Driving the North Star Vision for Unqork
DESKTOP | B2B SaaS
PROJECT OVERVIEW
SKILLS
Research
User Testing
Prototyping
ROLE
Product Designer
(4 designers)
PLATFORM
Web
TIMELINE
3 Months
(Sep - Nov 2023)
CHALLENGE
Unqork is a cloud computing and enterprise software company that offers a no-code development platform-as-a-service for building enterprise applications. The company needed a vision to define its ideal future state as a guiding light for all implementation decisions. The platform design team set out to build a future state prototype in collaboration with several key stakeholders and validation from potential customers.
FINAL OUTCOME
Unqork for the citizen developer
No-code is meant to democratize enterprise app development, prioritizing logic over syntax and workflow concepts over coding ability. Through embedded artificial intelligence, simplified logic building and API integration, the team unlocked a new persona for app development: the citizen developer.
Visualize applications with an AI-generated framework map
Upload your product requirements document or plug in to Jira and let the Smart Assistant generate a framework map to help you get started.
Easily customize your UI with guidance every step of the way
What you see is what you get. Make changes directly in the module builder and let the Smart Assistant suggest customizations - all without code.
No more complex logic needed
Choose to configure logic in the simple and intuitive logic builder. Or, let the Smart Assistant do the heavy lifting.
JTBD WORKSHOP
Introducing the JTBD Framework
The vision design team held a day-long virtual workshop with approximately 20 stakeholders from engineering, product, customer success, and client services. We introduced the Jobs to be Done framework and documented core jobs, processes, and job performers on the current platform.
After the workshop, we put together the Job Map and defined 3 focus areas of the app building process: define, build, and maintain. This artifact is a living document meant to gain alignment within the company.
SPRINT CYCLE
Developing and testing the prototype with 3 key moments
We worked in 2-week sprints, with each sprint focused on one of the three key moments. Each sprint consisted of storyboarding, low-fidelity wireframing, design reviews, user testing, and high fidelity prototyping.
13 total 60-minute user tests were conducted and included a mix of product managers and software engineers working at mid-size to large financial services or insurance companies. Individuals were based in the US, Canada, Brazil, and Singapore.
We explored several versions for configuring logic and tested two versions for ease of use and intuitiveness.
AWS RE:INVENT
Showcasing our vision at one of the largest developer conferences
I had the fortunate opportunity to showcase the future state prototype at Amazon’s 2023 AWS re:Invent conference held in Las Vegas, NV. Over 475 attendees visited the Unqork booth, and I validated the prototype with over 30 participants. Not only did I collect substantial qualitative and quantitative data, but I also helped establish Unqork’s design presence at a developer-centric conference.
We gathered survey data and turned it into an easily digestible infographic to share with the broader platform team.
RETROSPECTIVE
Influencing initiatives through human-centered design
This design-led initiative demonstrated the value of design when it comes to driving key initiatives at the company. My vision team shared the end-to-end process with over 30 platform team members, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. The insights gathered will influence the investments the company will make in the next 1-3 years. Moreover, the undertaking solidified the need to pull design into the development process early, as the design process can help push the company forward while mitigating risk through rigorous testing and iteration.
We will be entering phase 2 of vision work, and I will be leading the Information Architecture redesign in 2024.