Expatwise is an app I developed as part of my 5-month CareerFoundry UX course. The
assignment was to create a mobile-first app to enable anyone, anywhere to instantly chat with an expert in
virtually any field.
The Expatwise app allows young adult ex-pats, either new to a city or not,
to connect with experts and get qualified professional advice and guidance with the bureaucracy and
paperwork that comes with living abroad.
UX/UI Designer
April – August 2020
Photoshop
Balsamiq
Adobe XD
Optimal Sort
Usability Hub
The first step was to understand the problem and create a problem statement. I started out by performing competitive analysis to identify major competitors, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and define what were my opportunities. Luckily for me, there isn’t an app in the market providing a similar service.
When moving abroad, users need to seek advice from experts in diverse fields, from lawyers to accountants and official translators.
Getting the right professional advice takes time and good communication. Some users want a pre-appointment or a way to explain the problem before the main appointment where they discuss the solution.
A confusing user interface without a proper categorization and search navigation.
Long waiting times to get an answer from the expert can lead to users seeking another platform.
Current apps don’t provide a trustworthy and transparent payment process.
Experts without validated qualifications may discourage users to use the app.
Users who are ex-pats, either new to a city or not, need a way to easily get
qualified professional advice because they need guidance with the bureaucracy and paperwork that
comes with living abroad.
We will know this to be true when we see how many ex-pats using the app
return every time they need professional advice.
An app that allows users to request expert advice in a wide variety of fields. Expert’s
qualifications are properly validated and users are encouraged to rate and leave reviews on their
profiles.
The interface will be simple and with a clear focus on content categorization and a
transparent payment system.
Communication between users and experts can be through video,
messages, and phone calls and users will be able to submit their inquires beforehand, if needed, for
free.
Users can filter experts based on their availability to ensure a quick service when they
need it.
After I had identified the problem and analyzed the market, it was time to find a solution. In order to understand my potential user’s needs, goals, and motivations when searching for an expert and getting professional advice, I conducted surveys and interviews.
After analyzing the results of the survey and user interviews and clustering them into an affinity map, I was ready to develop my personas based on my findings. These personas capture the needs, motivations, and pain points of my target audience
Having defined the goals, motivations, and needs of my primary personas I could map out every step of their journey.
I created 3 user flows, how to search for an expert and book an appointment, how to rate and review a favorite expert, and how to have a video call with an expert.
Once I had defined the user flows I developed the initial sitemap. To test the navigation structure and validate the information architecture of the app I conducted an open card sorting. I then used the findings to refine my original IA.
With the user flows in mind, I started sketching the first low-fidelity wireframes on paper. I then moved to Balsamiq to translate them to mid-fidelity wireframes. Finally, I worked on Adobe XD to create a high-fidelity clickable prototype.
I scheduled 15-20 minute usability test sessions with six users. Five of them were
moderated remote tests carried out via Zoom, and one was moderated in-person. Prior to the test, I created a
test plan and a script to ensure consistency between sessions.
After testing, I organized the
test results into an affinity map and a rainbow spreadsheet for a clear overview and measured the error
severity through Jakob Nielsen’s scale.
