OVERVIEW
Problem Statement
The Vpledge app faced critical usability issues that severely impacted its adoption and user retention. The overall user experience was so poor that customers resorted to uninstalling the app and placing orders via the company helpline instead. Two major pain points emerged: an unnecessarily complex signup process and an excessively long order placement procedure, both of which frustrated users and hindered their ability to quickly access the app's core functionality. Additionally, the app's interface was described as unfriendly and cheap-looking, further diminishing its appeal and credibility in the eyes of potential users. These issues collectively led to a significant loss of customers and necessitated an urgent redesign to address the app's usability problems and improve its overall user experience.
Solution
Our approach began with conducting thorough usability testing on the existing app version, which provided valuable insights into user pain points and preferences. Armed with this feedback, we prioritized simplifying the signup/login process, significantly reducing friction for new and returning users. We then tackled the order booking process, streamlining it to just 8 key screens, a substantial improvement from the previous version. Key enhancements included introducing user-friendly features such as the ability to add multiple delivery locations, schedule deliveries, and implement weight slab radio buttons instead of input fields for easier selection. Additionally, we rearranged the price estimation feature to provide clearer, more immediate information to users. Throughout the redesign, we paid special attention to improving the overall user interface and usability, ensuring a more professional and appealing UI that aligned with user expectations and enhanced the app's credibility.
Team
3 Designers
2 Front-end Developer
2 Back-end Developer
My Role
UI/UX Design Lead
Researcher
User Testing
Tools
Figma
Adobe After Effects
Trello​
Visual Studio
About Vpledge App
Vpledge is a hyperlocal delivery startup based in Mumbai, India. Initially, Vpledge launched an app developed by a private software company. However, the app faced significant issues upon release, leading to numerous customer complaints and ultimately its removal from the market.
In response to these challenges, Vpledge hired a team to revamp the app's design. My task was to address the existing issues and enhance the overall user experience. This case study will explore the steps taken to identify the problems, the design strategies implemented, and the outcomes of the revamped app.
Our Process
Research
Testing (Old version)
Self Explortaion Competitive Analysis
Survey
User Persona
Ideation
Information Analysis
User Task Flow
Low and Mid Fidelity Wireframes
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Design
High Fidelity Designs
Interactive Prototype
Evaluate
Usability Testing
Findings & Design Iterations
RESEARCH
Testing Results & Observations
Version 1.0 of the app was launched without usability testing and the customer service department received a lot of complaints regarding the app, so we decided to carry out a testing session to understand the pain points of the users.
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Participant 1: Owner of a Small Bakery Business based in Juhu, Mumbai.
Question: You are given 3 orders by a customer to be delivered at 3 different locations. One of the orders is 500 grams heavier than the other two. How will you go about it?
Participant 2: A homemaker who used our service to send lunch boxes to her husband’s office.
Question: Your husband said that he will leave early the next day for the office, so you plan to send him his lunch via Vpledge delivery service, you want to make sure that the order is confirmed and not delayed so you want to book the service in advance. How will you go about it?
Participant 3: A mother gets her son’s weekly assignments delivered to the school.
Question: Your son’s assignments need to be submitted to his school every week, you want them to be picked up from your home and delivered before noon. What will you do to book the delivery service?
After usability testing, we were able to identify the issues with the app and formulate a report to discuss with the stakeholders of the company.
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The onboarding process required additional information for Signup. The users should be able to skip and feed information when it’s comfortable for them.
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The home screen is filled with unlabeled and faded buttons, a cluttered interface that confuses the user and makes them quit the app. The users had a hard time determining what is clickable and what is not.
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In case of multiple deliveries to the same location, the user cannot save the address for later use.
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Drop down feature in the product category generalized the delivery items and limited the freedom to mark items as “delicate” (For example: dry cakes and cakes with frosting)
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There was no way to raise an issue or contact customer service via app.
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Inconsistent design elements.
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The users had a hard time navigating through the user flow and found the order flow to be prolonged. It took 9 screens, 25 fields to be completed, and above 35 clicks for the users to complete the order process.
Competitive Analysis
Survey
We then carried out a survey to gather some more insights for the version 2 of the app.
Survey question:
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How often do you use delivery apps to send your parcels/packages locally?
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How often do you schedule deliveries in your app?
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Does the app help you achieve your goal?
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Do you look for options in pricing and estimate calculation while booking the service?
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What is the one feature that you would like us to improve in our delivery app?
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Which delivery apps have you used in the past 3 months?
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What is the biggest challenge you face when using delivery apps?
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Are you satisfied with the customer support provided by Vpledge?
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Any further thoughts or feedback you’d like to note?
“Overall satisfied, but the lengthy booking process is frustrating.”
- Survey participant
"I like Vpledge, but sometimes switch to other apps due to the long booking process."
- Survey participant
User Persona
I made a realistic-looking depiction of the Vpledge App users. The aforementioned personalities were created based on the survey, which consists of people looking to do everyday errands and small company owners. These identities are taken into consideration during the design process.
Now that we have identified the problem, I needed to address the frustrations of the users.
After the survey and user testing data, it was clear that the existing app had some UX problems. Some of the critical issues that need to be addressed are:
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Lengthy onboarding process, unclear instruction and documentation
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The long and coarse order booking process
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No option to notify “handle with care” to the delivery person.
Possible Solutions
Overall design changes
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Clear navigation
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Streamline onboarding
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Optimize booking process
Features added
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Multiple location feature
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Input text field for product details
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Weight slab categorization using radio buttons
Features added
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Schedule delivery option
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Checkbox input to identify delicate packages
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Order sorting, history, and tracking
IDEATION
Research indicates that because of the poorly built architecture, screens accommodating less than two fields per screen made user frustrated, this also resulted in increase of screens and clicks making the process too long to complete.
To implement the solution, I decided to redesign the architecture and screens accommodating essential features that the users mentioned in the research phase.
Information Architecture
User Task Flow
DESIGN
Here, I was able to solve one of the issues described by the the users. The home screen of the version 1.0 had faded and unfunctional icons. The version 2.0 design fulfilled the purpose of the app i.e. to book a delivery as needed.
Additionally, while working on the design of the app, I also worked on the branding of the app which was long overdue.
EVALUATE
After creating a fully-functional prototype of the new process flows using Figma, I narrowed down 3 customers and approached them to test the prototypes. We did 3 usability testing and 3 more after fixing the identified issues.
The participating customers were given a discount coupon for 20 percent off on the next 10 orders as a reward.
Findings & Design Iterations
Change in current location field
The highlighted field was wished for by the co-founders but soon after user testing we decided it was better to keep the field hanging as it created confusion among the user. After fixing this, it became easier for the users to navigate through the homescreen.
Implementing additional charges after marking the product as delicate.
As per observation during user testing, the users kept on marking the product as delicate to every product for the drivers would take extra care resulting in irregular data at the backend. We then added a fixed additional charge to prevent users from using the feature unless needed.
Adding tabs for segmentation and clear navigation.
Regular users with frequent orders complained that they had to go through all the orders in order to locate the scheduled orders. Adding tabs made it easier to check the future scheduled orders.
Outcomes
I successfully executed the proposed design changes, addressing many of the initial user experience issues. During the process, there were some conflicts with the co-founders, particularly regarding the home screen element where they wanted to display the current location in a non-editable input field. This element was ultimately removed after usability testing revealed that participants found it misleading. The redesigned app was launched after three months of development and saw a positive initial reception, with 1,500 downloads within the first two months. Unfortunately, despite the promising start, the company encountered funding issues shortly after the app's launch, leading to the cessation of operations.
Learnings
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With only six months to get the app up and running, the leadership decided to develop the app while still working on the previous codebase. This simultaneous development led to frequent issues for the software team, who often requested design changes to simplify development. This experience underscored the critical need for thorough planning and effective prioritization of tasks and resources to avoid such conflicts and ensure smoother project execution.
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The slow expansion of the design team meant that I did not receive input from other designers until the last month of development. This delay highlighted the importance of teamwork in creating a good design. Collaborative efforts and diverse perspectives are essential in refining and enhancing the design process, leading to a more user-friendly and effective product.
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The decision to display the current location in a non-editable input field on the home screen, as insisted by the co-founders, was later found to be misleading during usability testing. This feedback led to the removal of the feature, illustrating the importance of validating design decisions through user testing. Real-time feedback from users is crucial in identifying and rectifying issues that may not be apparent during the initial design phase, ultimately leading to a better user experience.
