Symple.co.uk
A platform where landlords and service providers can effortlessly manage their bookings.
Built from scratch within 10 months. Launched in May 2021.
Tools and Activities
Requirements: Gathering , Competitive Analysis, Design System, Information Architecture, User Flows, Wireframing, Rapid Prototyping, High-fidelity Design, Usability Testing, User Interviews.
Tools: Figma, Miro, Inspectlet.
Duration
Aug 2020- May 2021
My role
One person UX/UI team
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Landlords in the UK must keep rented properties safe and free from health hazards. A landlord must make sure all gas and electrical equipment is safely installed and maintained. It is required by law to provide safety certificates to prove that the gas and electrical appliances, flues and related pipework in the property have been checked and are deemed safe.
PROBLEM
Being a landlord carries plenty of responsibilities. Landlords must book their gas safety, electrical installation and energy performance inspections that are required by law. They also must remember when inspections are due.
Being a freelance gas engineer or energy assessor carries a challenge in finding clients.
​
Therefore Symple has created a hassle-free platform connecting landlords with service providers making life simple for both.
METHODOLOGY
The Symple team members worked in multiple timezones, thus we’ve created a detailed schedule to follow. We worked in 2-week sprints, with the requirements gathering meetings 3 times per week. The schedule was tight.
Discovery
USERS
We’ve defined primary and secondary user groups. The primary was Landlords and Service Providers, the secondary were Admins of the platform. Even though the user groups were clear, the representatives of each group had their specific needs and goals.
The landlords could be very diverse. A Landlord could be any person over 18 years. Some landlords are seniors and they used landlines, instead of mobile. We wanted the system to be accessible and user-friendly for everyone.
Service Providers usually schedule their jobs on the go using mobile. Speed and efficiency are required in order to be the 1st to get a job. Even though we were building the desktop platform, the design should be responsive on every device.
REQUIREMENTS
Being a one-person UX/UI team, I’ve developed the guidelines for gathering requirements based on the problem and goals defined during the research phase. However, our meetings were a mix of brainstorming and requirement gathering. It didn’t work properly. It was hard to manage the team, keep everyone engaged and get value from this process. It took us 4 weeks to get to the point that we must change the process. Moreover, we’ve realized we had an identity crisis. We took a week and decided to zoom out and rethink again how we address the main user problems.
We’ve ended up with a new schedule, which included different meetings dedicated to different issues and agendas- requirements, brainstorming sessions, and standups. We’ve followed the protocol and proceeded in an adjusted manner.
USER FLOWS
As we get more requirements, I’ve started mapping out the main user flows.
According to user goals, we’ve started with the registration process, proceeding with placing orders for Landlords and getting jobs for Service Providers. Only after the main flows were mapped out, we’ve started to create our dashboards and navigation. Admin was prioritized as low.
These diagrams are very helpful as they give a clear understanding of user goals and the number of efforts they need to put in to reach that goal. Reviewing these flows, you can more efficiently pinpoint the “how” (i.e., execution), the rest will come easier.
DESIGN
After each requirements gathering meeting, the team gets closer to the final version of the design. Once we get to the point, everyone is happy with the visual design and the logic of the flow, the design is signed off.
Design
DESIGN SYSTEM
I’m a passionate advocate of making the processes robust and efficient. The Symple design system was born once the 1st component (button) was created and required several states. The 1st version was basic and for low fidelity wireframes and rapid prototypes. I’ve updated the system as we proceed to develop the platform and then add new features after launch. Also once new features like variable components were introduced by Figma.
ITERATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
As we’ve added more functionality and introduced more features to the system, we had to keep the system consistent. I’ve developed and introduced the iterative design process, which helps to maintain clarity and alignment within the team. It has become an integral part of the design system.
WIREFRAMES
Once we have a minimum of the requirements, I can come up with very basic wireframes to have an overview of the features, functionality we want to include.
These wireframes will be used during the next requirements gathering meeting to see the rough structure and flow of possible design solutions.
DESIGN
After each requirements gathering meeting, the team gets closer to the final version of the design. Once we get to the point, everyone is happy with the visual design and the logic of the flow, the design is signed off.
Validation
PROTOTYPE
Once the design is done, I turn it into interactive prototypes to demonstrate to the team and use for usability testing. Defining clickable areas, transitions and events, in order to produce an interactive prototype that captures the user flow process and demonstrates interactivity gives another chance to revisit the design and identify potential issues.
This way, I always make sure that the design is likely to work well, before committing to the laborious process of developing code.
USABILITY TESTING
To evaluate the design we conduct usability testing sessions with real users for every new feature.
I’ve developed a general template, which we use as a guideline for usability testing. The process combines heuristic evaluation and user testing methods. The document includes different assessment tools:
-
high-level criteria (heuristics), which will reveal severe problems
-
specific task (user testing), which will reveal less severe, but more specific problems
USABILITY TESTING RESULTS
Landlords
-
The flat fee was changed to a variable depending on the property characteristics
-
Landline was added as an option. We’ve found out that some users do not use mobile
-
Missing expiry dates for properties became optional. We’ve learned that most of the landlords do not know the expiry date of their certificates
Service Providers
-
Allowed uploading certificate on multiple pages. We’ve found out that some certificates require multiple pages
-
Adding a note for Service Providers. We first assumed service providers will not use notes within the system, but later on, we’ve learned they find this feature very helpful
-
Removing calendar. We’ve found out that none of service providers have ever used the calendar on the dashboard.
The design is never completed. After each usability testing session, we have something to revisit and improve. We can have several iteration rounds for the same flow before we get to the point where we understand why users actually have problems completing a task.
ITERATION
Design is never completed. After each usability testing session, we have something to revisit and improve. We had several iteration rounds for the same flow before we got to the point where we understood why users actually have problems completing a task.
Outcome
Feedback Loop
After launch, Symple has entered a new phase. It’s no longer just about developing a product. It’s about developing a sustainable mature company with real sales, onboarding users, providing good customer service, and a whole lot more.
We’ve been constantly gathering feedback from our users. We use a variety of tools to get precious insights- live chats, short surveys, and social media.
Based on the data we get from users, we create and then update the list of new features.
​
Landlords
-
Removing mandatory fields in adding property flow
-
Ordering multiple services
-
Guest checkout
-
Credit facility
​
Service Providers
-
Validating certificate
-
Adding notes
-
Getting notifications about new jobs in their area
-
Removing map
You may also like
Symple
Athennian.com