Social networking | Academic project
Breakroom is a social connectivity platform that brings remote teams together through fun games and icebreakers.
Timeframe: April to June 2020
Role: Product Design, research
Tools: Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Invision, Marvel, Adobe Photoshop
Approach: Human centered design, Design thinking process
PROBLEM STATEMENT
As companies see a boom in remote working (both related to the current COVID-19 situation and also general trends in the coming years), newly remote workers are struggling to adapt to their new workplace reality.
According to an 18 month qualitative study, data shows that remote workers often view virtuality as ‘a barrier’ to forming friendships with their colleagues. Data suggests new remote workers are twice as likely to feel disengaged from their teams and workplaces than experienced ones. The reduction in collaboration, motivation, profitability and productivity associated with disengagement could cost the economy billions of dollars.
Discover
PROJECT GOALS
Foster a better remote work culture by helping remote employees build better relationships with their coworkers.
Understand remote employee’s perception of work from home
Whether there was a desire to get to know their coworkers better and how socialization has changed in a virtual workplace.
To investigate the reasons, pain-points and attitudes associated with socialising with coworkers.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Using qualitative and quantitative data to gather attitudes and opinions about remote employee’s perception of work from home, whether there is a desire to get to know their coworkers better and how socialisation has changed in a virtual workplace.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Majority of the respondents felt it was important to have fun with their coworkers. Almost 40% of the respondents felt their company does not do anything to help them get to know their coworkers whereas 60% felt their company could do much better.
THEMES
Informal face-to-face conversations and chats at the workplace.
People longed to experience the face to face, informal workplace interactions. Be it grabbing lunch, walking down the hallway together, getting coffee, etc. Those were opportunities for informal conversations that helped ease out relationships with employees and in turn made them feel more confident at work.Scheduling
While managers did want to take time out to build a personal connect with their teams, especially amidst COVID-19 concerns, they often experienced scheduling conflicts when working from home and found it tedious and time consuming to come up with activities.Games & Icebreakers
People enjoyed engaging in quick games that allowed one to shed their inhibitions, break the ice and understand their coworkers personality.
How might we help remote employees socialise with their coworkers virtually in order to feel more engaged at work?
Define
USER PERSONA
Based on the insights from interviewing mental healthcare seekers, we arrived at the following persona as our ideal target user for our product.
EXPERIENCE MAP
Based on the personas and insights from research, I designed an experience map in order to understand Arjun and Lena’s end to end experience at work, the highs and lows they experienced, and areas of opportunity for an intervention.
AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY
Remote office socials.
More personalized 1:1 with team with selection of icebreakers to save time.
USER STORIES
According to Arjun and Lena’s set of goals, a set of user stories were created under 5 epics in order to arrive at the main purpose and function of the product. Taking into account the main value proposition, the following epic (Social) and user stories were used to create the minimum viable product.
TASK FLOW
Assuming the user has successfully logged in and synced contacts from his workplace, this would be the task flow for an employee to create an event to invite teammates to.
Ideate
CONCEPT SKETCHES
The initial sketches focussed on the creation of virtual rooms to bridge the gap between interacting online and in the office. This led to the idea of ‘separate rooms’ for particular activities. Such as a lounge for coffee chats, a gym for online fitness classes, and a boardroom for meetings. However, after peer feedback, it seemed that the value of the app was getting lost and there was a need to simplify and focus on the social aspect.
Usability testing
USER TEST INSIGHTS
Based on Steven Krug’s usability testing script, I carried out ten usability tests in total which included several iterations to arrive at the latest version of the Breakroom. I provided the users with a scenario and 5 tasks to complete, while I recorded their interaction with the prototype. The Usability Testing & Session output plan for Round 1 and Round 2 are available for further details. I derived some key insights on what was working and areas for improvement.
WHAT WAS WORKING
The ability to view events and colleagues in a virtual breakroom was exciting to all users. It gave them a stronger connect with their workplace to know the events taking place.
The ability to create an event with icebreakers to choose from helped ease anxiety and save time with planning an event.
The ability to view one’s free time in a day was motivating users to be proactive in reaching out to other colleagues.
The syncing of the calendar allowed users to be aware of their work commitments.
WHAT NEEDED IMPROVEMENT
Users found it difficult to understand and interpret their free time. The information design for ‘free time’ had to be improved.
The board room was deemed redundant as users did not want to mix work and social.
The icons in the bottom navigation had to be resized and rearranged.
The user interface of the video call screen had to be redesigned to push the priority buttons below to not obstruct users faces.
Visual Design
BRAND IDENTITY
Arjun and Lena have a hectic day at work, and what they need is a break from the monotony of remote working. Breakroom is all about being a collective, connected, fun, social yet professional.
LOGOMARK DEVELOPMENT
The logomark was inspired by the PlayStation remote controller. The two dots could also represent the idea of people and collaboration.
ILLUSTRATION STYLE
For the illustration style, I researched some of the highly voted breakrooms such as at Google. I looked at not just the physical space, but what breakrooms actually mean to employees. As a result, I wanted to make it light, fun, modern and abstract, so it can be open to interpretation and appeal to a larger audience.
Solution
USER PAIN POINTS TO PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY
Face to face interaction > Robust video conferencing
Quick and easy way to schedule games > Integrated icebreakers and games within video call feature
USER PAIN POINTS TO PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY
Work from home brings ambiguity in terms of workmates availability > Concept of a breakroom and the ability to see who is currently playing a game. Takes the pressure of approaching colleagues.
USER PAIN POINTS TO PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY
Should not interfere with workplace productivity > Sync work calendar and include do not disturb
Additional Applications
MULTI-PLATFORM ADAPTATION
I began to consider other platforms that could benefit Breakroom’s users. Considering the remote work environment, it made sense to explore how the app could translate into a web app. The two screens below depict the dashboard where Arjun is notified of his schedule and free time in a day, as well as the group video conference call.
RESPONSIVE WEBSITE
I designed a responsive marketing website with the goal to get customers excited about the product. The site offers users insights into the product features and allows them to sign up for details about the launch.
Future thinking
DESIGN IMPACT
With social distancing in effect, as of today, everyday interactions are shifting to remote form. This brings new challenges both emotionally and physically for remote workers.
I would hope that Breakroom would embody a healthier remote work culture and a space that allows remote workers to feel more connected to the workspace.
I hope it can spark a conversation about how remote workers should not be robbed of certain benefits that come with a breakroom in a physical workplace. Those mini timeouts during the day were essential in building engagement as well as a sense of community.
FUTURE
There could be a possibility of expanding Breakroom for larger organisations and introducing the opportunity for cross collaboration between departments and other organisations creating a collaborative environment and help promote networking.
Furthermore, COVID-19 has spiked mass remote learning. The model for Breakroom could be adapted to cater to the education sector. There could be a potential for “Playground”, a platform that aims to teach kids the process of socialisation through activities.
Learnings
As I was working on this project independently, it was really the value of the user tests and peer feedback that helped guide the evolution of the product.
Embracing ambiguity gave room to lateral thinking and that helped spark creativity.
The art of active listening while distancing my personal thoughts/opinions or judgments, not just during interviews, but user tests as well was essential in shaping a product that meets the need of users.
The crazy 8 concept of ideating actually helps in not being married to the first idea. Having a variety of sketches to choose from adds richness to the body of research and serves as a great base to refer back to when feeling stuck.