Product Designer - UX Designer - UX Researcher
Nov 2022 - May 2023 (7 months - part-time)
Et. al. is a startup project aiming to connect researchers from various fields and places.
Based on their own experiences, the founders of the project made the assumption that researchers feel isolated and don’t have the tools to find relevant connections. They wanted some help to shape their idea of a fun matching tool for researchers and ideas. This tool was meant to ease researchers into meeting new peers and engage conversation.
The founders had a rough idea of what they wanted.
However they didn’t know what to do next, or how.
My mission was to:
I started this project by conducting some extensive research in order to clearly define the problem and the users, as well as the market opportunities for Et. al.
Techniques: quantitative surveys, user interviews, competitive analysis
Verify the initial assumption
To check whether we were looking in the right direction or needed to reframe the problem.
Research the competition
Learn what identified competitors do well, poorly or just don’t do and where Et. al. could fit in the market.
Research the target users
What do they need, what motivates or pains them...? Learn where the value lies for them to design a desirable product.
80%+ researchers collaborate with peers at least several times a week
They contact peers mostly during working hours (88%) or at least during the week
They mostly care about the peer’s current field of study when collaborating
Research findings
Research allowed to replace personal beliefs on researchers’ behaviours by facts to build a stronger product and make decisions backed by evidence. The product vision shifted a little:
With strong data to build upon, I created a set of tools to help start the ideation process.
Personas and use cases to stay user-focused.
Brainstorming workshops to organise our divergent thoughts on possible solutions to our users’ problems.
Et. al. solutions
The form:
Key features:
For the product's architecture, I first drafted user flows for each key feature, then the map of the product. I tested this architecture with target users through a card sort to have a strong base to work on wireframes.
Through the research and ideation sessions carried out during this project, we defined what a valuable and desirable tool for researchers to connect with their peers would look like. Et. al. is now able to make data-driven decisions to build a strong, useful product that will find its place on the market.
I highly recommend Laure as a top-notch UX designer for your team. As a member of our sciencepreneur team for more than six months now, Laure has been a key player in bringing our idea to life. With her exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills, Laure is motivated to deeply understand user needs and deliver designs that strike the perfect balance between usability, accessibility, and aesthetics. She's also an incredible collaborator and team player, bringing a can-do attitude and a willingness to learn and grow. Her ability to present ideas and designs in a clear and compelling way, while being open to feedback and critique, made working with her fun and rewarding. I highly recommend Laure for any UX design position and look forward to continuing to work with her to achieve even greater success. Thank you, Laure, for your incredible dedication to our team!