A tool to make meetings matter
PRODUCTIVITY PLATFORM
Concepted and designed a SaaS productivity tool to capture project objectives, decisions, learnings and tasks
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH I UX DESIGN I USER TESTING I BRANDING I B2B
BACKGROUND
Originally founded under the name Starling, the company took shape around the Starling Method with a mission to help businesses and organizations change meeting culture, shifting it to be less about obligation, more about outcome. As part of an initial product offering, they wanted to develop a tool where users could create a project charter, establish a work plan with milestones, assign tasks and record learnings that could be applied to future work.
MY ROLE
I joined the growing team early on to brainstorm and sketch initial design ideas for the online productivity tool, working closely with the founder and CEO, head of change management and customer success, and in-house developers. I also helped Meeteor recruit and interview for a UX staff role to continue the design and user research work that I began.
THE CHALLENGE
Meeteor conceived, designed and developed their tool at a time when online project, communication and task management tools like Asana (2008), Trello (2011) and Slack (2014) were gaining momentum, users and popularity. It was becoming a crowded space, and difficult to imagine how Meeteor could compete in this marketplace and/or differentiate itself.
THE APPROACH
From the get go, Meeteor wanted to distinguish its brand and product by focusing on the meeting aspect of a project lifecycle. So we set out to design a tool that would serve as a proof of concept for a method that Meeteor had been unofficially piloting for years at their parent and partner company, DOJO industries. The goal was to build an MVP to beta test with a subset of existing customers, gather feedback and refine before releasing to a larger user group.
TOOL ARCHITECTURE
APP SITEMAP
I began by drafting a sitemap to capture the tool’s key sections, which centered around each project’s main components: Charter, Workplan, Updates, To Dos, Documents and Review.
DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
We needed a landing experience, or Dashboard, so at a glance a return to a returning user could: 1) check project status 2) see upcoming to dos 3) view updates.
DASHBOARD - Iteration 1
The first dashboard exploration I did included a module for each project and exposed the latest update and implication. It also listed the associated to dos. The problem with the design was that it was too busy and there wasn’t a clear sense of where a user should direct their attention..
DASHBOARD - Iteration 2
In the second iteration, I simplified the modules, relying on a summary of the updates and to dos by project without exposing the details. In this version, a user could elect what to do next and drill down into further detail. Overall, this dash was more scannable, but it also lost some of the details that made it useful at a glance
DASHBOARD - Iteration 3
The final exploration retained the simplicity of the modules, but added a To Do list by date across projects so a user could quickly home in on what needed immediate attention.
Next, I designed “New Project” flow where I explored two directions: a step-by-step wizard-like flow and an expanded single page version.
PROJECT VIEW - Step by Step
Lorem ipsum a lot of details to account for—adding updates, X, Y Z. Designed a lot of micro-interactions in an attempt to land on the ones that were simplest and most obvious for the users.
PROJECT VIEW - Single Page View
Lorem ipsum a lot of details to account for—adding updates, X, Y Z. Designed a lot of micro-interactions in an attempt to land on the ones that were simplest and most obvious for the users.
UPDATES:
A critical piece of the tool’s functionality is the Updates section, which is where team members are encouraged to enter Learnings and Implications, with the option to attach relevant documents and link to the project charter.
WORK PLAN
The Work Plan is another core section of each project and is comprised of Milestones and associated to do’s with due dates and relevant team members.
REVIEW
The Review section is to be completed by each team member at the conclusion of each project, capturing things like what worked and didn’t, key learnings and new approaches.
LEARNINGS
Below are a few critical takeaways that emerged from our iterative design and testing process:
* There is no one-size-fits-all productivity tool. While meetings are a common feature of work, project frameworks vary widely.
Any framework must allow flexibility, even at the field level.
* Tool benefits must outweigh their input . Users are unlikely to adopt a tool if it simply adds more work without a clear and ongoing benefit.
Each interaction demanded of the user should be accompanied by an understanding of what the user gains from it.
* There should be different levels of effort for creating and maintaining a project. It’s expected for users to invest time at a project’s kick-off, but ongoing inputs should feel organic and integrated, not burdensome and disruptive.
Preview time estimates for users to ensure them that their time is respected.
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
“Rachel was an invaluable part of designing the Meeteor software. She is a skilled designer, but more importantly, she is a pleasure to work with. She brings deep expertise and a collaborative approach. She worked well with the entire team including our technical developers, organizational psychologist, product manager and myself. I can't recommend her enough!”
Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Founder & CEO, Meeteor
MEETEOR’S EVOLUTION
After three years, Meeteor made the decision to sunset its online tool and direct its users to a comparable platform called Beenote so they could concentrate on the aspects of their business where they could have the most impact—guest speaking, writing, coaching, online courses, employee training workshops, and their book: Momentum: Creating Effective, Engaging and Enjoyable Meeting. Meeteor’s mission remains on collaboration and productivity, especially as manifested through in-person and virtual meetings—learn more about them at Meeteor.com.