UXUIOlena

Voice-to-Code Program Development

In a challenging 3-day sprint, I led the development of a voice-to-code program aimed at enhancing coding efficiency through voice recognition technology. This project involved rapid prototyping and iterative testing to ensure functionality and user satisfaction.

Engineering Design Process

Information Architecture

Target audience / Personas

User Centered Design

Team Dynamics and Role

Kickoff Meeting

Location: Assembly building in Norfolk.
Purpose: Introduce team members, discuss the project goal, and outline the plan for the next 2.5 days.

Diverse Team Composition

Team Members:
- Marketer: Focused on understanding market needs and user engagement strategies.
- Programmers: Responsible for the technical implementation and coding.
- UX Designer (Me): Tasked with designing the user interface and ensuring a seamless user experience.

Brainstorming Session

Objective: Understand the target audience and identify pain points.
Activities:
- User Personas: Defined who would benefit most from the app, focusing on intermediate coders and students.
- Pain Points: Identified challenges such as the complexity of coding, time consumption, and the steep learning curve.
- Solution: An Assistance App to streamline coding production, increase efficiency, and enhance profitability.

Idea Validation: We conducted validation with Reddit users in a coding group and discovered that about 30% expressed interest in trying the app, even without knowing all the project details. This encouraging response highlights a strong potential interest in our solution.

User-Centric Design

The experience reinforced the necessity of focusing on the target user's needs and behaviors to create effective and intuitive designs.

Key Findings

Coder Familiarity: Coders were able to quickly locate and use the Compile and Execute buttons due to their familiarity with similar interfaces.
Non-Coder Confusion: Simple usability testing with marketing team members revealed that those unfamiliar with the coding process did not look for the button, because they didn't even know that code must be compiled.

Importance of Target Audience Understanding

This discovery underscored the importance of deeply understanding the target audience and its specific needs. While the interface was intuitive for coders, it was not for non-coders, illustrating how essential it is to tailor design decisions to the primary users of the product.

Presentation

In addition to developing a functional prototype, I gained practical experience in presenting and defending our product in-person to a group of peers, mentors, and potential stakeholders. This involved:

Crafting a Compelling Narrative: Clearly articulating the problem we aimed to solve, our design process, and how our solution addresses the needs of intermediate coders and students.
Engaging the Audience: Responding to questions and feedback, explaining the rationale behind our design choices, and discussing the app's potential impact and profitability.
Defending the Idea: Persuasively arguing for the app’s value proposition, addressing concerns, and showcasing our understanding of the target audience's needs.