Communications produces content for a SharePoint based intranet site, so everything exists as a list on the backend. We needed to grab that somehow and pull to a mobile view. There needed to be an API written to accomplish that.
I needed to settle on a type ramp because 95% of the app is text components.
There was an issue with the font from a branding perspective. WestRock's brand uses Slate Pro. It is cost-prohibitive to use on a mobile application because you need licenses, which equals big 💰. This family would later show itself as a significant challenge across all digital properties within the company, including the web due to its design.
The original requirement was only to require the user to select one location for their follow location. Later the conditions would change to include the ability to choose multiple locations.
Needed to define the flow for the user as they onboarded, began consuming information, and accessed their settings.
The employee had to go through a convoluted process, which included a personal device having to abide by WestRock terms of service, which brought a barrier to adoption.
The first meeting was a discovery phase where we learned about the problem space and the stakeholder's end goals and vision. A business requirements doc was written capturing all of the requirements that would answer the need for the MVP. These requirements were pushed up to the main stakeholders and signed off on.
Afterward, I began roughing in the user flow through the app using very simple visuals.
Then, I began wire framing out the linear storyboards (app screens) from the on-boarding process all the way through to the aggregated list view. Then there were flows to check out a couple of detailed articles with sample content.
During conversations with the developer it became clear that I forgot to include a few edge cases. Examples would be various empty states like API disruptions, slow connections, things like this. So, I went back and added these as well.
For the apps early life, we kept the typography pretty plain in terms of the font family to display. We were not sure yet how we were going to implement WestRock Branding. There were technical limitations to what we could do with it coming in from the API during the first pass. Because of this we kept everything Arial for the time being.
In order for us to pull the information from a list we created a tool built on SharePoint called the Connect Mobile Publishing Site that allowed the authors to add their information via a form for the sole purpose of creating the articles that would show up in the app. The tool allowed the user to preview, delete, and publish their articles.
The results were gaged by the Digital Engagement team, who was one of the primary stakeholders for the project. That team researched, ran analytics, and completed the synthesis process. Ultimately it provided the team with a good starting point in identifying a baseline user group. And then, over time, a gauge to measure increases or drop-offs as new, more engaging features are added. This is ongoing.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
zane@zaneparker.com