Project overview
DESIGN A BOOKKEEPING APP FOR A BAKERY IN YOUR HOMETOWN
The problem: Users who manage two businesses lack time to do their own books and also sole proprietors who do their own books feel they need guidance of some sorts.
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The goal: Goal is to create an app that allows users to hire professionals or experts to work on their books.
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The product: "Bookkeeper" is a bookkeeping app designed for sole proprietors with limited time to hire professional bookkeeping services. The app offers a user-friendly interface, enabling proprietors to manage their books themselves, despite their time constraints.
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Project duration: May 2022 to July 2022
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My role: Ux designer designing an app for bookkeeping
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Responsibilities: Conducting interviews, wireframing(paper and digital, prototyping(low and high fidelity), conducting usability studies and iterating on design
Understanding the user
USER RESEARCH SUMMARY
Through user interviews and empathy mapping, I identified sole proprietors as our primary end-users, gaining valuable insights into their needs and pain points to inform our solution design.
Sole proprietors currently handle bookkeeping internally and desire an app for easier management. Yet, they admit struggling with complexities, indicating a need for a reliable, intuitive solution to ensure accuracy and efficiency
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PAIN POINTS
Time: Time-strapped sole proprietors, juggling multiple business ventures, struggle to dedicate sufficient time to manage their own finances, highlighting a need for an efficient, automated bookkeeping solution.
Accessibility: Assistive technologies are rare in other apps
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Problem statement:
Rodney is a computer engineer who owns a bakery
who needs to hire a professional
because his time is limited.
User journey map:
Mapping Rodney’s journey map, that is so much work and resources for a sole proprietor thus revealing the need of a bookkeeping app that has option to hire professionals
Starting the design
Paper wireframes
Iterations made it possible to choose features that can address user pain points
Digital wireframes
User research facilitated designs. Users priority was to get a professional to work on the books hence these design
The first thing a user sees is "experts" and that is easy to spot
The FAB button allows users to enter new records and that would be an option for users who wish to do their own books, difficult to miss
Low-fidelity prototype
The low-fidelity prototype connected the primary user flow of a bookkeeping app for a bakery in my hometown
Usability study: findings
After two rounds of usability studies, findings from initial studies guided designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used high fidelity prototype which revealed which aspects needed design
Round 1 findings
1.Participants have issues with the FAB button
2.Participants stressed the need for an app name that clearly communicates its purpose and value proposition
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Round 2 findings
1.Label for sales , purchases and cash
Refining the design
Before usability study
After usability study
Mockups
Initial designs allowed users to see recents beneath a floating action button, but after usability studies, I revised the interface and put it independently on the button navigation bar for easy access
Accessibility considerations
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1.Navigation made simple with the help of Icons
2.Alt text or Alternative text helps screen readers to read out features
3.Use of images help give summarized information
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Going forward
Takeaways
Impact:
This app makes users happy because of the hire feature which makes them feel assured that their books would be handled by experts. Furthermore , users who do it themselves find it really simple to use
What I learned:
Designing the bookkeeping app made me realise that initial assumptions are irrelevant or better yet biases should not thrive because I never thought a bookkeeping app would have a hiring feature
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1.Further studies has to be done to determine whether user pain points has been addressed.
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2.More usability studies to know new areas of need
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Next steps
Thank you for taking time to review my work. In case you have further questions please contact me
Email: boachiejoel@gmail.com