Bringing the UX competence to the startup Returbo, was a fun and challenging experience. With the responsibility of both creative design and strategic design decisions, I needed to be able to prioritize features for the MVP without too much tradeoff on the aimed user-friendly experience. However, I am very proud of being a part of setting the user flow, designing the UI and initiating the design system for the product that will be launching later this year!
This design was done together with Anna Jarebro in 2021.
Joining a startup
When Anna (shoutout to my partner in crime for this project!) and I joined Returbo, the team consisted of Julia (founder) and Fredrik (developer). We were both eager to get some more industry experience before graduating and Returbo was in need of setting the design and getting a prototype to validate their product with users. Joining the fast-paced world of a startup felt exciting, but also a bit scary since we both dribbled with our master's studies at the same time. None of us had worked in a startup before, but happily and with an of-course-we-can-do-this attitude we accepted the challenge.
During the project our main challenges were:
Quickly understanding Returbos needs and product vision
Time management and prioritising functions for the MVP
Manage a larger design project
Getting started
Our first step was to understand both Returbo's needs in terms of UX design, their product vision as well as understanding users and the context of return management. The Returbo team had already made several user interviews that we could take part of and with a tight deadline, we needed to prioritize and spend time on design and user testing a prototype.
To make use of the user knowledge, we started each phase by aligning the user flow both between ourselves but also with the rest of the team. Below you can see an example of this using Fig-jam.
Our way of working
Further creating as well as iterating the Returbo UI for all different states and interactions was done collaboratively by Anna and me. Due to this being a part-time gig, we seldom had the opportunity to actually work at the same time. To aid our collaboration we initiated our own co-working system based on clearly commenting thoughts, ideas, and challenges. This way made it easy to start where the other person left off, and most often any challenges encountered just needed a fresh set of eyes.
Prototype, test and iterate
Designing a product from scratch was a great experience in terms of understanding and prioritizing between nice-to-have and must-have functionalities based on their user value and the development effort needed. Our design aimed to create something good enough for Returbo to launch and start growing their customer base and therefore, our focus was to ensure proper functionalities and flows as well as good usability. A key activity in this project was gathering feedback through user interviews and usability tests. We developed prototypes for testing both the main return management functionality as well as the onboarding. The insights were used to iterate further on the product design.
Returbo - Launching soon.
The finished MVP was further tested by Returbo during the summer and will be launching soon.
Accomplishments
Designed the UI for the main return management functions
Designed and ensured proper settings functionality
Created an onboarding as well as a concept for demoing the product
Initiated a design system that could be used and further developed by future UX designers
