Responsive Website Entrepreneurs
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Product
StartCompany, a responsive design portal, is a platform focused on the social cause of helping aspiring entrepreneurs start and run their own company. This platform will also help the new entrepreneurs connect with a network of expert entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors for guidance and help.
Duration : 01 Oct, 2022 – 30 Oct, 2022
My Role : UX designer leading the app and responsive website design from conception to delivery
Key Skills : Paper and Digital Wireframe; LoFi and HiFi prototype; Mockups;
The Problem
Every year, thousands of new aspiring entrepreneurs start their businesses, and over 90% of them either fail or give up on their dream of becoming entrepreneurs. The reasons for failure are that people don’t know how to start, run, manage, and scale their businesses. The complicated financial, administrative, and legal procedures are making it difficult to start a business successfully.
The Goal
Our goal is to provide users with a platform where they can get guidance and help from experts that will cover every process of starting and running a business successfully.
USER PERSONA : Prem Kumar
The freedom to do what you are passionate about without any restrictions ignites the idea of starting my own company.
Goals
- run a successful business of software development for BFSI sector
- compete with market leaders like Infosys and TCS in future
Frustrations
- insufficient funds to run the business
- lack of experience in sales pitching/ bringing new business, and marketing
- inability to pitch for large projects due to lack of infrastructure and workforce
User Profile
Prem completed his graduation in Computer Science 4 years back from Delhi University. Prem is planning with his friends to launch a start-up IT company to deliver software solutions to the BFSI industry. He moved to Delhi from Kanpur to complete his graduation. He has been working as a project manager, for a mid-size IT company ,for the past 4 years. He thinks he is ready to launch his own company to deliver software solutions to clients.
His mother is a teacher in a public school and his younger brother is in the final year of his graduation in computer science from the same university. Prem has managed to save up to 5 lakh rupees from his salary over the years and believes that it should be sufficient as his contribution to launch the company. He knows almost everything about software development and project management, but next to nothing about how to run a business successfully.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Prem is a software programmer who needs information about the process of starting a company because he wants to start his own business in software product development.
COMPETITIVE AUDIT
An audit of competitors’ products provided direction on gaps and opportunities to address with the StartCompany app.
IDEATION
A quick ideation exercise helped come up with ideas for how to address gaps identified in the competitive audit. The focus was specifically on leading users to the step-by-step guidelines feature.
DIGITAL WIREFRAMES
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, the initial design was created for the StartCompany app. The design was focused on delivering personalised guidance to users to learn about the steps involved in starting a business.
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of viewing an item with exploring connections with experts.
USABILITY STUDY : Parameters
Study Type
Unmoderated Usability Study
Location
Delhi, Hyderabad, Faridabad
Participants
Five Participants
Lengths
20 – 30 Minutes
MOCKUPS
The findings of the usability study were implemented by grouping the current menu under the single tab “Learn.” Resources and networking, which have been the top priorities for users, are put in the main footer menu.
Additional design changes included adding new options:
- Mobile phone number
- Five star rating
HI-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including design changes made after the usability study.
SITEMAP
RESPONSIVE DESIGNS
The designs for screen size variation included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimised the designs to fit specific user needs for each device and screen size.
TAKEAWAYS
Impact
The study participants were curious, and some were sceptical about the existence and limitations of so many different websites and portals that are attempting to solve similar problems for aspiring entrepreneurs. According to one participant who runs a startup, “If such a website had existed four years ago, it would have greatly aided me in dealing with difficult business situations. Now, as a mentor, I want to assist and guide new entrepreneurs on their startup journey.”
What I learned?
The most important lesson I took away from this project was the importance of devoting adequate time and effort to developing the project’s information architecture.
This project has the potential to be the next big thing, but it will take a significant amount of time, energy, patience, and resources to complete.
Thank you for taking the time to review my work. For potential collaboration, feel free to reach out.
- Category
- UX/UI Design