PocketPerks A UX Project by Berlin Liew
THE PROBLEM
These days, companies are pressured more than ever to provide attractive employee benefit suites (perks!) to attract, motivate and retain employees. To an extent, benefits and perks can sway a person’s decision when choosing where to work. However, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often don’t have the resources, capability, nor the luxury to provide perks the way larger established corporations do.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we help small-medium businesses provide their staff a compelling suite of perks in order to give them a competitive edge in market?
RESEARCH / OBJECTIVES
1. Test my assumptions. 2. Find out if this is really a problem amongst SMBs‌or if I’m simply being a millennial who thinks perks are important. 3. Get a snapshot sense of the daily life, dynamics, needs and desires of my users. 4. Uncover gaps and explore how these could be turned into opportunities.
RESEARCH / METHODS
27
SURVEY RESPONSES
10
ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEWS
AFFINITY MAPPING
KEY INSIGHTS
Setting up a proper employee benefits suite only becomes a priority when SMBs start to grow and need to attract new talent.
The creation of a perks suite needs to align with SMB principles and values (personal, agile, cost-efficient).
SMBs are mega time-poor, so they’re more likely to consider something if it removes admin work and saves time.
SMB owners treat perks as a luxury, not a given, even though they know employees treat them as a given, not a luxury.
PERSONAS
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS Primary
HR MANAGERS IN MED-BIZ Secondary
PERSONAS
MEET SETH NICHOLS
Primary
Story After 8 years of working in sales for a software company, Seth wanted more out of his job.
He wanted to be his own boss and always dreamt of starting something of his own. Two years ago, he took the plunge and left the corporate world to pursue a small business opportunity with his best mate, Zach. Together they both founded X Digital Agency. The company works out of a co-working space in Richmond, and has 9 full-time employees. Despite running the business for two years, he’s still discovering how challenging running a small business can be – especially as it expands. But he loves it and wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“My staff is like family. I treat them when I can – with team lunches, drinks in the office. I’d love to do more but it’s all budget dependent.”
Age 35
Occupation
Managing Director / Founder, X Digital Agency
Income $85,000
Lives in
Windsor, VIC with his partner Marie and their one-year-old son, Chris
Behaviour • Passionate about ideas, community and doing good work • • • •
Approachable and friendly, well respected in the business Checks his calendar every morning to see what he has set for the day Standard pace is go-go-go Stressed and preoccupied by many thoughts but always tries to keep calm
Goals & • Expand the business. Seth has big dreams! Needs • Achieving work-life balance and getting as much done within 9-5 • Attracting good talent that will give their best to the company • Getting all staff members on board with the company’s vision • Creating a company culture that is envied by other agencies
Pain Points • Time-poor all the time
• Trial-and-error mistakes in creating company culture (e.g. flexible hours) • Every decision is limited by budget • Finding good talent
PERSONAS
MEET JACKIE MCCARTHY
Secondary
Story Jackie joined Focus Research after graduating university five years ago. She’s seen the
company grow from a small research start-up to a 70-person company, and is very fond and loyal to those who trained her. As the People Experience Manager, Jackie has developed several on-boarding programs, incentives and initiatives for staff members to promote motivation, growth and retention within the company. Despite her efforts, she still sees her fair share of people leaving for bigger opportunities within corporates. This has sparked a curiosity as to how she can fine-tune staff engagement and experience so that Focus Research can continue to attract and retain great talent.
“The biggest perk of all is to be able to do what you want and what’s important for you. We’d love to offer that to all our staff.”
Age 29
Occupation
People Experience Manager, Focus Research
Income
Behaviour • Caring, bubbly and warm, always up for a chat • • • •
Goal-driven, likes to tick off things on a list Spends her lunch breaks either with close colleagues or reading Tech-savvy, but not a fan of internal company systems Great at multitasking and organising tasks
Goals & • Understanding what her staff needs and wants Needs • Identify and employ more self-motivated staff
• Fostering a healthy and productive work culture • Maintain motivation amongst staff members so retention remains high
$70,000
Lives in
Northcote, VIC with two housemates who are both in corporate
Pain Points • Handling complaints from unsatisfied colleagues
• Trying to please everyone • Lots of internal processes and policies • Dealing with old-school / limited HR Information System platforms
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP SETH NICHOLS
Age 35 Occupation Managing Director / Founder, X Digital Agency Income $85,000 Lives in Windsor, VIC with his partner Marie and their one-year-old son, Chris
TIME DO
THINK
Day 1, Week 1
Day 4, Week 1
Define Analyse what the company values company currently & culture offers employees
”What do we stand for?
Scenario
It’s the start of the new year and Seth intends on expanding X Digital to take on the workload of new clients. Up until this point, the company had never advertised for roles. Now as they’re about to compete for talent, Seth realises he needs to look into his employee value proposition, and consider the kind of benefits X Digital offers in order to attract the best candidates.
Day 1, Week 2
Day 2, Week 3
Day 1, Week 4
Engage with employees (survey, interviews)
Analyse results
Research what competitors are doing
Identify roles that Identify desired EVP need to be filled for these roles
“Damn, how are they affording that?!”
“Exactly who do we need?”
“Okay, so there are “I really hope ”Right, there’s some team lunches, flexi they like working good but definitely hours…” here” room for improvement.”
Day 4, Week 4
Day 1, Week 5
Day 2, Week 8
Day 5, Week 10
Day 2, Week 12
Engages with providers
Compare costs vs. budget
Re-evaluate
“Urgh. I’ll park “What would we want “Where do I start? “Man, everything this for now and to offer to these Who’s good? So is so freaking come back to it guys?” many choices!” expensive.” next week.”
FEEL
TOUCH POINTS
Online Survey In-Person
Excel
Websites
Excel
In-Person Websites
Phone Email
PAIN POINTS
Time-consuming task
Overwhelmed with information
Not knowing what Overwhelmed and they may truly want or lost for direction value
FEATURES / OPPORTUNITY
Automate the process with Q&A features
Provide best practice guidelines
Show SMB owners Provide the Offer flexible Provide ready-towhat people in certain capability to scale billing options to go packages roles want based on budgets encourage trial
Excel
Trying to meet budget
Unsure if making the right decision
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP SETH NICHOLS
Age 35 Occupation Managing Director / Founder, X Digital Agency Income $85,000 Lives in Windsor, VIC with his partner Marie and their one-year-old son, Chris
TIME DO
THINK
Day 1, Week 1
Day 4, Week 1
Define Analyse what the company values company currently & culture offers employees
”What do we stand for?
Scenario
It’s the start of the new year and Seth intends on expanding X Digital to take on the workload of new clients. Up until this point, the company had never advertised for roles. Now as they’re about to compete for talent, Seth realises he needs to look into his employee value proposition, and consider the kind of benefits X Digital offers in order to attract the best candidates.
Day 1, Week 2
Day 2, Week 3
Day 1, Week 4
Engage with employees (survey, interviews)
Analyse results
Research what competitors are doing
Identify roles that Identify desired EVP need to be filled for these roles
“Damn, how are they affording that?!”
“Exactly who do we need?”
“Okay, so there are “I really hope ”Right, there’s some team lunches, flexi they like working good but definitely hours…” here” room for improvement.”
Day 4, Week 4
Day 1, Week 5
Day 2, Week 8
Day 5, Week 10
Day 2, Week 12
Engages with providers
Compare costs vs. budget
Re-evaluate
“Urgh. I’ll park “What would we want “Where do I start? “Man, everything this for now and to offer to these Who’s good? So is so freaking come back to it guys?” many choices!” expensive.” next week.”
FEEL
TOUCH POINTS
Online Survey In-Person
Excel
Websites
Excel
In-Person Websites
Phone Email
PAIN POINTS
Time-consuming task
Overwhelmed with information
Not knowing what Overwhelmed and they may truly want or lost for direction value
FEATURES / OPPORTUNITY
Automate the process with Q&A features
Provide best practice guidelines
Show SMB owners Provide the Offer flexible Provide ready-towhat people in certain capability to scale billing options to go packages roles want based on budgets encourage trial
Excel
Trying to meet budget
Unsure if making the right decision
MAIN NEEDS & QUICK WINS
Easy, no-frills suite of perks that are ready to go and/or personalised based on the company’s wants and needs.
The ability to scale up or down based on budget and preferences.
1
2
Provide flexibility in billing options (fortnightly/ monthly) to suit finance needs; reduce worry of committing longterm.
3
THE IDEA
PocketPerks
“A mobile platform for SMB owners to easily access, build and review benefit packages tailored to suit their needs and their staff’s lifestyles.”
THE COMPETITION
Services
What does it offer?
Interface is build for…
Employment Hero
WorkLife NAB
SmartSpending
PerkSmart
HRIS
Digital wallet
Digital wallet
???
Payroll Employee info Leave Perks & Benefits
Gift cards Discounted services Discounts on NAB products
Instant vouchers Cash backs
Vouchers Discounted services (SMBs)
Employer Employee
Employee
Employee
Employer
MVP ANALYSIS HIGH VALUE BESPOKE READY-TO-GO PACKAGES
ROLE-BASED PREFERENCE RESULTS / ANALYTICS ONCE THERE IS UPTAKE
SEARCH / FILTER FUNCTIONS
BUILD-YOUROWN CAPABILITY
INTERACTIVE CALCULATOR PERSONALISED DASHBOARD
FLEXIBLE BILLING OPTIONS
DIFFICULT
EASY
BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES
SHOW PRO/ CON P/PERKS
QUICK LOGINS (IE. LINKEDIN)
INCLUDE WEBSITE P/PERK (MORE INFO)
PAYMENT DETAILS AFTER SELECTING PERKS
SHOWCASE PERKS THAT OTHER COMPANIES ARE OFFERING
LOW VALUE
MVP ANALYSIS HIGH VALUE BESPOKE READY-TO-GO PACKAGES
ROLE-BASED PREFERENCE RESULTS / ANALYTICS ONCE THERE IS UPTAKE
SEARCH / FILTER FUNCTIONS
PERSONALISED DASHBOARD
BUILD-YOUROWN CAPABILITY
FLEXIBLE BILLING OPTIONS
DIFFICULT
EASY
BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES
QUICK LOGINS (IE. LINKEDIN)
INCLUDE WEBSITE P/PERK (MORE INFO)
PAYMENT DETAILS AFTER SELECTING PERKS
LOW VALUE
Search: Detail
USER FLOW Register via LinkedIn
List of Results
Add to Favourites
Search Checkout Perks
Categories
Bespoke Packages
Detailed Page
Permission pop-up
Key in Payment Details
Confirmation Page
Add more
New User Favourites
List of Favourite Perks Checkout
Register via email
Fill in details
Home
Dashboard
Login
Company Dashboard
Key in Payment Details
Confirmation Page
Review Uptake
Create
Send Survey
Analyse
Results
Surveys Existing User Community
Employees
Employee Profile
Reward
Employee List
Account Settings
Notifications
Passcode Settings Help Feedback Log Out
Exit App
Employee Profile
Confirm
SKETCHING AND RAPID PROTOTYPING
SKETCHING
WIREFRAMING
THE PROTOTYPE
Preview on InVision: https://invis.io/D9G6KT5EK8T
USABILITY TESTING Insights
Ideas
Improvements
Couldn't find where the perk listings were saved
Don't hide them under 'Search'; bring them forward on screen; on its own page
Didn't realise the Packages were ready-to-go packages (and that they were different to perk listings)
Create a filtering system using buttons: build your own vs. ready-to-go
Search button was only used if they know what they're looking for
Keep it but don‘t have it as gateway to perks listings
Testers had a similar view / opinion on what 'Community' Offer tips on creating EVP, forums for SMBs menu button offered (sharing of info, forums, definitely not to connect, FAQs where employees are kept)
Onboarding process could break down more steps to show direction
Instead of showing users the environment, give users directions and explain the value prop of using PocketPerks
Categories (Community v Cause) confused users
Use more user-friendly terms
Users weren't sure where Employee Info was kept/located
Keep it under Dashboard or Setting
Favourites list = needed?
Remove from menu but keep functionality in Build-Your-Own
Login page = confusing; no clear flow of how to sign up vs. login
Maintain clear flow for login
USER FLOW 2.0
Checkout Perk Details Build Your Own
Listings
Add to Saved List
View Saved List Register via LinkedIn
Perks
Permission pop-up Onboarding
Login
Create account
Bespoke Packages
Fill in details
Detailed Page
Key in Payment Details
Review Package Email Login
Home
Dashboard
Company Dashboard
Edit Employee List
Analyse Uptake
Discussions
Community
Resources
FAQ’s
Account Settings
Notifications
Settings
Passcode Feedback Log Out
Exit App
Save List
Confirmation Page
WIREFRAMING 2.0
INTERACTIVE FLOW 2.0
THE PROTOTYPE (2.0)
Preview on InVision: https://invis.io/D8GIL01EUN4
THE FUTURE FINE-TUNING THE MVP •
Opportunity to explore further: • Free trials • Role-based filters/preferences • Reward functionality • Add pros/cons to each perk listed
EXPAND: PRODUCT / INTERFACE •
• • •
Flesh out the survey services: • Offer ready-made survey templates • Map out process flow for survey sends & collections • Combine survey analysis with perks recommendations Explore the need/want of an interactive calculator that dynamically responds to advanced filters Create interface and user flow for employees Develop for web
BRING IN THE BUSINESS TEAM • Work out the business model (as budget is clearly high on the consideration list to SMB owners)
KEEP TESTING • Conduct usability testing amongst target users – SMB owners • Continue testing to improve user flow and user experience
DEBRIEF: REFLECTIONS ON THE LAST 2.5 MONTHS
DOUBT
DESIGN RESEARCH REMINDED ME OF WHAT I ENJOYED MOST WHEN I WAS AT UNIVERSITY
GOING THROUGH THE LEARNING PROCESS IN A TEAM OF ONE WAS CHALLENGING
WHY = UNDERSTANDING
UI KITS ARE COOL (& FREAKING OVERWHELMING) BUT OWN THE BASICS FIRST
“I’M ALL SOCIALISED OUT”: USABILITY TESTING WAS A LOT MORE ENJOYABLE THAN I EXPECTED
MAJOR RESPECT FOR UI / GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
January 2018
WHY NOT = BREAKTHROUGHS
I’M STILL WORKING OUT HOW TO APPLY HUMAN-CENTRED DESIGN IN MY EVERYDAY LIFE
CAN’T HELP BUT SEE UX PROBLEMS EVERYWHERE (& WANTING TO WORK ON THEM!)
March 2018 NOW KNOWING WHAT’S INVOLVED IN UX RESEARCH, WE CAN BE MORE STRATEGIC WITH QUESTIONS & APPROACH IN FUTURE
LEARN MORE: 1. HEURISTIC EVALUATION 2. HOW TO DRAW USER FLOWS (W/O USING POWERPOINT)
SKETCHING: DON’T STRESS ABOUT BEING PERFECT – OTHERWISE YOU’LL NEVER GET STARTED
Thank you. Berlin Liew berlin.liew@gmail.com 0433693649 linkedin.com/in/berlinliew