Through the using of secondary research methods, we first researched the needs and goals of the roles in the project. In this step, we created three personas that included detailed information about each of them, team dynamics, interest in the project, how they get information, their role in decision-making, needs, goals, and challenges they might face. Then created user journey map for each of them to understand the clear flow of using the tool. In addition, we also studied other existing solutions in the same field, drew inspiration from these successful cases, and noted what we wanted to avoid. This helped us lay the foundation for the subsequent tool design, while ensuring that it effectively meets the actual needs of managers, designers, and researchers.
The primary research methods we used are interview with professional and making physical prototypes. The prototype helped us determine the needs of each persona and provided intuitive usage processes and feedback for both designers and users. Based on the suggestions given by users after testing, we iterated the product's functions to ensure that the final product effectively met user needs.
We interviewed experienced professionals in the industry and showed them our initial prototype. We got a lot of relevant information and feedback on project improvements from their answers. Our questions mainly focused on how visual design teams usually collaborate on projects, what tools or methods can effectively enhance collaboration between designers, process planning and construction in projects, the importance of each person in the team, and common problems that arise during magazine design projects. We also discussed a lot of details in detail through the classification of these questions. In summary, this professional told us that in a design project, collaboration and leadership are very important, each role needs to have a clear division of work, and the team needs to have a common goal to work towards. In order to avoid disagreements or misunderstandings of the information conveyed to each other, a transparent workspace may be able to reduce the waste of time for the project and facilitate communication of project changes and adjustments.
The ‘Multi-User Journey Map’ is a powerful tool in the design process. It helps designers uncover pain points while building user-centric empathy, focusing on what needs to be solved. And journey mapping can uncover hidden opportunities for innovation or efficiency improvements that may not be obvious initially. Our journey map helped our team better understand the three different roles, understand the uniqueness, needs, and pain points of each role, which created a solid foundation for design innovation. At the same time, it validated the idea and established clear goals for us, which helped improve the efficiency of subsequent cooperation.
