Nock Nock

NockNock is an app for neighbours to rent - or rent out - designated areas of their homes by the hour. From home offices to garage gyms, gourmet kitchens to backyard pools, NockNock lists local spaces for anyone who wants to have fun or get things done.

My Role

I was part of the product and engineering team and was responsible for the strategy and design of the web and iOS apps. I took the lead in the UX and UI work. Additionally, I was a creative and art director responsible for realising the vision and setting the design quality bar.

The challenge

Build it from the ground up

To introduce the world to a new concept, so users understand and trust our product.

In 6 months, we aimed to launch two MVPs- a mobile and a web app. 

The Approach

Exploration & Empathy

First, I needed to understand who our users were going to be. Whom are we targeting? Without pre-existing insights, I partnered with our researcher, Penny, to reach out to potential users who are already experienced in interacting with similar products.

We interviewed 10 participants to explore how potential hosts and guests would interact with our product and how they would benefit from it. I also wanted to understand why they would use our platform, their motivation behind using our product, and what are the cases when they reach out to use the platform.

I also needed to understand users’ current pain points when interacting with competitors’ products. 

Along with interviewing the users, we also ran a competitive analysis of products similar to ours in some aspects. This allowed us to pinpoint our product in the market spectrum, show similarities and differences, and where we can shine.

The Vision

Bringing it to life

After answering the questions outlined above, I was ready to create a UX strategy and implement the right processes to launch the product MVP in time.

I created personas and user journey maps along with information architecture diagrams and interactive prototypes, which could be evaluated and implemented by the engineering team.

The launch

Welcome to the Space Age

The initial launch was a success. Users understood, loved, and were excited about the product and the opportunities it brought them, but some issues still needed addressing. Optimising the product's usability and increasing the conversion rates were our primary objectives after the launch. 

Testing

Making it Better

We reached out to our customer success team for valuable insights. I observed and analysed users’ behaviour. Additionally, I synthesised the quantitative data and translated it into insights we could act upon. I also ran a heuristic evaluation of the MVP. 

The above processes ensured a spike in conversion rates and eliminated all the usability issues users faced. 

Lessons

What I have learned

Hard mode

Leading an international, fully remote team in a demanding startup environment is challenging. We were all playing the game in ‘hard’ mode. We could only achieve specific goals with the right attitude, where empathy and communication were keys to moving forward at the right pace.

Outcomes over outputs

Our team fell into the trap of focusing on outputs. We spent too much time discussing features and deliverables. Changing our mindset, where we worked towards purposeful outcomes, would have led to better results, where user problems are solved, and needs are addressed.

Consistency from the get-go.

Due to time constraints, not all designs have been fully translated into code. I have not strictly enforced a proper design specs implementation when evaluating, which led to many discrepancies along the way, wasting the team’s valuable time to fix them. I have learned to be more strict when considering engineers’ work and not allow any inconsistencies to be approved.

User Experience Design
User Research
Managerial Leadership
Operational Leadership
Strategic Leadership

www.nocknock.co

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