ABOUT
Mattermost is the leading open source collaboration platform with a thriving community.
This was an exercise I did as a trial for a senior UX position.
UX TRIAL DIRECTIONS
Here is the design workflow I followed while working on the project.
- Perform an audit of the Mattermost mobile applications.
- Create an overview of suggested improvements.
- Select one area of improvement from your list, and design a solution for it.
- Prioritized areas for improvement.
- Create a design outlining the full workflow.
FINDINGS
After browsing the forums and app store reviews, I found some common complaints.
LIST OF SOLUTIONS
These were the solutions that I came up with. For the purpose of this exercise I only needed to choose one.
References
View these in-app screenshots to see examples of the issues needing fixed.
SELECTED PROBLEM
Mattermost does not feature a robust menu system. Channel settings are found within a small dropdown after the channel’s name, while app and profile settings are found in a button inside a channel.
REASONING
Many users’ first impressions of an app begins with a their experience of the main directional page. In Mattermost’s case, as a messaging service, this would refer to the channel selection menu. Because of this, a user is more likely to search for general and profile settings in this area.
In it’s current state, I believe Mattermost does not give it’s users a sense of “home,” and I believe simply reimagining a simple layout could improve the user’s adoption of the software.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
A quick framework was made to focus the later process of design.
SKETCHES
These were a set of thumbnails I drew to give myself an idea of what I would make.
LO-FI MOCKUPS
Low fidelity mockups were created to narrow down the final look of the user experience.
HI-FI MOCKUPS
Here is my solution to Mattermost’s menu issue. While it seems simple, this change would vastly improve the interface for users. This would vastly improve user retention.
CONCLUSION
During this project, I learned much about user flows and intention. I also was happy with the outcome and am confident in its ability to improve the experience of the application.
This Mattermost project was supervised by Andrew Brown.
