Laserfiche Discussions
Project Overview
Laserfiche Discussions began when we saw there was a need for a social community platform where our customers can ask questions and share solutions. This platform gives users the ability to collaborate with the right audience and subscribe to relevant topics. The application also integrates with other Laserfiche products by allowing storage of posts into the Laserfiche repository and providing a platform for discussions regarding a document. It began as a simple Q&A site exclusively for Laserfiche, but over the years, expanded into a product that enhanced the experience of Laserfiche software for our clients.
I worked directly with the Product Owner, Project Manager, Developers, and QA Engineers. I also worked with my core UX team to ensure product consistency and to obtain feedback on various features.
My Role
Lead UI/UX Designer and an initial member of the team focused on site flow and visual interface. Worked alongside product owner, product manager, developers, and QA engineers on direction of the product.
Evaluating new features, researching, designing, and performing usability studies on actual end-users to verify a successful solution and flow.
Implemented wireframes, prototypes, style guides, SVG icons and UI reviews with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and inVision App.
New feature on-boarding
New feature on-boarding screens
Research
Often times, I am informed about a user's need, problem, or a potentially useful feature. Before simply adding a new feature, I research what the best practices are and brainstorm alternative ideas to resolve the issue. I conduct user interviews to discover current pain points of our users and come up with recommendations to eliminate those areas.
Brainstorming
Wireframe + Prototyping
I then build paper/digital prototypes in Adobe Illustrator and InVision to test my designs and reiterate based on the feedback. In this wireframe example, I needed to come up with a solution for avoiding multiples of the same question being posted onto the site from the homepage. After researching, I found some sites came up with the solution of forcing a user to go through a search step before allowing them to post their question. I thought this would not be a friendly experience as it is a diversion and extra step for the user. Instead, I thought having the system automatically run a search for the user within the context of where they are working would be a more convenient experience. This will give the them the power to decide whether or not they'd like to search deeper or continue to work on their post.
Example of wireframe for the groups list page.
User Feedback
When a new feature is implemented, we try to validate our design solutions through internal and external usability studies. I develop a usability study script and run a pilot test with a designer from the UX team. We run the pilot test to ensure that the wording is clear and would not lead to biased answers. As one person is running the script, the other person is noting all the observations of the user's behavior. The UX Team has a user pool of current customers who previously volunteered to take part is user studies, so I schedule a remote meeting with a random user and use GoToWebinar to record their screen and actions while they verbally walk me through their process.
After the user study, we take the feedback and begin to analyze our findings and observations. We then prioritize them and present them to the product team, along with possible improvements. The Scrum Master then adds them into the backlog or sprint.
Visual Design
After establishing all the proper functionality and behavior of the feature, I go into Photoshop and create pixel perfect comps with specs for the developers to implement with guidelines for the style based on the style guide. I am also responsible for the iconography and build them out in SVG so we have a Laserfiche Discussions font library in Fontastic.
UI Review
Once developers are finished with initial implementation and styling, I will go in and review the user interface to ensure all the behavior is correct and to ensure the quality of the style.
