Helping transform businesses with rapid prototyping
With a Design Sprint, we helped 5Y validate a new product idea that would help companies improve how they respond to ever changing times of uncertainty.
Understanding the problem
Describing themselves as being the "Strava for Business", 5Y need to find the balance between helping companies track their own individual performance, while still being able to benchmark themselves against their competitors.
Not only did we want to help users monitor their company's metrics, but the key disruptor was to ultimately encourage people to act on that data and make the right changes at the right time so that they could keep up, or even get ahead in their market.
Despite knowing how they would collect the various datasets and information for a company, the team at 5Y were unsure of exactly how that would fit into an app. That's where we came in, to not only help them visualise the product, but also help them validate their idea with real users to give them the confidence to move forward.
Thinking about where the value lies
We needed to offer a consistent experience for all users, while still making sure the content we were displaying was tailored to each individual company. With many organisations measuring their performance in different ways, we knew we'd have to understand more about the types of data and analytics they'd want to see.
Another core feature that 5Y were keen to test, was the ability to integrate related news and personalised content alongside the data. The thinking was that we could provide companies with the relevant context to the data shown, and create a better sense of understanding and transparency behind things such as suggestions or performance dips.
Turning ideas into a prototype
During the Design Sprint, we sat down with the 5Y team and listened to their Expert Talk where they explained everything about the product and the problem they were trying to solve. By downloading all of this information, we were able to start sketching out a series of potential solutions that would later form the foundations of the prototype.
Once we'd put pen to paper and voted on our favourite ideas, we were now in a position where we had a clear area of focus to start mapping out the user journey. Of course, we still didn't know exactly how people would respond to the solutions or if the value was really there.
There were also multiple layers to the product, so making sure it was clear how those all worked together was key. These sections were a home feed, a dashboard, a resource collection and a business health score. We decided that separate pages with a tab navigation would allow users to consume each part individually while still feeling like the entire experience was connected.
Testing our assumptions
After identifying which areas of the product to test, we built a clickable prototype and sat down 1:1 with a handful of people that fit the ideal user profile of 5Y. We asked them about their job role and company, and then shared the prototype so that we could walk them through each section.
We set up the prototype as a mobile app, focusing on four key areas: Home, Dashboard, Learning, and Health. Each of these sections were explored with testing participants, and users gave us their thoughts and honest feedback on the different sections.
Afterwards we asked them for their general impressions, such as what they liked, what they didn't like, as well as anything they felt we'd missed or would be a potential game-changer for them (Good or bad).
Gaining valuable insights
Overall, users were particularly impressed by the look and feel of the app, and our assumptions about the value in being able track performance and make adjustments were proved correct. Another big win was the breakdown of various elements of the product, especially the resource collection which we titled "Learning".
Not only did people want to see the data behind their company, but multiple participants stated that having reports written specifically for each industry and business was a big win, and would help bring insight to their teams as well as their own sales processes.
We also received a lot of positive feedback in regards to the flow of the app and the information we were presenting. People navigated the app with ease, and information such as the health score provided huge value adds that users felt moved 5Y away from the typical Business Intelligence products.
There were some concerns around where the data was coming from though, which also proved to be one of the more difficult challenges we faced as well. Because most of the initial data collection and onboarding happened outside of the app, we knew that the early setup stage of the experience would be one of, if not the most important aspects of the product.
Putting together a strategy
Largely, each concept resonated well. Every person who used the prototype remarked at the look and feel of the app, stating that the data was well presented and displayed in an engaging way.
Users could also see that this product had the potential to drive change in a business, and multiple participants commented that concepts such as the Learning and Health features would help them see "if we're winning or losing".
After just five days, we could already see that we had a solid foundation for the final product. The core value was in the tailored data which wasn't present, but the way we'd organised and displayed the different sections of information meant the concept was well received and excited most of our testing participants.
5Y were also very pleased with what was produced in such a short time, given the amount of information we needed to untangle. As part of our Product Strategy Pack, we provided them with the full prototype, and also set up a custom database to let them override parts of the design and tailor the content to whichever client they were pitching the product to at the time.
Overall, the Design Sprint went really well, and we look forward to working with 5Y in the future to help take their product to the next level.
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Helping transform businesses with rapid prototyping
With a Design Sprint, we helped 5Y validate a new product idea that would help companies improve how they respond to ever changing times of uncertainty.
Understanding the problem
Describing themselves as being the "Strava for Business", 5Y need to find the balance between helping companies track their own individual performance, while still being able to benchmark themselves against their competitors.
Not only did we want to help users monitor their company's metrics, but the key disruptor was to ultimately encourage people to act on that data and make the right changes at the right time so that they could keep up, or even get ahead in their market.
Despite knowing how they would collect the various datasets and information for a company, the team at 5Y were unsure of exactly how that would fit into an app. That's where we came in, to not only help them visualise the product, but also help them validate their idea with real users to give them the confidence to move forward.
Thinking about where the value lies
We needed to offer a consistent experience for all users, while still making sure the content we were displaying was tailored to each individual company. With many organisations measuring their performance in different ways, we knew we'd have to understand more about the types of data and analytics they'd want to see.
Another core feature that 5Y were keen to test, was the ability to integrate related news and personalised content alongside the data. The thinking was that we could provide companies with the relevant context to the data shown, and create a better sense of understanding and transparency behind things such as suggestions or performance dips.
Turning ideas into a prototype
During the Design Sprint, we sat down with the 5Y team and listened to their Expert Talk where they explained everything about the product and the problem they were trying to solve. By downloading all of this information, we were able to start sketching out a series of potential solutions that would later form the foundations of the prototype.
Once we'd put pen to paper and voted on our favourite ideas, we were now in a position where we had a clear area of focus to start mapping out the user journey. Of course, we still didn't know exactly how people would respond to the solutions or if the value was really there.
There were also multiple layers to the product, so making sure it was clear how those all worked together was key. These sections were a home feed, a dashboard, a resource collection and a business health score. We decided that separate pages with a tab navigation would allow users to consume each part individually while still feeling like the entire experience was connected.
Testing our assumptions
After identifying which areas of the product to test, we built a clickable prototype and sat down 1:1 with a handful of people that fit the ideal user profile of 5Y. We asked them about their job role and company, and then shared the prototype so that we could walk them through each section.
We set up the prototype as a mobile app, focusing on four key areas: Home, Dashboard, Learning, and Health. Each of these sections were explored with testing participants, and users gave us their thoughts and honest feedback on the different sections.
Afterwards we asked them for their general impressions, such as what they liked, what they didn't like, as well as anything they felt we'd missed or would be a potential game-changer for them (Good or bad).
Gaining valuable insights
Overall, users were particularly impressed by the look and feel of the app, and our assumptions about the value in being able track performance and make adjustments were proved correct. Another big win was the breakdown of various elements of the product, especially the resource collection which we titled "Learning".
Not only did people want to see the data behind their company, but multiple participants stated that having reports written specifically for each industry and business was a big win, and would help bring insight to their teams as well as their own sales processes.
We also received a lot of positive feedback in regards to the flow of the app and the information we were presenting. People navigated the app with ease, and information such as the health score provided huge value adds that users felt moved 5Y away from the typical Business Intelligence products.
There were some concerns around where the data was coming from though, which also proved to be one of the more difficult challenges we faced as well. Because most of the initial data collection and onboarding happened outside of the app, we knew that the early setup stage of the experience would be one of, if not the most important aspects of the product.
Putting together a strategy
Largely, each concept resonated well. Every person who used the prototype remarked at the look and feel of the app, stating that the data was well presented and displayed in an engaging way.
Users could also see that this product had the potential to drive change in a business, and multiple participants commented that concepts such as the Learning and Health features would help them see "if we're winning or losing".
After just five days, we could already see that we had a solid foundation for the final product. The core value was in the tailored data which wasn't present, but the way we'd organised and displayed the different sections of information meant the concept was well received and excited most of our testing participants.
5Y were also very pleased with what was produced in such a short time, given the amount of information we needed to untangle. As part of our Product Strategy Pack, we provided them with the full prototype, and also set up a custom database to let them override parts of the design and tailor the content to whichever client they were pitching the product to at the time.
Overall, the Design Sprint went really well, and we look forward to working with 5Y in the future to help take their product to the next level.
