SnapBack

SnapBack wanted to launch a Friends and Family pilot to validate its target user, prove product-market-fit, and fix its confusing UX. The MVP mobile app required an FAQ and constant, hands-on support from the co-founders to use.

PLATFORM:

iOS

TIMEFRAME:

3 months, part time

MY ROLE:

UI/UX Designer

Researcher

Systems Designer

Product Manager

Design Ops Manager

AI TOOLS USED:

The Research:

To quickly build context, I interviewed pilot users, internal stakeholders, and industry experts, including the founder of a now-defunct competitor. I also evaluated the MVP UX and benchmarked it against competitors, mobile-first logistics apps, and e-commerce apps.

This I synthesized into a UX Research Report at the end of my first month with a prioritized roadmap of key changes to improve the user experience.

Good design wouldn't guarantee SnapBack's success, but without it, users wouldn't even get the value prop. My shared design goal with the co-founders became: "Make it usable without support".

" I only knew to start the return with Old Navy because Alexis emailed me the Welcome doc, and I read through all the FAQs. "

-Katelynn, pilot tester

The Approach:

Once we were aligned on goals, I validated ideas for prioritized user flows with a card sorting exercise and user testing with high-fidelity prototypes.

The most common question from users was when to process the return with the retailer (for example: Target). I created an in-app experience to prompt users to start the return but remember to come back to SnapBack.

Scheduling the pickup was also very confusing, so I streamlined the pickup flow with clearer functionality for scheduling and selecting pickup and drop-off locations.

Users didn't understand what "SnapBacks" were in the previous design that broke out Orders, SnapBacks, and My Pickups. Through careful discussion with the founders and terminology testing with users, I decided to consolidate SnapBack and My Pickups into Returns for faster wayfinding in the app.

The Implementation:

Initially, I presented after 2 weeks a full-app redesign - and overwhelmed engineering. Our eng lead didn't know where to start.

To fix that, I:

broke the design into 10+ user stories
wrote PRDs to complement the Figma prototypes
set up a new Linear process for tracking and accountability
QA'd every feature to ensure it matched the user's needs.

The Outcome:

Despite delays in engineering turnover, all design documents were ready for handoff within 3 months. After another 3 months of onboarding, building, and settling of tech debt, the redesigned mobile app is live in the app store!