The document provides details on the initial design of an app called "Unstuck.Me" that allows coding experts to provide live help to people stuck on coding problems. After user feedback and market analysis, it was determined that the revenue potential was low. The document then outlines a pivot to a new app called "Design Crutch" where designers and PMs can get paid feedback on their work from other designers. Personas are provided for target users of Eugene, a UX designer, and Pedro, a product manager. A competitive analysis shows how Design Crutch differs from sites like 99Designs and Upwork by allowing expert critique instead of full project work. A prototype of the Dribbble design is evaluated against us

1. Design Crutch
Peer to peer design help

2. Agenda
● Initial idea
○ Problem
○ Persona
○ Research
○ Initial Design
● PIVOT
○ Problem Statement
○ Competitive evaluation
○ Personas (Post Pivot)
○ Low Fidelity Proto
○ User Feedback
● High Fidelity Proto

3. Problem
● Learning how to code is different than learning almost anything else
● The best way to learn is to start coding
● But people get stuck and need live help from an experienced coder
● At the same time thousands of experienced coders all over the world are willing
to help for a small price

4. Carrie the career
changer
Female 27
BS / English major from
Berkeley
Works for a non-profit
Started her first coding class
Quote
“I am tired of the non-profit life, I want to change careers and love technology. I am gonna learn how to code”
Motivated by:
Getting a job as a software developer and entering a new career
Pain points:
● Getting stuck on a coding problem e.g. code doesn't compile and can’t figure out why
● Doing things the wrong way and knowing it e.g. I know there is an easier way to do this but I
don’t know what it is
Scenario:
It is 6PM, Carrie just had a long day at work. She now needs to work on her coding project for her GA
course. She starts on it but after 30 min realizes she is stuck on the same problem. She has to wait until
tomorrow to get help from TAs but assignment is due soon. She logs into Unstuck.Me app and finds an
expert immdeiately and gets help.
Persona - Carrie the Career Changer

5. Cody the experienced
coder
Male 27
BS in CS
Works for a startup, codes for
fun
Has about 5 years of coding
experience in Python
Quote
“ What are the APIs to access the SMS data on a Android?”
Motivated by:
● Learning new technologies
● Advancing in his home project
Pain points:
● Not being able to understand a new technology quickly
Scenario:
It is 6PM, Cody is working on a new mobile app idea with a buddy. He needs to access the SMS log
on a device. Cody is a Python master but doesn’t really know mobile at all so he is stuck. He needs
to get help from someone who understands Android. He logs into Unstuck.Me app and finds an
expert immdeiately and gets help.
Persona - Cody the Coder

6. Flow Diagram

7. Paper Prototype ( 1 / 2)
Home screen Filtering / searching Results page
Users need the marketing info Too many filters for users. Think about shortening
this screen.
Good feedback here, it maybe a bit too busy

8. Paper Prototype (2 / 2)
Profile screen Connection screen
Good feedback Good feedback

9. Clickable Prototype

10. Top learnings from qualitative research (value)
● The feedback was about 50/50
● Most people have been stuck and need help
● Many have Googled and solved the problem relatively easy
● Many have friends, cousins, coworkers etc. that can help
● In general it is difficult to gauge the user’s willingness to use the product since they are not in the
moment when they are stuck and need help

11. Top learnings from qualitative research (UX)
● Needs more explanation / selling on the first screen; the user doesn’t understand what the app does
● Users asked for number of reviews in addition to the star ratings
● Some users loved the % repeat customers
● Large number of Americans don’t recognize country flags - sad :(

12. The Bottom Line
● We were not convinced of the revenue potential of the app
● Consumers prefer to get free help from friends, family, co-workers the app
would be last resort

13. CAPTAIN WE MUST PIVOT !!!!!

14. Post Pivot Agenda
● Problem Statement
● Opportunity Analysis
● Competitive Evaluation
● Personas (Post Pivot)
● User Feedback
● High Fidelity Prototype

15. Problem statement
● Designers and PM are deeply involved with their product and thus very biased
● Great designs happen with an independent outside feedback from experienced
designers
Design Crutch is a place where designers and PMs can help each other with their designs
and earn some cash on the side

16. Opportunity Assessment
What is the problem (value prop) ● Previous slide
Who is the target market ● Designers at small to medium companies
● PMs a small to medium sized companies
Market size ● All up market for designers $54B
● We estimate our market to be ~10% or $5B+
Competition - current , potential ● Upwork, Behance, Dribble, 99designs
GTM ● Community outreach
Why now (market window) ● Competitors may build features that make us obsolete
Supplier power / Buyer power ● No major risks
Other risks (legal etc.) ● No major risks

17. Eugene the UX designer
Male 27
BS in Industrial Engineering
Head of design at a Startup
Has about 5 years of UX
experience
Quotes:
“ Two brains are better than one” , “Great ideas can come from anywhere”
Motivated by:
● Creating an absolutely amazingly stunning design for the company he works for
● Keeping his team “in-check” , making sure the stuff his team designs is top notch
Pain points:
● Not enough resources to create an absolutely amazingly stunning design
Scenario:Eugene is an amazingly talented designer. However, he knows that the best designs come as
a result of collaboration with other great designers not by a designer locking himself in a room and
coming up with great ideas. Furthermore, Eugene knows that designers often fall in love with their
design and are not being critical enough. That is why Eugene wants to connect with outside designers
who have no attachment to a product and can give expert unbiased advice on the design.
Personas - Eugene the UX designer

18. Pedro Morales the
Product Manager
Male 37
BS in CS and MBA
Works for a late stage
startup
Quotes: “ Arghhh not again, designers will not listen but if my metrics don’t improve its my BUTT not theirs !!!”
“ My product is my baby it must have the best design ever, I want to be the Airbnb of UX for my industry”
Motivated by:
● Creating the best product
● Career advancement
Pain points:
● Convincing designers to go a certain route
● Not having design experience yet being responsible for the designs to be great
Scenario: Pedro is under a lot of pressure to create products with great design. He has good relationship
with his designers but still wants a second opinion from an expert unbased eye once in awhile. In addition,
Pedro is sometimes frustrated since his designers are so attached to their design that will not listen to
constructive criticism. He would love to get an expert that can backup or disprove his design hunches.
Personas - Pedro the Product Manager

19. Competitive Evaluation
What is it How we differ
99designs Marketplace for small/medium design jobs. Mostly
low end designers doing it almost entirely for the
money.
● High end designers
● Designers critique each other’s designs
they do not work projects
Upwork Similar to above but covers more verticals -
development, SEO, security etc.
● Same as above
Dribble Portfolio site where higher end designers display
their work, meet other designers, and get work.
● Designers critique each other’s designs
they do not work projects
Behance Very similar to the above ● Same as above

20. Competitive UX evaluation - Heuristics
Heuristic Explanation
Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate
feedback within reasonable time.
Consistence and standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the
same thing. Follow platform conventions.
Error prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from
occurring in the first place.
Recognition rather than recall Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user
should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another.
Flexibility and efficiency of
use
Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert
user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow
users to tailor frequent actions.
Aesthetic and minimalist
design
Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information
and diminishes their relative visibility.

21. Competitive UX Evaluation -
Dribble

22. Dribble
Good clean design with the right amount of info and
great use of white space. The design uses familiar
concepts from FB, Pinterest, Instagram making it easier
for the user to navigate.
1. Clean easy navigation, that covers the 80% use
case and has “more” for the 20% use case
2. Tapping on a card gives more info - great way to
expose more info without adding clutter
3. Great use of smaller icons to convey info without
adding clutter
4. Infinite scroll adds to “efficiency” and “minimalist
design”
5. Nice use of search for easy navigation.
a. However, there is no “advanced search”
i.e. the user can not search for “ivan” the
designer not “Ivan” the design icon.
b. Search is gone as the user scrolls down
(infinite scroll) that really hurts “efficiency”

23. Continuing with clean design with the right amount of
info and great use of white space.
1. Using modals helps with “efficiency” as a user can
complete a quick task and get back to where
he/she was before
2. The user cannot leave a comment here. That is
bad UX! The app should inform the user why he
cannot leave a comment
3. There isn’t consistency between navigation on 3
and 4. Navigation on 4 sends the user to items on
Roman’s portfolio whereas 3 sends the user to
items on the whole network.

24. When clicking on “buckets” on previous screen I get to this
screen. This modal inside a modal navigation could be
confusing for some users. Some UX designers claim that
modals should be very simple and the user should be “and
an out” of them vs. going into deeper experience inside a
modal.

25. 1. The copy is confusing as there is no way to
filter the designer list unless you pay. Users
may not see the search/sort under the
Go-Pro and may be stuck.
2. Search is confusing to the user as now the
user has a search on the nav bar and
another search under the Go-Pro title.

26. Grades
Heuristic Grade
Visibility of system status A
Consistency and standards B+
Error prevention A
Recognition rather than recall A
Flexibility and efficiency of use B+
Aesthetic and minimalist design A

27. Top learnings from qualitative research (value)
Feedback Action
● Generally positive feedback with most designers and PMs
quickly seeing the value
N/A
● Few designers believe that they do not need feedback since
design is an art. But those are a minority, most designers know
that constructive criticism helps create amazing designs.
N/A
● The area where users saw the least amount of value is the
“Design QA” , many users did not get the concept.
Brainstorming ideas how to
better explain this part of the
product OR whether we should
remove it

28. Card Sort
● We asked 3 users to complete a card
sort via OptimalSort.com
● The results varied but they were all
close to the screenshot here

29. Design Iterations

30. USER FEEDBACK
We had a search “landing
page” where users would pick
the type of designer.
It is very text heavy page that
did not add much value. We
instead lande the user on
search results and allowed
them to filter the results.
OLD NEW

31. USER FEEDBACK
The old search results cards would flip when you tap on the designers name. When flipped they showed the ratings of the
designer. This confused the user since you could flip the card but also tap into to it to get the full profile. We decided to keep it
simple i.e when you tap on Anastasia you go to her full profile card.
Flip

32. USER FEEDBACK
The older cards confused the user as he/she thought the screenshot of the example app were part of our app. The
newer cards used more spacing and full screen images of the example apps so that the user knows that those images
are work samples not part of our app.
OLD NEW

33. High Fidelity Prototype
https://theo949.proto.io/share/?id=3f8a0fa6-6e80-4117-8c0f-8596c8df92a7&v=9
(must use latest version on Chrome or Firefox; Firefox is recommended)

34. Appendix