Designing for Flow: A More Intuitive Slingshot
Time
Sep.-Dec. 2024
4 months
Project type
Team project- 4 members
Role
User experience researcher
User experience designer
User interface designer
Tool
Figma
Skills
Wireframe
Prototype
Competitor analysis
Collaboration
Presentation
Brief
Slingshot is a task management app equipped with a data-driven, AI-powered business intelligence engine designed to help users make smarter decisions faster.
Our team will conduct UX research to evaluate the overall user experience of Slingshot for Infragistics.
Additionally, we will explore three other task management apps to gain insights and provide actionable feedback for enhancing Slingshot.
The challenge
What are project evaluation criteria?
Initially, our team had no idea how to evaluate an app's quality objectively. After a thorough discussion, we decided to use heuristic evaluation as a framework to assess the application's usability. This evaluation method is helpful for low-cost and short-time research
The outcome
Ensured a consistent experience across web and mobile for easier use
Enabled one-click subtask creation and real-time comment notifications, streamlining task management
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Users can check the new comments and add subtasks in a second.
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Simplify and reorganize the information on the sidebar to increase readability.
Improved readability by adding clear titles to each table, facilitating quicker information retrieval
Before
After
Designed clear CTA buttons
Designed prominent CTA buttons to guide users intuitively through key actions
Before
After
Support landscape mode on mobile
Introduced landscape mode support on mobile devices, offering users greater flexibility in viewing and interaction
Business insight 💰
The redesigned interface improved clarity, navigation, and visual hierarchy, making task flows easier to follow and reducing cognitive load. Users described the new experience as “cleaner,” “more intuitive,” and “easier to use.”
These improvements help boost task completion and ease onboarding, both key for a productivity platform like Slingshot. By reducing friction and simplifying interactions, the redesign enhances satisfaction, increases retention, and lowers support needs.
Motivation
Today’s users frequently switch between devices—checking tasks on mobile while commuting, then using the desktop for more detailed editing and collaboration. This behavior makes cross-platform consistency and fluidity a key UX concern. Infragistics wants to increase user satisfaction across different devices.
Problem statement
What's the experience between the web and mobile versions?
Project approach
Created 10+ use cases and applied them to four apps
We evaluated the product based on 10+ key user scenarios like login, task creation, and tracking.
Created a set of evaluation criteria
We used heuristic evaluation to assess and compare the mobile and web experiences.
Ceated a report with findings and recommendations
Our team proposed over 10 suggestions, with more than five capturing the interest of the design team.
Timeline
Competitor analysis
What did we find?
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The mobile and web versions' design style and information hierarchy should be consistent to enhance the user experience.
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The mobile version focuses on quick browsing and task execution. In contrast, the web version can perform more complex tasks.
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The mobile version supports both portrait and landscape modes to increase flexibility.
Portrait mode
Landscape mode
Problems
01
The title is far from the task.
(Users took three times more time than other products to read information.)
02
Creating sub-tasks and making comments are not intuitive. Users need to take one more step to finish the action.
03
Two sidebars on the same page make it too complex for the users to understand the hierarchy.
04
The mobile version doesn't support landscape mode, limiting users to having the same experience as the web version.
05
The information hierarchy and CTA buttons are not clear. It is hard for users to find where to start.
Ideations
I focused on redesigning the table on the web and the task details page on mobile to ensure users have the same experience on both versions.
01
Restructure the information architecture by combining two sidebars to clarify the information.
02
Design the title for each table to increase the readability.
03
Design the add subtask button before the task to make the process more intuitive.
04
Create a comments button so users can find the latest messages immediately.
01
Design a landscape mode on the mobile so that users can have the same experience with the web.
02
Design the clear CTA buttons.
Feedback
Our team proposed 10+ design ideations and over 50% of my design gained positive feedback from our mentor and Infragistics leader.
4
Positive Feedbacks
7
My Ideations
10+
Team Proposals
Next steps
How consistent should the mobile and web functions be?
At the end of the projects, our team reached a consensus that mobile and web versions should have a consistent interface design and information hierarchy. However, the functions can be different depending on the devices.
So, in the next steps, we need to define the features of both versions and what functions are suitable for web or mobile.
What I learned...
First, I want to thank my teammates for working together on this wonderful project. Through this experience, I learned how to collaborate effectively and communicate my ideas with the team. It has boosted my confidence and made me more open to taking on challenges.
Next, I learned how to create clear and engaging presentations. The weekly presentation meetings taught me how to structure proposals effectively. I’m also grateful to our mentor for their continuous support and invaluable feedback.
Lastly, I want to thank myself for dedicating 8-10 hours each week to this project. It has truly been a rewarding experience.
