ROLE

Product Designer. Conducted user research and testing, problem definition, ideation, and interaction design. I am in no way affiliated with Paperless Post. 

Results: Creating & Sending Invitations is Easier Than Ever

Based on user feedback, I surfaced premium options much earlier in the invitation design & send flow and presented their value in a compelling way. I added form controls to the edit invitation page, and clearer affordances for each step in the flow to improve the usability of the app for people wanting to quickly design and send out an invite.

Edit Invitation 

Before: Users were unsure of how to move to the next step, clicking into the wrong screens.

After: Rearranged task flow to have clearer affordances, fewer options, and text fields for the invitation design.

Validation Testing

I tested my solution with 7 users.

How I Got There

Getting to Know the Users

I made a provisional persona based on online research and my understanding of people who I knew used the Paperless Post app. In order to understand why people are using the app and how, I used Job Stories to expand the framework from which I approached thinking about the various motivations a person might have for using the app. 

I conducted usability tests with 7 people to identify existing pain points in the app. I set out to find people who hosted an event at least a few times per year and multi-tasked while planning. I asked them to complete the following task: 

Finding the Right Problem

After reviewing the notes from the usability tests, I made an affinity map to synthesize my findings and I used a 2 x 2 to help prioritize pain points. This allowed me to better identify the scope of this project and choose things that would have maximum impact for both business and user. My assumptions of importance to users were based on my job stories and conversations with users. My assumptions of the importance to Paperless Post were based on research about their company and their business model.

“When I get to the end and they throw stuff in and it’s not free anymore, I’m gonna quit the app. It feels like they tricked me.” —User during a usability test

I audited the flow of how users discover the Premium default options before sending. I highlighted key screens which caused the most frustration:

Defining the Pain Points

Pain Point #1: “Price” on Add Guests & Send Screen

Pain Point #2: Discovering Premium Details

Pain Point #3: Edit Invitation

Task Flow

I made a task flow to illustrate how users currently navigate through the app to send out an invitation and discover the pricing menu:

Current task flow

I re-designed the task flow to present premium options in a screen of their own early-on in the task flow:

Re-designed task flow

Sketches

I explored several options for the wording and UI of my redesign. Highlighted in blue are the options I decided to use. I decided to place the “skip” button at the bottom of “Add Extras” screen so that users would scroll through and see the premium options they could add. I titled the screen with premium options “Add Extras,” so it would be clear to hosts that these are not added to their invitation already.

Prototyping & Validation

After getting some initial feedback on my sketches and user flow, I iterated on the design and created a prototype to test and validate the new solution with users. See the before and after comparison:

Making Price Discoverable

Edit Invitation Screen

Here are the results of my redesign when I tested with 7 users:

Key Takeaways

When a busy mom is planning a birthday party for her daughter and prioritizing her budget, it feels misleading to be charged for something she didn’t select and wasn’t aware of. Through both research and validation, I saw that my hypothesis to reduce the frustration by presenting premium options in a transparent way actually excited users to want to make a purchase.