Refined Core Features for Monetization
This case study details the transformation of an award-winning research prototype into a market-ready product. The focus was on refining existing features to increase user value and align with monetization goals, all while ensuring stakeholder satisfaction and product scalability.
My role
Led cross-functional teams to refine core features, driving profitability through user research, iterative testing, and strategic stakeholder alignment. Spearheaded collaboration between hardware, design, and development teams, ensuring seamless execution and scalability.
Team
Timeline
11 Months
(Including Feature Enhancement, Stakeholder buy-in and Agile Development)
Impact
Error Rates
SUS
final redesign
Project overview
Operational Challenge
Traditional stress test equipment used by doctors, such as treadmills and heavy machinery with numerous wires and leads, presents significant challenges. The bulky physical form factor and complexity of setting up these tests in clinical settings make it difficult for healthcare professionals to perform diagnostics efficiently. Patients are often required to visit a hospital or specialized facility, adding inconvenience and discomfort.
Solution
To address these operational inefficiencies, we developed a cutting-edge hardware prototype seamlessly integrated with software, enabling stress tests to be performed remotely. This solution empowers users to conduct diagnostics from the comfort of their own homes, offering a significant reduction in complexity. It also allows for real-time sharing of test results with medical practitioners, enhancing accessibility without compromising the quality of care.
Timeline
To address these operational inefficiencies, we developed a cutting-edge hardware prototype seamlessly integrated with software, enabling stress tests to be performed remotely. This solution empowers users to conduct diagnostics from the comfort of their own homes, offering a significant reduction in complexity. It also allows for real-time sharing of test results with medical practitioners, enhancing accessibility without compromising the quality of care.
post-incubation beta testing
Team Collaboration
Strategic Ambiguity: The Monetization Challenge
Faced with an ambiguous stakeholder directive to "focus more on monetization," our team was tasked with defining a clear path forward. This required deeper investigation into how our existing features contributed to business goals, prompting us to initiate targeted research and user studies to ensure the product aligned with profitability objectives without sacrificing user value.
Stake Holder Prompt
Focus more on monetization
Seeking clarity, I turned to my mentor, who advised us to conduct thorough research to uncover the real opportunities for monetization within the product. This led to the decision to gather direct feedback from our beta users through surveys and interviews, ensuring that any decisions we made were rooted in user data and aligned with stakeholder goals.
Defining Value for Monetization
Data-Driven Discovery
To align our monetization strategy with user needs, we initiated a comprehensive survey study involving our 150 beta users, with an impressive 112 responses. The survey illuminated a crucial insight: out of the five features implemented, only three were consistently valued by users. This feedback highlighted redundancy and a lack of meaningful utility in the other two features, shifting our focus toward refining and prioritizing the essential functionalities.
Qualitative Analysis
Recognizing the importance of these key features, we delved deeper by conducting seven in-depth user interviews with our beta testers. These interviews allowed us to uncover the intrinsic value drivers that resonated with our users. Rather than simply adding more features, the goal was to refine and enhance the existing ones, aligning them more closely with user workflows and pain points.
Strategic Redirection
The insights gathered from both quantitative and qualitative research informed our strategic pivot. We understood that maximizing user value required not just maintaining but elevating the core features. This meant rethinking the user experience to address real pain points, while also integrating monetization strategies that were unobtrusive yet impactful. Our approach became a delicate balance between enhancing user satisfaction and driving business profitability.
securing stakeholder buy-in
Realigning Feature Prioritization
With our research findings as a foundation, we embarked on a comprehensive overhaul of CHab's information architecture. The objective was to amplify the value of the three core features identified by users while strategically removing underperforming elements that did not enhance the overall experience. This required us to pivot away from certain aspects of the original design, reshaping the product to better align with user needs.
Design as Business Strategy
This shift was far more than a design exercise—it represented a significant business decision. We meticulously prepared a stakeholder pitch, showcasing our data-driven insights and the proposed reconfiguration to domain experts and business stakeholders. The core message was clear: by narrowing our focus to fewer, more impactful features, we could both enhance user experience and open up new avenues for monetization, driving long-term product profitability.
Cross-Functional Alignment
Gaining stakeholder buy-in was a critical milestone in this process. By securing alignment across all teams, we were able to confidently proceed with our strategic redesign, ensuring that every decision was underpinned by both user-centric design principles and business viability. This alignment allowed us to move forward cohesively, with all teams working toward a unified goal.
Agile Methodologies
Why Agile?
Time Constraints
We had only 11 months of incubation.
Resource Limitations
We were limited by our resource contraints
Busy User Base
Our target users, doctors, had limited availability
Iterative Refinement
Throughout a three-week sprint, we concentrated on refining the three core features identified as most valuable. Each iteration was followed by targeted feedback sessions, capturing both praise and areas for enhancement. By embedding a continuous feedback loop into our process, we incrementally improved the product with each version, ensuring that every iteration surpassed the last.
Responsive Adaptation
The Agile framework not only allowed us to maintain progress toward our objectives but also offered the flexibility to swiftly address unexpected challenges. This adaptive process ensured that we could refine our product at a rapid pace, aligning both user needs and business goals within the constraints of our beta testing phase.
feature redesign
Appointment Page
Competitive Benchmarking
Through competitive benchmarking, we gained valuable insights into user preferences by analyzing both direct and indirect competitors. From Square, users appreciated the convenience of the weekly view at the top, which provided a clear overview of upcoming tasks. Practo for Doctors highlighted the importance of displaying available appointment slots, a feature that resonated well with healthcare professionals. Meanwhile, Google Calendar’s block view format proved to be a user-friendly approach, simplifying scheduling by allowing easy visualization of time blocks.
Iterative Redesign
feature redesign
Patient Information
Iterative Redesign
post design
Success Metrics
By systematically addressing core usability challenges, we dramatically reduced user error rates, driving a flawless execution in critical tasks. This refinement allowed healthcare professionals to navigate the platform with unprecedented accuracy, enhancing overall efficiency.
In tandem with these improvements, task completion times were significantly shortened, reinforcing the platform’s ability to integrate seamlessly into a healthcare professional's demanding workflow. The streamlined experience not only improved speed but also supported a smoother user journey, aligning with both operational goals and user expectations.
Furthermore, the uplift in the System Usability Scale (SUS) score indicates a substantial enhancement in user satisfaction. This increase reflects the platform's ability to deliver a more intuitive and user-centered experience, confirming the success of our design strategy in optimizing both functionality and user engagement.
reflections
If I had more time
Given additional time, I would further elevate the interface by refining the intuitiveness of key screens and enhancing the ideation process. This would involve deeper iterations in user-centered design principles to ensure that the experience is as seamless as possible. A more rigorous approach to usability testing would be implemented to identify and rectify any remaining friction points. Furthermore, I would focus on expanding the feedback loop across other screens to ensure a consistently high level of performance throughout the platform.
Key Learnings
Stakeholder Management:
Successfully secured stakeholder buy-in by navigating ambiguous feedback and aligning project goals.
Iterative Design Thinking:
Emphasized continuous iteration, leading to creative solutions and adaptability under pressure.
Agile Decision-Making:
Prioritized high-impact features to make swift decisions within tight time constraints.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
Strengthened interdisciplinary communication to maintain momentum and streamline workflows.
Balancing User Needs with Business Objectives:
Effectively balanced user experience enhancements with monetization goals to ensure strategic alignment.
