Propag8; Pre-Release
An record-keeping and task-management app focused around plant researchers.
Plant researchers use a variety of tools to organize line-generation. The original vision for Propag8 was to provide a better way to keep these records.
User conversations have guided the design of Propag8 from the very beginning. Both the proof-of-concept and the prototype were instrumental in forming a profound understanding of user goals.
Observing how users could use Propag8 in (and outside) the lab gave me deep insights into the workflows used by researchers and the day to day challenges they face.
You can sign up to a waiting list on the project website. I am currently rewriting the app from the ground up for an alpha release later this year.
Evolution of User Conversations
Being the sole developer at Propa8 Ltd. taught me a lot about effetively communicating with users. I have applied most strategies I have learned at Propag8 successfully in customer conversations in my freelance work. For me, there are two main difference when working for clients. Firstly, the scope of the solutions is often more narrow. Secondly, the target users are often knwown from the outset. In contrast, when starting Propag8 I was not neither sure of the scope of the app nor its the target audience.
I started forming a firmer vision for Propag8 while working on the proof-of-concept and talking to researchers at different career stages. Moving to the prototype stage required a dramatic shift in the nature of user conversations.
During the proof-of-concept stage I kept user conversations limited to people theat I personally knew and that were still working in the field. I broadly talked to people about their workflows, but was mainly interested in what context the app would be user in. For example I would give a rough description of how the app might function and ask how it would fit into their workflow. Form these conversations I worked out some additional requirements and missing featuresprototype.
With the beginning of prototype development came a drastic shift in user conversations. As my personal contacts did not include any researchers that fit the target user, I had to widen my audience. After introducing myself at a lab meeting at my old university I started reaching out to mid-level researchers that had attended the meeting. The ensuing user conversations taught me that I had to take a step back from the app, and focus the user conversation at this stage entirely on the workflow and challenges faced by researchers. I have applied the same switch in focus in client conversations in my freelance work and as a result all of the prototypes I have developed matched the user workflow extremely well.
The ensuing user conversations taught me that I had to [...] focus the user conversation at this stage entirely on the workflow and challenges faced by researchers.
At this point the small group mid-level researchers very much acted as domain experts. In preparation for the alpha release I needed to garner interest with a bigger group of researchers that fitted the target user profile. I therefore planned for prototype to be more then just a barebones version of the app. The idea was for it to also have a polished UI for two to three workflows that would demostrate the value to be gained from the app to target users.
Currently I am developing the alpha relase guided by a group of mid-level researchers. When demonstrating the alpha to new user I have found it beneficial to keep user interaction guided around key questions, more akin to user interviews.