Coordimoves is a product for anyone coordinating a move while also coordinating their own lives. Coordimoves is the Google flights of moving; a product that researches the services and compares them for you so you can focus on everything else going on in your life.
Researching all the available moving, transportation, and cleaning in two cities is overwhelming at best. Coordimoves is a free site where users can quickly find offers and moving options in different cities, do quick comparisons, and quickly make their bookings and reservations.
After establishing what niche Coordimoves could fill in the existing market, User Interviews were done to gain insight on what processes (steps, organization) individuals use to accomplish an intercity move, and what specific challenges and pain points individuals experience when moving.
6 interviews were conducted remotely via Zoom. (Interview Debrief here). Questions centered around the following themes:
What are users’ feelings about moving and why?
How do users organize information and research when moving?
When and why do people choose to use apps/service when moving? How have apps or services aided (or worsened) the experience of moving?
For those who do not hire cleaners/movers, what are needs that could be solved with an app/site?
Analysis of user interviews uncovered several themes through Affinity Mapping. (See Affinity Mapping Debrief here). Market opportunities and pain point insights on intercity move coordination that were revealed:
Details about different approaches to organizing a move
Difficulty of coordination in city where you are not currently residing: finding a place to stay to explore new city or until permament housing is found; flying back to original location to supervise movers; coordinating with leasing office (couldn’t get/drop keys), etc.
How to get rid of old items; how to obtain boxes
Difficulties of moving with pets
DISCOVER
A Competetive Analysis was conducted to uncover the current missed opportunities by existing moving companies and products in the market. This analysis also revealed desirable features and experiences that would help create the best and most beneficial product for Coordimoves users.
We focused our research on 3 competitors: Move Advisor, Dolly, and Unpakt. View complete Competitive Analysis.
DEFINE
After brainstorming unique yet feasible products that would fulfill a need for users navigating a move, I settled on a “Google Flight” style search product that would save users time and do their move research for them. It could consolidate offers from many companies on one site, thus leaving users with decision making as their call to action.
As I defined the product, I used a task flow, user flow and site map to plan for the development of my MVP (Minimum Viable Product). These deliverables focused development that would allow users to: 1) search for offers/companies in via search which could be filtered, or 2) search via a questionnaire that would produce filtered search results and 3) allow users to compare different offers/companies side by side to more easily arrive at a decision and then proceed to the company site to complete their booking, like with Google Flights.
DEVELOP
After defining the structure and navigation of the product pages, it was time to start designing! I started my low-fidelity wireframes on paper. I love sketching on paper when I’m first creating. It allows me to think more openly, attempt more new ideas, and easily edit them. I focused my first sketched on the homepage with search feature, the questionnaire, and search result screens.
Branding began with logo creation. Conceptually I wanted something that reflected the movement that happens in a move (get it?) and my initial iterations centered around using truck tires for the“oo” in Coordimoves. I was unable to get this idea to look modern and clean enough and tried adding simple movement to the workmark. Success! The wordmark expressed movement, resized well, and could also be used as a monogram.
The color palette also went through several iterations as the original color choices did not meet accessibility requirements. I kept the blue which expressed trust and consistentcy, and traded the mint for a fuscia that expressed youth, vigor and pep in the product. More importantly, the new colors passed accessibility requirements.
WIth branding and mid-fidelity wireframes in hand, the next step was to build the first iteration of high-fidelity wireframes. Bringing these pieces together in one place the first view of the final product! Though of course with many more iterations to come!
After gathering my ideas on paper, I moved back to Figma to build my desktop and mobile mid-fidelity wireframes. I continued my focus on designing the screens that were necessary for the most important user tasks: search (via homepage and questionairre, and company comparison). I referred back to my user flow, task flow, and sitemap as needed to ensure that users would be able to access and navigate to all needed screens.
6 participants were observed completing 3 tasks via Zoom. Participant feedback was arranged into a Effort:Impact Matrix to efficiently prioitize revisions. (See my testing notes here.)
Usability Testing Research Goals:
Do the task flows operate as intended?
Are the task flows efficient & free of error?
Is the page appealing & logical to users?
Is the site readable? Is the sizing and spacing of the site elements appropriate?
Can users successfully search, use the questionnaire, and compare companies?
DELIVER
With the screens built, they could now be connected and the prototype assembled. The prototype is so cruicial in the UX design process, and once it is built Usability Testing can occur (see my Usability Test Plan here). The prototype allows users a “real enough” experience to get a feel for the product. Users give authentic feedback on the look, usability, and efficiency of the product without having to imagine anything. This feedback informs the final iterations of the look and experience of the product before the designs are sent to developers.