I have taken steps guided by the "Double Diamond" framework to discover the problems of users and how to solve them. Do you want to know the details? Let's find out below!

At the end of the internship, I have successfully completed assigned task by the PO and helped the product achieve improvements in metrics set when I first joined!

Before jumping into finding solutions, I discussed with the PO and CEO to connect business goals with piano leaners' problems. Then to understand the problem context, I used existing data of piano learners to contextualize the potential problems. In this stage, I have:

Since 2021, among other competitors app has been designed for beginner & intermediate piano learners with 0 to 3 years of experience in piano learning. We target self-taught piano learners with YouTube videos, traditional learners who quit, and inspired short-term learners.

I have sat down and discussed with the PO and CEO  to clarify business goals with piano learners' problems. After understanding the context of what we want to achieve, I have suggested the following metrics:

I decided to take a look at reviews on the store to make sure the voices of product's end learners are heard, understand their need, and highlight areas for improvement.

After collecting and analyzing all the data, I tried to define the main challenge and brainstorm solutions with the help of the retention framework.

During the development stage, with so many tasks on our hands, I collaborated with the product owner and engineers to select task implementation timelines based on planned updates and technical limitations.

With the data collected on UserTesting, we draw the user journey map of current app version and predict the new journey with the 
pain points identified. The map enabled me to visualize the sequence of actions taken by the user as they interact with the app. It provided insights into the moments of high user satisfaction and pinpoints potential areas where frustration might arise.

Following the user journey, as users are confused with where to begin, we focused on delivering a straightforward and simple start to better prepare for future piano learning journeys with the app according to the categorized types of users!
( For mobile users viewing this, please rotate your phone to landscape to view the optimal final results! Thanks 💜 )

19% increase in R1 retention rate, 35% shortened amount of time to reach AHA moment

In the beginning, I assumed that learners didn't know how to navigate through the app based on low retention rate and long onboarding time, and I ended up solving a pain point that didn't exist! Fortunately, I have a chance to be in charge of usability testing and user interviewing. Looking at I got to learn this valuable lesson that a high bounce rate could not only mean they found the app "boring" but also because they have happily achieved their goal so fast.

Fighting the urge to design solutions with my assumptions rather than looking at real data, which yielded opinions opposite to mine, really helps with being more empathetic to users' needs and solving the right problem. It triggers many thought-provoking questions for evaluating all aspects of an app.

Being a lead in user interviews and testing an existing product on the market brought me a valuable skillset as a UX designer, which is “How to ask the correct questions in interviews”. Because it was the first time I interacted with the product’s users, I fell into the pitfall of inadvertently introducing bias during user interviews, potentially skewing the responses and influencing the outcomes of the research. Fortunately, the problem was quickly noted by the PO, and we had a discussion to resolve my problem.

The 4 months of working closely with engineers and the product owner were completely different from collaboration at the university. The project's challenges have brought me insights into considering technical constraints while prioritizing tasks and aligning our efforts toward achieving a common goal.