Overview
Truematter UX is a user experience (UX) consulting firm. User research is crucial no matter the size of the project. For deeply involved, large user research engagements, they need an efficient, professional, intentional, and clear way to document our findings/recommendations. Truematter makes user-centric and iterative strategy, design, and development. They test with real people to get their designs right. When synthesizing research in the user research phase, truematter presents it to the clients via UX roadmaps. These roadmaps formalize the user centered approach and drive product quality. Truematter provides recommendations and a clear, strategic path forward that will help organizations reach their and their users' goals. I was tasked with designing a UX roadmap template that would make creating documentation more efficient for truematter.
Role
UX Strategist
Platform
Miro
Canva
Problem
The team created UX roadmaps using Miro. This was great for collaboration and could be formed as a presentation for clients. However, the content strategists on the team, who were not as strong in design, struggled to use Miro. Miro does not have guidelines or grids to help non-designers. A lot of time and energy went into spacing instead of the information that was most important.
Solution
I researched the best platform that fitted the team's needs. It needed to be collaborative, simple, flexible, and easy for non-designers. I took time to ask different members of the team what they needed and what they did not like when using Miro. Miro is great for planning and collaboration but not as effective with concrete designs or documents. I suggested Canva as an alternative option. Canva is simple, collaborative, and provides grids and guides. It is also inexpensive.
Process
When first approaching this project I took into account feedback from the team in addition to external online sources. When discussing with the team there were some significant points to consider. First, we looked at the strategy behind the roadmaps, evaluating what the essential pieces and parts were, and what was difficult to use with the current template. Miro allowed the team to collaborate during this brainstorm phase. This is what Miro is best for. However, when it comes to formal documentation, it is lacking.
I researched alternative platforms online, but I kept going back to Miro or Canva. In the end, it came down to a program that was easy to use. Content strategists on the team struggled with Miro because they did not want to waste time worrying about the layout which lacked grids or global guides.
The best solution was to use Canva for official UX roadmaps and to use Miro for planning or informal documentation. I turned to Canva to create the updated template. Throughout this process, I worked with content strategists, UX strategists, and interactive designers to review and refine the template. They provided feedback in visual design and content. I refined the current templates, making changes to improve the design. Here are the original Miro designs. The original design is strong in its ability to be simple, yet strong. It is not aesthetic or profound by itself but efficient because it is functional.
In Canva the first thing I did was create global guides that fit the template. This way the design elements snapped to the guides making the design process much faster. No longer would the team have to worry about perfect spacing when formatting a new page in the template. The visual design was similar to the original except included the company's official colors, slight spacing adjustments, and new pages.
Below is a new page for user personas. The most important part to include were the user's pain points including, what they do, why, and what gets in the way.
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I added a schedule/timeline page for clients to understand truematter's process.
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Results
Here are some example final template pages.
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Reflection
This project allowed me to get hands on experience in UX strategy. In other words I did my own user research. truematter employees were the user and I spent time with them, asked about their experience, and put myself in their shoes in order to create documentation that worked for them. Initially I wanted to suggest Figma as a viable option. truematter has an account and it is collaborative. It is able to export pdfs and create formal documentation. However, Figma is challenging for non-designers. My comfortability with Figma does not translate with everyone. That’s why platforms like Canva exist. They can make non-designers’ experience much easier. Overall, I had a role in refining and improving upon an established process/template.