For your 1st tattoo. Or your 10th. Trust your INKstinct.
A tattoo app I created for my UX Design course at CareerFoundry
Role:
UX Designer
Timeline:
March - July 2020
Tools Used:
Adobe XD, Balsamiq, Optimal Sort, Usability Hub
Research Methods:
Competitive analysis, surveys, user interviews, user personas, mental models, user journeys, user flows, content auditing, card sorting, heuristic evaluation, rapid prototyping, usability testing & task analysis, A/B testing, preference testing
The Brief:
Getting a tattoo is an incredibly personal experience and an incredibly big decision. The industry itself is massive — people spend over $1.65 billion annually on tattoos in the United States alone. Getting “inked” is a popular thing to do as 36% of 18–25 year olds and 40% of 26–40 year olds in the U.S. have at least one tattoo. Considering the size of the tattoo industry, there’s relatively little focus on this target audience from a design and technology standpoint. Create a responsive web app (mobile-first approach) that would address the complexity and emotional element of finding the right design and tattoo artist while ensuring a better solution for our target audience through research, analysis, and best practices in UX design.
*All statistics are for the United States and can be found here: Tattoo Statistics
Research & Analysis
Research Goals:
Learn users’ behaviors, needs and goals for their tattoo journey
Identify the key challenges in the tattoo journey
Identify what users are currently using to search for and save tattoo inspiration/designs
Identify features for the app that would benefit the users
Research Methods:
Survey - 27 responses
22 users have tattoos
5 users do not have a tattoo but want at least one in the future
3 User Interviews
All 3 users have more than 1 tattoo
Key Insights:
No one has ever used a tattoo app
Entire tattoo process is deeply personal; most inspiration and ideas come from a personal place, even the impulsive tattoos
Money is the hardest part of a tattoo but not a deciding factor in getting one
Instagram is very popular to search and save tattoo content
Artists and their books are very important and one big desired tattoo app feature should include artist information and location
Ability to work closely with the artist on design within the app is desirable
Interest in augmented reality feature but it must deliver – be able to realistically show design and color on various skin tones
Tattoo app needs to essentially be a tattoo social media app
The Problem:
Tattoo enthusiasts need a way to confidently search for and save their inspirations for tattoo ideas and artists in a central, social environment because the current process is overwhelming and inconvenient, which can result into abandoning tattoo ideas and/or having post-tattoo regrets.
The Possible Solution:
This app should include:
Advanced Search Option
Personalized Tattoo Boards
Tattoo Artists and Shop Highlights
Connect with Tattoo Artist(s)
Image Source Here
User Personas:
Based on the research and analysis, 2 primary personas emerged.
Nia the Novice
Caleb the Collector
User Flows & Initial Wireframes:
Nia and Caleb have never used a tattoo app before so it is important for them to be engaged throughout onboarding so they look forward to immersing themselves within the app. The two biggest app features they need would be to not only search tattoos and tattoo artists, but to save them to a tattoo board as well as easily communicate with the artists. Using the scenario that they both want a fine-line tattoo, the 3 main user flows are:
Onboarding
Search and save tattoos to tattoo board
Search and message tattoo artist
Prototyping & Usability Testing:
An initial prototype was created using Adobe XD. A test plan and test script were written. Using the prototype, 6 moderate remote usability tests were conducted using the Zoom platform. Each session lasted an average of 23 minutes over the course of two days. The goal of this testing was to assess the learnability for new users interacting with INKstinct’s mobile app for the first time. I also wanted to observe and measure if users understand the app and how successful they were in completing the following three key functions with ease:
Search for tattoo inspiration
Save inspiration to a newly created personalized tattoo board
Search and message tattoo artists
The testing also aimed to discover any potential opportunities to develop these functions based on user feedback and overall satisfaction.
The Results:
Usability testing analysis included a rainbow spreadsheet, affinity mapping and a test report. Using Jakob Nielsen’s severity rating scale of usability problems, 5 key issues were highlighted to be prioritized with the next iteration of the app.
Overall, there was a lot of positive feedback for the tasks and the app as a whole. All the participants have not used a tattoo app before and by the end of the testing sessions, 5 out of 6 participants stated they would use this app if it was real. 4 out of 6 participants also stated that the app was simple, easy to use and intuitive.
The majority of the issues outlined were to improve overall user experience – less clicking, enable faster ways to get desired information and increase learnability in the app.
IteratIVE Design:
Iterations were based on:
Card Sorting
Usability Testing
Preference Testing
Gestalt Psychology
Design Collaboration
Accessibility
Continuous Mentor Feedback
Final Prototype - try it Out!
“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance, and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”