About me
Currently
Product Manager
Design and manage the Appointments Power Up at Exclaimer
Previously
Lead Business Analyst
Everything from user research to frontend development at Indiana University
Context
- IU has applicants from around the world 🌎 that rely on guest accounts to apply for admission
- Guest accounts also support a wide range of educational đź“š programs and services
- Before I was assigned to the project, a vended solution had already been in a pilot 🛫 phase
- The stakeholder 🤝 with the largest user base wanted social login options
Contributions
- Defining and executing ➡️ the UX research methodologies
- Exploring 🧠account and social login best practices
- Designing 🎨 account creation and management processes and features
- Implementing pixel-perfect frontend solution that meets accessibility standards đź“Ź
Goals
- Seamless creation processes for email- and social-based accounts
- Streamlined IU branding and utilization of new design system
- Improved account management features, including account linking đź”—
- Forward-looking adoption of social login providers
- Strategic alignment with account lifecycle vision
Process
Discover
Perform extensive review of existing application, conduct product research, and create user experience artifacts.
customer feedback
research
interviews
Data analysis
personas
scenarios
Ideate
Mock up initial designs within vendor constraints and perform usability testing.
UI design
usability testing
Refine
Present usability findings to vendor, identify product pain points, and create entirely new product.
vendor feedback
Product research
UI design
process design
Implement
Determine all application flows, develop user interfaces, and test application functionality.
figma
accessibility
html/css
JavaScript
copy writing
Listening
Methods
Customer reviews
Read through and collated application reviews to uncover user pain points.
Stakeholder interviews
Gathered feedback from admissions and support representatives.
Insights
- Existing password requirements are complex and burdensome
- Instructions were sometimes needed to complete account setup
- Encountering error messages is both common and frustrating
- Users create more than one account and can't link them
1-star reviews for existing guest application
Researching
Methods
Market research
Collected social login statistics for adoption and usage and compare with traditional email registration.
Task analysis
Assessed vendor application workflows for creating an account, logging in, and managing name, email, and password.
Insights
- 45% of people create multiple accounts because of forgotten credentials (link)
- All companies researched offered no more than three social login options
- Even for accounts with social login, an email verification process was required
- 85% of social logins powered by Google, according to vendor; 61% by Facebook, according to competitor (link)
Lengthy vendor login screen from task analysis
Empathizing
Two personas that influenced our understanding
Method
Created personas and scenarios based on the stakeholder interviews
Insights
- Ashley helped us understand the trials of applying to multiple schools
- Although written for a Facebook login, Jim helped us recognize the importance of supporting credentials from other employers
Building
Prototype
Using the vended solution meant the design was largely relegated to the bookends of the user journey.
The focus, then, was on preparing users before they went off to the vendor's product.
The focus, then, was on preparing users before they went off to the vendor's product.
Clunky user experience with vended solution
Testing
Method
In-person usability testing
- 5 participants
- Ages 18-55
- 20-45 minute sessions
- 15 follow-up questions
User scenarios
- Create account (email address or social account)
- Log in with account after creation
- Log in with account from application
Test goals
- Uncover the challenges and pain points of the vendor solution
- Understand attitudes toward login types (email vs. social) and providers
Considering
Generic account insights
- —If users were unsure of what to do next, they went back to the most recent site or email to find their way forward
- —Users wanted to go to the login page from the confirmation email
- —Google was the preferred social provider by all five participants
- —If users were unsure of what to do next, they went back to the most recent site or email to find their way forward
Vendor-specific insights
- —Users spent around 15 seconds before clicking the vendor's Create Account button
- —Users had difficulty both finding and meeting vendor password requirements
- —Users did not know where to go or what to do after creating their account
- —On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), the process of creating an account with social login received an average rating of 9.5 while that of traditional email received a 5
- —Users spent around 15 seconds before clicking the vendor's Create Account button
Sharing
Vendor feedback
- —They were both impressed that testing was done on their product and surprised by the results.
- —Provided four recommendations that were cause of most confusion
- —The vendor reached the conclusion that these improvements were unlikely to be implemented in a timely fashion and/or would require a significant amount of development
- —They were both impressed that testing was done on their product and surprised by the results.
Internal leadership
- —This resulted in our team reviewing the usability test findings and  reassessing our goals.
- —We involved close stakeholders and the Associate Vice President to determine our path forward.
- —This resulted in our team reviewing the usability test findings and  reassessing our goals.
After reviewing the usability test findings and reflecting on our goals, we ultimately decided to build our own solution.
Collating
Account creation
- Easing password requirements
- Choosing social providers carefully
- Automating the linking of a new account to an existing one
- Offering a login CTA after creating an account
- Easing password requirements
Account management
- Providing the ability to have one account with multiple login options
- Creating easy-to-scan, informative emails with links to manage the account
- Simplifying reset password process
- Providing the ability to have one account with multiple login options
Preliminary account creation flows
Link to preliminary account creation flows in FigmaProcess
Design
Designed user flows for account creation and account management.
Applied IU design system while creating specialized user interface elements for desktop and mobile view ports.
figma
design system
process design
Review
Get feedback from UX communities of practice and collaborate with stakeholders to trial service.
feedback
Testing
Code
Applied design to frontend code, writing all HTML and implementing design system and creating custom CSS and JavaScript.
html/css
javascript
design system
Test
Created dozens of scenarios, tested to discover bugs, and explained the issues and solutions to the backend developers.
test scenarios
Functional testing
Passwords
Old requirements
New requirement
account creation
I worked with the policy and security offices to significantly reduce the password requirements.
Just one
- At least 15 characters
Password requirements for existing guest application
Account creation flows
Link to account creation flows in FigmaAccount management flows
Link to account management flows in FigmaReflection
At the very outset of the project, I was excited to offer social logins as a quick and convenient alternative to email-based accounts. However, moving all of our services into a vended solution—and one that users found even more challenging in some ways than the existing application—seemed like taking two steps forward and one step back. But the turning point of the entire redesign was the realization of just how poor of an experience the vended solution provided.
Of all the thoughtful consideration that went into this endeavor, it was the usability testing that was more impactful than any other research or analysis.
In the end, this project surprised me in all kinds of ways—from the easing of password requirements through collaboration with the policy and security offices to leadership recognizing the importance of the usability findings that led to developing our own product.
Researching
Methods
Market research
Collected social login statistics for adoption and usage and compare with traditional email registration.
Competitive analysis
Identified strengths/weaknesses of account creation processes at companies with reputable design that support social login.
Task analysis
Assessed vendor application workflows for creating an account, logging in, and managing name, email, and password.
Vendor interviews
Gained insider perspective from vendor's Director of Customer Success regarding social login metrics, best practices, adoption techniques, and user workflows.
Lengthy vendor login screen from task analysis
Insights
- 45% of people create multiple accounts because of forgotten credentials (link)
- All companies researched offered no more than three social login options
- Even for accounts with social login, an email verification process was required
- 85% of social logins powered by Google, according to vendor; 61% by Facebook, according to competitor (link)