APO Cards, business-focused NFC cards.

User Research

Visual Design

Prototype

User Testing & Iterations

Duration: 4 months

Completed: April 2022

Overview

APO Card is a business-focused digital (NFC) business card solution that puts an emphasis on branding without a need for a portal or account registration.

Background

During the pandemic, networking events came to a halt and the general public were less likely to receive or take a printed business card from a stranger in fear of catching COVID. According to the data from MOO and VistaPrint, two business card industry giants, traditional business card sales dropped by 70% during this time. The usage of digital business cards became an uprising trend, and quality digital business card services are provided by several well established digital business card solutions such as OVOU and Wavecnct. In addition to the service they provided, we explored some different ideas to build upon the foundation.
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As the sole designer on this project, I was responsible for product, marketing and design strategy and worked closely with the developer to bring our vision to brand recognition. Here are some achievements from being a part of this journey:

1) Adding exposure to web development. Aside from the typical design process, I took on the role of a front-end developer to develop Webflow prototype to test the interactivity of the product with smartphones.

2) Understanding back-end development. By working closely with a developer, I was able to comprehend the back-end development, which I was not familiar prior to this project.

3) Gained skills related to industry research and analyze. Using SWOT research method to evaluate the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat for the digital business card industry, which gave me a solid foundation to have a precise perspective.

Discovery

Existing digital business cards company put less emphasis on the brand recognition, which it is a very important aspect of traditional business cards. Their services only offer content customization but limited layout adjustments, which restricts the brand awareness due to inability to alter design to match branding design language.

To understand how the existing digital business cards perform, we conducted user tests with working professionals to gather some insights.

After testing cards from different suppliers with some working professionals, there were expected and unexpected results:

1) The existing business card portals look unprofessional. The testers felt that the portal's branding was very dominant. It gave a sense that testers work for the business card supplier. In addition, the lack of customization made it difficult to distinguish among testers who use the same portal, even though they work under different companies.

2) The need to download a file seems to raise privacy concerns. Some of the cards that were tested required users to download a file to their smartphone in order to access phone number and other forms of contact. This raised concerns that they would install malware onto their smartphones when downloading the files.

3) Majority of these people would like a digital business card instead of printed business cards. About 70% the people who were not aware of digital business cards would like to transition to a digital networking process due to convenience and environmental friendly.

4) Do not want to sign up for more accounts. About 80% the testers hesitate to manage additional account, while it was the mandatory requirement for the existing digital business card service.

Defining the Issue

Problem Statement:
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Businesses and working professionals have concerns about how people perceive existing digital business cards and the inability to showcase their company's branding.

Objectives and Approach

By reviewing the insights I gathered through user tests, I decided to look for solutions to the follow:

1) Showcase branding. To tackle this objective, we provided services to the businesses that require their own custom design.
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2) Eliminate the need of a portal. The product will not require users to sign up an account, instead, still require each user to fill in their details into a database. This fulfills the request of unwillingness to manage another account.

3) Alleviate privacy concerns. While we still require a vCard file (VCF) to be utilized in order to transfer contact information, we ensured that there was no prompt to save file to the device. We established several objectives to specify our direction for this project.

Prototype, Test, and Iterate

User tests were conducted at different stages of the project to ensure that our design met user needs. Once feedback was gathered, iterations were made to the designs for the next round of tests.

Version 1

This layout was designed for active social media users. With a dominant social media bar on the layout, it allows users to have concentrated access to multiple social media platforms at once.

Version 2

Based on Version 1, we discovered that the add button needed to be more prominent, and the social media bar's side scrolling interaction was unclear. As a result, we enlarged the add button, and made the social media menu slide out instead.

Version 3

The sliding menu for social media in Version 2 was tested and received positive feedback. However, the design was aesthetically unpleasing, therefore, the "add" button was repositioned and resized in this version to maintain interaction hierarchy.

Final Design

The final design of the UI is reminiscent of the Version 3 prototype. You can use your smartphone and check it out here.

Takeaway

Here are some takeaways:

1) Proficiency with Webflow. Developing a functional Webflow prototype of the digital business card experience enabled my front-end development skillset and enhanced my knowledge to a more advanced level.

2) Brainstorming with developer. Conducted multiple productive brainstorming sessions with the developer, and assisted in helping developer feel more comfortable in sharing their thoughts and ideas.

3) Sales and marketing skills. Other than the design portion of the project, I was also involved with creating the presentation deck to present the product, where I've learned to accurately and confidently present product to users, and how to build and maintain long term relationships with potential clients.

Work

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