ENTERPRISE SaaS PRODUCT
Redesigning a SaaS product to better meet the needs of a changing user base
Project Roles
UX Writer, UX Designer
Company
Zuum
Challenge
Zuum, a content strategy tool, operated in the rapidly changing world of social media. And changes in that industry were, in turn, bringing change to the company’s product user base.
Sales records indicated a shift towards brands purchasing directly, versus our previous primary user base, large and mid-sized agencies.
As the head of product design, I needed to better understand the evolving user landscape, as well as their needs, wants, and preferences. To determine if there were needed product improvements. And if so, which would provide the best return on investment.
Solution
Step one was assembling and assessing the most relevant and readily-available information. So the research process began with behavioral site analytics data mapped to current customer profiles.
That analysis surfaced 3 main user groups, which I then expanded on with customer and prospect interviews. To clarify how the needs and interests varied among the groups.
The interview insights further distinguished the 3 user groups by their feature requests, data interests, and level of product use.
Assessing the user group growth trends, their needs, and the production requirements to meet those needs, I determined which set of improvements would generate the highest return on investment.
Interests of the new primary user group were benchmarking reports delivered with as little user friction as possible. The primary and secondary user groups shared the need for a clearer navigation structure, and reports with more professional graphic appeal. That alignment between user groups enabled us to maximize impact across both groups while minimizing costs.
Outcomes
The results of the product redesign were apparent in two ways.
Using site analytics, we experienced a significant increase in our primary user goal: Having a company member subscribed to our regularly-scheduled reports. That subscriber rate increased to 88% of our clients, up from just over 50%.
Using email surveys with open and closed questions, I asked customers to rate their experience and provide any comments on the new design and navigation. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive.
Process
EMPATHIZE
Information gathering and getting to know the target audience
Site Analytics
The company’s existing tool offered a solid foundation of data into current behaviors. I was particularly interested in volume of product use, both frequency and page views, as well as specific sections and features used. Each of those parameters was viewed relative to user traits like industry, business type, and size.
Insights
■ Individual brands, versus agencies, indexed higher for using auto-delivered reporting. That was also our fastest growing user group.
■ Usage overall tended towards more surface level reporting.
■ Users doing the most complex analysis, ad agencies, indexed higher for downloading data, and indexed lower for auto-delivered reporting.
Usability Testing
With the existing tool, I conducted live video user tests of qualified prospects with no previous tool experience. Almost all of our customers went through a free trial period. If users could easily accomplish the tasks they’re most likely to attempt in early product use stages, they’d be more likely to feel comfortable with the tool and have a positive product experience. Something critical in converting prospects to paying customers.
Insights
■ Diagraming task user flows highlights how a signification portion of each task is just navigating from one area of the tool to another. Minimizing that friction tool-wide should benefit any user.
■ Tool navigation hierarchy didn’t align with how users thought about going through tasks. Users tended to gather data network-by-network, versus data point-by-data point.
■ Users had trouble locating administrative settings, especially adding new subscribers to the auto-delivered reports, a common new user requirement.
User Interviews
Based on the site analytics analysis, we set up phone interviews with customers representing the various business types, focusing on both new (< 6 months) and familiar (> 6 months) users. This research added behavioral details and further distinction among the cohorts for volume and depth of product use.
Insights
■ Brands, unlike agencies, aren’t as dependent on detailed content analysis, and more interested in topline competitive benchmarking.
■ Users from all cohorts expressed that the look of the reports was dated.
■ Brand and small agency users felt the auto-delivered reports didn’t present a wide enough selection of data and charts.
■ The tool had unpredictable navigation and wasn’t organized in line with how more complex users used the tool.
DEFINE
Making sense of the findings gathered in the Empathize phase
User Personas
Our primary user segment represented the most significant shift in our industry. A shift in the tool buying decision process from agency to brand. The two persona had different roles, with differing data requirements. However, like social media in any environment, it’s hectic and constantly evolving, and staying on top of an endless stream of information is critical to both.
Features Analysis
Understanding the needs and interests of our customer segments, we crossed that information with technical development estimates to gain insights into which improvements would generate the best return on resource investment.
Highlights
■ The budget constraints were typical of small companies, so an important part of the product design process was assessing the cost and impact of potential improvements.
■ A clearer navigation and more polished graphic design were interests raised by our two top user cohorts, the High Levelers and Chart Divers
■ Consolidating improvements across user cohorts enabled us to increase the impact of improvements while keeping costs down.
IDEATE
Generating ideas for potential solutions
Card Sorting
The 3-tier nav was a challenge. Having previously tried a top nav and alternately-organized side nav, we combined card sorting exercises and long-standing research, arriving at a new nav structure. A frequency-ranked 1-2-3 left-hand nav for greater accuracy and reduced movement, combined with the familiarity of Material Design’s 3-Dot menu for admin features.
Blockframes
A typical user’s reporting covered at least 3 social networks, each network having over 25 metrics, and 60% of the metrics having multiple dimensions. And out of all that data, users wanted to know not only “What was happening”, but also “Why?”
The Task Analysis Interviews revealed insights into how users approach data and reporting. In a pattern reflective of the 5 Why’s approach to problem solving, I saw users asking a similar series of questions to get to the explanation for a data outlier. That formed the structure for elements ranging from report naming to chart presentation sequence.
Using Blockframes, data layout alternatives were run past clients for design input.
Highlights
■ Reporting needed highest level groupings to be driven by data source and type.
■ Within a given report focus, key benchmark metrics were viewed from 3 angles. 1. Closely related metrics. 2. Historical trending, and 3. Dimensions and their proportions.
Wireframes
The research was clear: Marketers dislike learning new software tools. We found that 9 of 10 customers used some sort of Google product in their marketing stack, and with Google rolling out their Material Design interface brand-wide, we built our wireframes to reflect the feel of Google’s marketing solutions. That way when users arrived at the tool, the interface would have familiarity, both graphically and navigationally.
PROTOTYPE
Experimentation and turning ideas into tangible products
Concept Testing
To confirm the Material Design direction, we presented production-ready design mockups to customers and prospects for input. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Especially among existing customers familiar with the old interface.
TEST
Assessing product performance for ongoing optimization
Site Analytics
Once the final product was launched, site analytics were applied at all touchpoints, including the customer acquisition funnel, onboarding flow, product use, product stickiness, and lifetime value.