Manner

RESEARCH

Confirming that an app solution will add value to the problem space.

I began my research by identifying my assumptions going into the project. While my background working with Japanese business partners gave me the first-hand experience to guide my research questions, it was also essential to ensure that my past experience did not create biases in my process.

I hypothesized that workers want to have an easy-to-access source about business etiquette. Thus, my research began with looking at existing business etiquette resources for non-native workers. I was quick to confirm that there is a wealth of content on the topic in short-form articles and videos, but no comprehensive English resources for business manners.

This brought me to question whether a solution was necessary as the market I had identified was clearly untapped. Was I assuming an irrelevant need? Diving deeper into some market statistics validated the existence of a disconnect between how Japan is perceived as a work destination versus the actual working conditions for expats.

The stats above are a clear indicator that the existing work conditions for expats in Japan come with significant barriers.

Workers site cultural expectations as a reason for conducting online research on business manners.

In search of further insights into how non-native workers learn about business etiquette. I turned to 1-on-1 interviews with five people with experience interfacing with Japanese partners for work.

My interviewees were selected based on a provisional persona I created using findings from my market research. I developed two provisional personas for the product: the more casual business traveler, and the language proficient worker who is new to business culture. I chose to proceed with interviewing the language proficient workers as I expected their learning needs to be more complex, and as a result, also covering the needs of the more casual business person.

After conducting my interviews, I used an empathy map to synthesize my observations. Through this process, I was able to identify key insights and user needs.

Based on my findings, it was clear that proper etiquette is an essential facet of conducting business with Japanese people. There is also a need for information about specific situations and personal circumstances. And while users find these pieces of information to be essential, they are often left to research on their own due to cultural expectations of maintaining the flow of business.

Utilizing results from my interviews and market research, I created a persona who served as a proxy to the end-user.

BRAINSTORMING & PRODUCT ROADMAP

Brainstorming and defining an MVP that aligns with user needs.

In order to ask the right questions for how the product might best serve the user, I turned to how might we questions based on the user needs I unveiled in my interview findings.

Guided by my HMW questions, I brainstormed using the mind mapping technique to generate as many solutions as possible. 

TASK FLOW

Establishing a clear flow to necessary information — from onboarding, situation walkthroughs, and the index.

My project roadmap defined the features I would build for my MVP product. Based on the priority features I decided to build out task flows for; the sign-up and onboarding process, finding information from the situations on the dashboard and finding information using the index.

LOW AND MID FIDELITY WIREFRAME SKETCHES

Modular cards for multiple entry points to overlapping information.

I experimented with multiple iterations of the index and onboarding questionnaire with quick sketches on paper. The sketches below are for the screens that would change according to my task flows. Since I knew parts of the articles featured under both situations and index terms would overlap, I created expanding sections to nest detailed information.

After identifying the low fidelity designs that best served my user’s needs I moved on to design my screens in mid-fidelity to use for testing. The intension behind this choice was to focus on usability without the variables of visual design. In creating an app from scratch, I wanted to keep myself comfortable with the prospect of changes to the design.

USABILITY TESTS

Testing revealed users experienced difficulty accessing the index section.

Using Zoom, I conducted seven moderated remote usability tests to see if users were able to use the new features as intended. For these tests, each user was asked to complete tasks using a prototype made up of my mid-fidelity screens. The tasks were designed to follow the task flows I had created; walking through the onboarding process, finding information on a situation page, and finding information using the index.

Users had no trouble working through the onboarding process and finding information via the situations section of the dashboard. However, all seven of my participants struggled with the task of finding information using the index. The reason for this was that the many topics covered in the dashboard section had participants assuming that all the solutions they needed were available on the main dashboard page.

BRANDING

Simple branding that feels professional, but also positions Manner as a user-friendly app.

As for the brand logo, I made a nod to the Japanese “beginner’s mark” and an open book. In Japan, a downward pointing arrowhead symbol is used to signify beginner status, most commonly used in driving.

The simple color palette featuring a bright highlighter yellow was inspired by a traditional reference book that is well-loved and annotated.

Building off of the core function of the Manner app — an easily accessible reference for Japanese business etiquette — I looked to simple branding that was professional and positioned Manner as a user-friendly app.

HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

After finalizing my brand direction, I applied color, typography, and imagery to my mid-fidelity designs.

Creating a sense of visual hierarchy was a challenge with my simple color selections. Since yellow is not a color that is legible when used alone for text. This situation inspired me to revisit my core brand ethos of providing clear reference material. After some rumination, I came to the idea of adding "highlights" to the section headers. Working through this process made it very clear to me how important it is to have central pillars to each aspect of product design