve organizational decision making
Build a robust social media presence by engaging with your followers
Discover and build relationships with the communities and influencers that are important to you

User Research

The end user will need to be able to set up, manage, and generate insights using data pulled from top social media platforms. The target user includes PR professionals, marketing researchers, and social media analysts. Below are the steps I took to gather user and competitive insights for our product:

Conducted guerrilla research at local college by recruiting users from the marketing department
Sent out a survey to department members
Conducted in-person interviews with target end users
Gathered needs / pain points to create personas and journey maps
Performed a think aloud usability test with their current (competitive) tools

Iterative Design

Before I started the design of the product, I held a design thinking workshop with the engineers, developers, and scientists on the team. Their diverse backgrounds proved vital in coming up with the best solution for our end users. Below are the steps I took to complete the design of the social media monitoring tool:

Developed a system map using card sorting with end users
Created low fidelity wireframes (Hand sketching and Balsamiq)
Conducted paper prototype testing to determine content with internal employees and end users
Developed a highly interactive prototype (Justinmind)
Conducted a think aloud usability test with end users and had them fill out a SUS questionnaire.

From there I helped the team develop a feature roadmap so we could determine which features we would need to include in the first release. We were taking an agile approach we settled on an MVP by ranking the LOE of the feature, stakeholder ratings, usability ratings, and customer priorities. I used a mindmapping tool to visualize the product features to ensure that we had a holistic view of the product in the short and long term.

Visual Styling

After that I worked with our graphic designer to come up with a visual style guide that adhered to the branding requirements of the parent company. I also developed a behavioral guide for the system interactions. The following were outputs of that effort:

Product Assets (Product logo, color palette, icons)
Style guide (padding, sizing, spacing, etc.)
Behavioral interactions (buttons, drop downs, tooltips, etc.)

Development and Launch of MVP

Since we were following an agile approach we followed a release schedule based on 2 week sprints. During this time my focus was on the following tasks:

I was responsible for the QA testing which meant coming up with test scripts for the entire system and then performing software testing at the end of each sprint
I created tickets in Jira for bugs and enhancements that were found during testing
I also created the company’s website in Squarespace, which helped us attract a few customers for our Beta launch
After the Beta launch, I met with clients weekly to gather insights on their use of the tool and take note of any delighters or detractors they were experiencing
We used their feedback to help prioritize the rest of our backlog
We also planned to perform time and motion studies to understand the competitive advantage our tool had over existing products