BentoPath
Our client asked us to create an all-in one Product Management tool that would allow for an agile workflow between departments and teams. Our main goal in creating this experience was to make it easier and more convenient for PMs to align their teams and departments with roadmaps, releases, and managing their backlog, all while working within an agile framework.
Objective
To design and develop a customizable Product Management tool from scratch for teams working in an agile framework.
My Role
Research
User Profile
Prototyping
Visual Design
Tools
Figma
Sketch
Photoshop
Miro
Team
Jayden T.
Eric H.
Miles K.
The Challenge
The role of a Product Manager is vital. Responsible for a multitude of products, departments, and overall business success, Product Managers rely heavily on Product Management software to stay organized in the workplace.
Communication in SaaS product teams is currently divided in a silo-like system. Information travels up and over to the next team, instead of being evenly distributed across all teams. This dramatically slows down the product release cycle and creates confusion amongst team members.
With different departments’ workflows being sectioned off, Product Managers have a hard time quickly accessing a high level overview of each project’s status.
How might we enhance communication, planning, and task delegation in Product Management software?
The Solution
Enter BentoPath, a brand new Product Management tool designed with Agile teams in mind. BentoPath allows Product Managers to communicate and collaborate effectively across teams and departments.
BentoPath is the all-in-one tool to support and assist Product Managers and teams with their day-to-day tasks.
Key Features
Team members and PMs are able to stay organized with this high-level view of due dates and timelines, should they want to plan projects and releases for specific dates.
Now, Next, and Future columns are better suited to teams using agile frameworks and methodologies than the traditional Kanban board.
Customizable goals allow teams and individuals alike to stay aligned with success metrics, organized by either by business quarters or date.
The Team Plan shows a high-level overview of projects and their timelines, while at the same time highlighting specific features within their set release date.
Research
Qualitative Interviews
I lead my team through the interview process, focusing on improving the Product Management experience in complex SaaS environments.
I spoke with 6 different Product Managers and Heads of Product, ranging in ages 28 to 50. The most vital information I gleaned regarded the coordination of design, dev, and sales/marketing teams on a daily basis.
Insights
How might we create an agile-friendly software that supports the needs of a Product Manager in one single tool?
Comparative Market Analysis
My team and I conducted a comparative market analysis to determine the current market landscape for product management software. This feature inventory analysis allowed us to inform our opportunity areas moving forward.
User Persona
After synthesizing our insights, we created a persona to serve as a cumulative representation of our users needs, goals, thoughts, feelings, pain points and behaviors.
Journey Map
After creating our user persona, I developed a journey map to help visualize the process a PM might go through when trying to accomplish a goal. This step allowed us to target our user’s pain points, as well as map their thoughts and feelings along the way.
Sketching
Wireframes
Wireflow
Rapid Prototype Usability Testing Insights
Hi-fi Prototype Usability Testing Insights
My team and I conducted 2 rounds of Usability Testing in order to target any further opportunity areas, as well as pinpoint any current issues or roadblocks for users.
During our second round, we found that users were easily able to complete the provided scenario with no issues. The inclusion of color in our Hi-fi prototype increased usability and eliminated the confusion we experienced in our first round of usability testing.
Custom Branding and UI
Our client allowed us the creative freedom to take the branding and UI of BentoPath in any direction we chose. My team, along with our client, shared the vision of a fun, enjoyable experience for our user.
I created a mood board with bright colors, pulling from the Japanese Bento Box for inspiration. I had the privilege of working alongside an extremely talented illustrator and teammate, who created these custom sushi icons for our final product to go along with the Bento theme. Each icon can be customized to indicate the priority or status of a card or task.
In order to push myself in UX Research, I took a step back on the visual design portion of this project. While I found that this benefitted my research skills, I still wanted to see where I could take BentoPath visually. After completing this project, I continued with a redesign of certain UI elements that I thought could be a little bit cleaner and easier to use.
Takeaways
Challenges
Motivations
Next Steps
I originally took a step back on the visual design portion of this project, so as to push myself in UX Research and user interviews. While I absolutely loved taking the charge with user interviews and testing, I found it quite challenging not to be able to spearhead the course of the UI for this project.
Working on the sidelines throughout the visual design of BentoPath allowed me to understand how important my ability to articulate design thinking and decisions to my team members is. Through clear and effective communication, my team and I were able to come to a solid consensus on the design direction for BentoPath, without any member feeling as though they did not contribute or have a say.
I was extremely motivated throughout this project to dig deeper with research. I was curious to understand the role of a Product Manager, seeing as there are countless ins and outs to keep track of on a daily basis. It was important to me that I had a breadth of knowledge about Product Management and agile frameworks coming into user interviews. In order to fully comprehend the work cycle in lean and agile environments, I listened to several podcasts both before and after this project. I found the User Defenders show, episode 73 “The Unstoppable Designer” to have the greatest impact on my comprehension of modern agile teams.
I want to conduct further research to better understand how BentoPath could be improved for both PMs as well as teams. Our primary user throughout this 3 week sprint was Product Managers, but I’m inclined to think that PM tools —like BentoPath —are just as important for executives and team members to stay up-to-date with products, releases, and goals for the company or business.
I believe that additional Market Research would provide me with a firmer grasp of what other PM tools on the market do well, and not so well.
