ROLE: UX & UI DESIGNER
JANUARI 2021 - SEPTEMBER 2022
Background:
Wedsly is a suite of digital planning tools that makes planning a wedding as fun as celebrating a wedding for couples, guests, and vendors. Wedsly has established itself as one of the most exciting and important players in the Swedish wedding market. With Wedsly, couples are part of a wedding ecosystem that includes editorial-quality inspiration, access to high-quality vendors, and simple tools for creating a wedding website, building a guest list, sending invites, tracking RSVPs, and curating the ultimate gift list. For guests, Wedsly is a one-stop-shop for buying the perfect wedding gift and booking travel and accommodation.
Background
I joined Wedsly as a UX & UI designer when it was just a small team. I worked with the product, marketing, UX and UI strategy for the team. I've been extremely fortunate to have part of this journey and have grown tremendously during my time at Wedsly, some key achievements of which I have listed below:
Turned an idea into a product.
The ability to transform an idea into something much more tangible is a process that is both exhilarating and rewarding. I worked closely with the founder and team to shape the product vision and strategy of Wedsly. While the product is out , being able to see how much we have grown as a team and startup is truly sensational.
Juggled many different hats.
Working in an early-stage startup is not easy. I dedicated hours of my spare time and weekends conducting research, sketching, testing and designing the product alongside creating pitch deck presentations and be part of marketing side as well as the development side of the business.
Responsibilities often included
Wireframes
Design and deliver wireframes, user stories, user journeys, build prototypes optimized for a wide range of devices and interfaces
Mobile First
The overall style of a mobile application, covering both the User Interface (color scheme, font, buttons etc.) as well as User Experience design. During this period I was also involved with the design of 'Wedsly planner app" both for iOS and Android.
Design System
Monitor and manage the design system while maintaining design consistency via the use of style guides and style sheets and ensure that established standards and best practices are followed.
Work in team
Work in cross-competence teams to building and deploying new features and products, as well as maintaining and improving design.
Usability test
Conduct usability test, as well as developing personas, usage scenarios, conducting competitor and customer analysis to enhance user experience.
The sites included Checklist, Guest list, Gift list, Wedding Website and Invitations
During this period I was also involved with the design of 'Wedsly planner app" both for iOS and Android. I was involved with process from the begin til launch day.
Background:
The ongoing demand of mobile-first has lead to companies to invest in mobile app development to entice their target users and do a profitable business. So it was time for Wedsly to take the same approach.
The process
Gathering insights
After collecting the data, The team and I conducted affinity mapping with to synthesise the pains identified. We grouped these problems under common themes and features in the platform.
Data-driven approach
We relied on a data-driven approach known as the severity framework to inform my process and list usability issues in order of priority. The framework helps to identify the severity score of a usability issue.
Working with developers
We worked closely with a team of 3 engineers to develop the designs for MVP. I scoped out tickets for the front-end engineers with user stories and product requirements.
Wireframing the solutions and ideas
Based on the above problems identified, I worked towards addressing these pains by coming up with potential solutions. I quickly mocked up some basic wireframes to gather feedback from Product, developers, marketers and the users on the overall layout and structure of the form. This involved establishing a standardised visual hierarchy and layout for the future component and MVP.
The result
Account creation
Designing a flexible set of steps that can capture the amount of data the user feels comfortable submitting—prioritising name, email and password fields—while leaving the door ajar for a customer to skip at any time.
Product
As part of a platform of the Wedsly website, Wedsly needed to recreate their feature in app, using this as an opportunity to improve a noticeably cumbersome experience.
Development
I used Figma and Sketch to allow the engineers to inspect the HTML and CSS of the designs. The team used Flutter to develop the application and the app was built using React. It is accessible via the web and on native iOS app and android
Prototyping
We set up a lo-fi clickable prototype using Figma to help aid the customer conversations and also provide usability insights.
Results and takeaways
Working in an early-stage startup was an extremely steep learning curve. It was an eye-opening experience that taught me a lot about being lean and knowing when and where to focus your energy and efforts.
Since the implementation of the new app the Wedsly planner app, we have seen a significant increase in the number of downloads. Additionally, I have received positive feedback from users about the simplified configuration of having their data in both the website and app, by saving them a large proportion of their time