PROJECT OVERVIEW

Back to start is a company with a training concept called “BasisBall”. This concept is conveyed through their website and presented in two different ways. The first is for registered users (“trainers”) and requires an account to access. This type of account is granted to personal trainers at fitness centres that have joined the program. Through the account they can subscribe to 3 different types of programs, which will allow them to teach the respective program at their fitness centre.

Casual users are given a different approach to the concept. By attending courses of various levels of difficulty, they train with Back to Starts staff of certified BasisBall trainers and can subscribe to the corresponding program they are enrolled in.

By subscribing, both user groups get access to a third party service that serves as a “trainer portal”. The service is called BRIK that will let users watch videos of the training programs online as well as download the corresponding music.

THE CHALLENGE

Research conducted indicated that users find it confusing to navigate and use the website to locate information. In addition, the link between the website and the third party portal is not clear. As part of the upgrade the client also wanted to implement an eCommerce shop with a more automated flow.

PROJECT APPROACH

The current website went through an heuristic evaluation to identify usability problems and a select group of current users were asked to perform various key tasks to see how they interact with the website. Some of the most concerning results were:

Users unfamiliar with the website was confused by the difference between courses and subscription.
Distinguishing the concept and brand name is difficult
Many steps are required to subscribe for a service. Some users might not be able to complete the process
Not filling out the payment form properly or unable to complete the form

Stakeholder interviews were conducted and user surveys were sent out to gather more data about the current website.

Based on all of this, the key goals for the new site became clear: Make the distinction between brand and concept clear as well as present the information in a more structured and logical way. The webshop also needed to be addressed to make the shopping experience easier and more intuitive.

PROTOTYPING

To achieve the best possible result, several users tested various prototypes where each iteration used feedback to test out new ideas or changes.
The test sessions took place at the participant’s home to evaluate the user in a natural setting. The survey showed that the end users of the product will most likely access the website from home, so this was done to get the most accurate data.

After each session, the participants were asked about what they thought worked well and not so well on the website. In addition, they were encouraged to suggest design changes that might benefit the website. This feedback has been very valuable for the development of the new prototype. For instance, all participants were confused over the fact that they were redirected to the homepage after logging in.

Example of how information was structured after a couple of iterations.

PROPOSED SOLUTION

Some of the implemented solutions are presented below.

Results from the tests showed that participants failed locating the account page. As a result, they could not access their own account and perform key functions like subscribe to a training program.

Most of the participants had no problem logging in to the account, but after login they were redirected back to the index (BasisBall) page which confused all of the participants. Even though the “trainer” link in the main navigation had been changed to their own name, it was not clear enough that the link was clickable.

Left: New button added to make the link more visible.
Middle: Add a “tooltip” that make it clear that this is clickable.
Right: New button hover effect follows the styleguide of the website.

Users have difficulties seeing the difference between the brand and concept. This was a known problem and the usability tests validates this. To help with this, the Basisball (concept) logo was swapped with the brand logo:

Original navigation bar.

Swapped out logo from BasisBall to Back to Start.

The second recommendation implemented is having a video presentation of the concept as the first thing the visitor can see when entering the home page. In addition the phrasing has been simplified:

Left: The original header image.
Right: Iterated header image with play button for video and rewritten text. “BasisBall” is added to clarify that this is the concept thats being presented.

The divide between the third party service BRIK and the Back to Start website makes users uncertain of where they are. To solve this, the third party service was loaded into the body content to preserve the header and footer content.

If you want more information about this project, please contact me at matias@designkompaniet.no

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

Ruter is a public transport company that I’ve worked on multiple projects with. Their brand reach is massive within the Oslo area which makes them a very fun client to work with. The broad scope of the different projects also gave me new challenges to overcome and grow as a versatile designer.

I’ve been a part of Ruter and scoping their vision for the future. I’ve used my skills in both interaction design and front-end to develop various concepts, prototypes and solutions. Throughout the projects I’ve been in constant contact with users through interviews, user testing and doing various types of analysis. This way the development teams has always been in line with customer needs. My expertise and experience through several projects has helped to ensure that Ruter was constantly on the path of reaching the goal of becoming a world-class seamless customer experience.

If you want more information about how these projects was approached and solved, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

Trumf is NorgesGruppens benefits program. As a Trumf member, customers save bonuses every time they shop at one of Trumf’s partners. The bonus is collected in a member account and the customer can choose how they want to use the bonus.

As a long term partner, Making Waves works closely with Trump to develop new digital services and benefits, as well as manage the digital contact points.

THE CHALLENGE

For this project I was responsible for graphic and interaction design for their primary site, Trumf.no as well as viaTrumf. I worked closely with Trumf and their team to map user needs and business opportunities and then take this into new functionality and further development and optimization of existing functions.

In addition, I was tasked with front-end styling for some of the components as I could help the team with the utilisation of my frontend skills.

If you want more information about how this project was approached and solved, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

Get Safe is a smart collective fire alarm system where the board always has a full overview of the status of fire safety in the housing association. Get Safe is also an individual burglar alarm, which each resident activates in their apartment. The device is controlled with an included application.

The project goals were to uncover pain points in the application and portal related to Get Safe and potential solutions related to the various problem areas. Based on the analysis work, GET wanted a recommendation for further progress of the product.

THE CHALLENGE

This research project was quite interesting because the results had a lot of weight in terms of a possible large acquisition. As the lead researcher I wanted an overview of previous gathered knowledge as the project had been going on for a while. The first analysis conducted was a competitor analysis to look into what possible competition GET Safe would have going from a relative small business commitment to a larger project.

In addition to the research role, I was performing user interviews and conducting user testing as the product was tested and iterated upon along the research phase. Deep dive interviews and focus groups were utilised to get a better understanding of what people thought of the product.

If you want more information about how this project was approached and solved, don’t hesitate to contact me.

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

For DNB (Den Norske Bank) Making Waves was approached to help out with building a new flow for how enterprise customers manage their loans. The customer approached us with the need for how to increase credit for corporate customers and facilitate upscaling so that the solution is sustainable for new products and loan types.b

The goal was an overall better customer experience with increased self-service and reduced lead times as primary business goals.

THE CHALLENGE

A project of any size in a large corporation can be challenging, and with a large team and several other consultancy agencies involved the process was an interesting challenge. My role as an interaction designer was first to help the customer understand how the design process works, with everything from iterations to constant user testing to verify our various hypothesis.

We developed multiple concepts and used customer interviews to verify which leads to follow from the start. Throughout the project we built several prototypes and together with interviews, we conducted user testing sessions to bring the prototypes forward. Using an agile approach we ended up with a MVP at launch that focused on the users needs and wants, but at the same time meeting the customers business requirements.

If you want more information about how this project was approached and solved, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Next Project

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Trygg Trafikk is a nationwide organisation that works to ensure that as few as possible should be seriously injured or killed in traffic. They are conducting campaigns and projects, providing training and information about road safety to kindergartens, schools, businesses, municipalities and authorities.

Trygg Trafikk is both partner and promoter of road safety work to the authorities and businesses. Since 1956, we contributed to targeted efforts in research and training and knowledge dissemination. We follow follower accident developments closely and is a consultative body in numerous cases. Through our bylaws, we are responsible for driver training and for information about road safety.

Barnas Trafikklubb is a sub-organisation of Trygg Trafikk and focuses where the primary focus is road safety for children. Their online solution consist of a website, presentational video and an educational game that pedagogs and teachers can use to educate children in various ways.

THE CHALLENGE

To build a product that employees in kindergartens can use to educate small children about traffic safety in a fun and exploring way. The solution should also inform parents about what the organisation is and what they do.

In addition, the solution should have a playful look, but balance the seriousness of the topics and present information in a structured and straightforwardly way.

If you want more information about how this project was approached and solved, don’t hesitate to contact me.