Ideate
I gathered the product team together and based on my research we were able to brainstorm possible solutions using XMind. When we were done, we used scoring to rate which solution we thought best solved the user pain points.
Gurock TestRail
SaaS Application Refresh
Project Details
The Product
Gurock TestRail is a widely used and popular quality assurance tool used by QA Managers, QA Testers, developers and DevOps. TestRail has a desktop, a Cloud and a Jira plugin version. Users pay a monthly subscription to use the application.The Problem
TestRail had been acquired in 2016 by the Gurock brothers. They created the application as a tool for themselves. However, the UI was not designed for consumers. The product Team determined the UI needed a major refresh and usability improvements. However, they didn't know where to start and we didn't have the budget to implement a complete overhaul.The Solution
To keep the cost down, we decided to focus on fixing the
top five identified critical user issues.
Specifically we needed to improve navigation, users ability to
create reusable test cases or test steps, users can create
generic variables when coding test scripts, users can view
test session history and users can undo/redo for all tasks.
In addition to the user improvements, we needed to update the
branding, the user interface styling and create a dark theme
for users who either test in the low light settings or have
vision accessibility. The UI Refresh was pushed to a future release.
How I Reached My Solution
The Plan
Empathize
In order to fully understand the user pain points with TestRail,
I obtained support customer complaints and product manager
assumptions. Then I conduct observational study on several
existing and new users.
Analyze
I gathered all my data and organized them based on a user's
typical task flow and emotions while performing each task.
I was able to create a user journey map outlining a user's
behavior, functionality and key tasks.
Define
Working with the product team, we were able to identify user
pain points during a customer journey while using TestRail.
We organized the pain points into two criteria's: level of priority
and time for development.
The Design Process
Prototype
Then I created high fidelity prototype using Sketch and InVision so we can review the new styling and redesigned UI features. I presented it to the team. We went back and forth a couple of times as I revised the prototype until we were satisfied with it.
Test
I created a test script and set benchmarks based on task completion using my observations as a base point. Tested the prototype with several groups of 5 users. Each round I made revisions.
Results
Shorter Test Creation Time
Users were able to create tests 67% faster.
Shorter Modification Time
Users were able to modify tests 42% faster.
Successful Viewing History
93% were successful at viewing test history.