Empowered 4x Virtual Assistant
Problem solving/ Group project
Background
Empowered 4x company's mission is to create spaces to empower entrepreneurs to be top-performance leaders and exponentially amplify the difference they make. Our group is partnering with Empowered 4x to address pain points for the current entrepreneurship onboarding process and seize opportunities to deliver more inclusive and simple digital innovation for both entrepreneurs and the agency.
Prototype video
User Research
Research plan
Coding sheet
Problem defined
We interviewed six entrepreneurs and found that they all want to establish a branding and marketing strategy online because it's efficient and time-saving. Still, lack of assistance makes it difficult for them. Also, most of the participants prioritize their tasks better and manage time because there isn't enough time, but assistance online isn't sufficient.
Research Objective
To understand the needs of aspiring entrepreneurs from the start to the end of their entrepreneurial journey.
Problem Defined
● [All participants] want to [establish a branding and marketing strategy online,] because [it's efficient and time-saving,] but [lack of assistant online makes it difficult for them.]
● [Most of the participants] want to [better prioritize their tasks and manage time] because [there isn’t enough time] but [assistant online isn’t sufficient]
● The Entrepreneurs are sent to the Business C.R.E.W without all the requirements needed to execute the services effectively. This puts a lot of workload on the C.R.E.W, and they end up taking the entrepreneurs from scratch, which is counterproductive.
The Product
The Empowered 4x App is a digital hub that streamlines all the services rendered by Empowered 4x on a platform. In addressing the problem of sending unprepared Entrepreneurs to the Business C.R.E.W., the team prototyped a Virtual Assistant that asks the entrepreneurs questions based on the services they are requesting for.
The responses to these questions help the V.A. determine whether the Entrepreneur is ready to meet with the C.R.E.W. or still needs some guidance from the Team leader, which reduces the workload on the C.R.E.W. as it ensures that only well prepped and ready entrepreneurs gest across to the Business C.R.E.W. members.
How the prototype solves problem
In addressing the problem of sending unprepared Entrepreneurs to the Business C.R.E.W., the team prototyped a Virtual Assistant that asks the entrepreneurs questions based on the services they are requesting for.
The responses to these questions help the V.A. determine whether the Entrepreneur is ready to meet with the C.R.E.W. or still needs some guidance from the Team leader, which reduces the workload on the C.R.E.W. as it ensures that only well prepped and ready entrepreneurs gest across to the Business C.R.E.W. members.
Userflow
Userflow(First version)
Userflow(Final version)
After much ideation, we decided that a 'virtual assistant' was a feature we wanted to add to our concept. Generating the virtual assistant's User flow helped the team tremendously when it came to narrowing down the AI questions.
The team collaborated on a Mural to generate the navigation structure based on the sections of the current live site. From there, we could map out the flow of the "Virtual Assistant".
Style Tile
We created a series of components based on Empowered 4x company's brand color.
Wireframe
Wireframe(first version)
Wireframe(final version)
The initial idea of the virtual assistant was a chatbot that would answer questions based on keywords or allows users to contact the crew member directly. Our team created a wireframe based on this concept.
After user-testing and meeting with the client, we realized this is not the best solution for this case. The client is looking for a solution that allows users to book the right expert anytime without reaching the client's customer service. Although the chatbot has satisfactory visual performance, and we understand that it can provide accurate and clear guidance to the users, the chatbot feature means users need to read lengthy instructions about the keyword and then input their needs step by step. In this situation, users might prefer to skip the chatbot and contact the customer service directly. Therefore, instead of the chatbot, we simplify the filter process into a short questionnaire where users can reach the expert reservation within a few clicks.
High-fidelity prototype
User Testing Plan
Scenario
- Imagine you are a business owner, and you just downloaded the Empower 4x app
Tasks
Task 1:
You are a business owner, and you are just joining the Empowered 4x family. You already downloaded the app and want to register as a new user to access the myriads of services available on the app. Now sign up as a new user.Task 2:
Wow! You could sign in successfully, but the app doesn't have any information about your business to recommend services tailored specifically for you. Now add your Business information.Task 3:
Fantastic! Your business information has been successfully submitted. You urgently need help with your business's branding, which is a significant factor in Customer relations, and this is an area you know next to nothing about. You do not have a brand colour, brand voice, and font yet. The only brand asset you have is your logo. Empowered 4x has experienced professionals that can help you out. Now request branding services using the Virtual Assistant.Task 4:
It seems you need extra help before meeting the branding crew. Now, book an appointment with the Team leader.Task 5:
Your business information has been successfully submitted. You urgently need help with your business's branding, which is a significant factor in Customer relations. You have sorted out your logo, brand colour, and font, and you need some help with your brand voice. Empowered 4x has experienced professionals that can help you out. Now request branding services using the Virtual Assistant. Now meet Anna, one of the branding crew members and request her services.
Post-Test Questions
● Was the process easy to understand?
● Does the process of requestion a brand service using the VA take too many steps?
● Was it difficult to navigate to the point of booking a branding service?
● Are the buttons clear and easy to understand?
User-testing
User-testing(first round)
Summary
A lo-fi prototype of the Empowered App was tested on usertesting.com, and the focus was on the Virtual Assistant. The goal of this test was to:
● Determine the ease of access to the various features of the Empowered App
● To determine the speed and ease with which users achieve their goal using the Virtual Assistant.
● Test how many steps of movement users need to reach the goal.
Findings
These were the feedback given by the users that tested the App
User 1:
The first user could sign up as a new user on the App without any hassle; it was noted that this step was straightforward to carry out. User 1 was, unfortunately, unable to test the Virtual Assistant part of the App, as the prototype had some bugs that made the Virtual assistant section unresponsive.Users 2 & 3:
Exactly what happened to User 1 was the experience of the other two users. They could sign up quickly but couldn’t test the Virtual Assistant sections of the App due to the bug in the prototype.
Next Steps
The obvious pattern of not being able to test the Virtual Assistant, which was the main focus of the test among the three users made the team go back to the drawing board and redesigned a hi-fi protoype ensuring that everything was working perfectly fine before testing the second time.
User-testing result (First round)
Uset-testing(second round)
Summary
Three additional user test feedback
User 4:
This user was successfully signed in as a new user and completed the preference part, but he thinks the slider is difficult to use (Can't move smoothly). While using the VA, he thinks the "customer relations" part is confusing and has no idea why it connects to "branding." Furthermore, this tester has some misunderstanding with our tasks and only completed one booking scenario. (we told users to request branding service in our task 3 then book an appointment in task 4, but users thought the booking also belongs to branding service, so they went through the booking page before they see task 4.)Users 5:
Overall pretty positive feedback, has the same problem with user 4. She did the same task twice because our instruction was not explicit enough, and she did extra action before reading our next mission.Users 6:
Has the same problem with users 4 & 5. When the task moves on to the preference part, he spends few seconds looking for the preference button, and he hopes he can select multiple options at the "future plan" part, and the slider could move smoother.
User-testing result (Second round)
After the test
After first user test
● Fixed the glitch in the Virtual assistant section.
● Change the virtual assistant button (While hovering-----while pressing) to make the button can interact correctly on the smartphone.
● Removed Some animation effects to provide a smoother user experience for smartphone users.
● Buttons now change colour when it's active.
After second user test
● Corrected some text on the home page.
● Revised the slider; the slider can now move more smoothly with animation.
● Changed some numbers and text in the onboarding section.
● One of the buttons in the "book appointment" section does not connect to the next page; now it's working correctly.
● Improved some of the icons' colour and size.
Next steps
Some improvements we could make
● Add more onboarding questions with more format.
● Allow users to select multiple options.
● Redesign some icons on the homepage.
● Use picture or illustration on the “team leader” and “crew” page.
● Make more pages for “Yes” and “No” questions instead of packing all the questions on one page.