The following case study is part of my submission for Buffer’s design challenge.
Buffer is a content scheduling platform. Its iOS and Android apps help agencies, brands, and publishers schedule, manage, and track the performance of all their social profiles in one place.
The problem
Here are some specific pain points users have shared:
- It’s challenging to get an overview of scheduled content at a glance.
- It can be difficult to identify gaps in the upcoming content schedule.
- It’s not easy to quickly move or reschedule content.
The ask: Make a solution to give users an overview of their scheduled content, while making it simple to spot and fill gaps in their schedule, all within a mobile app.
Deliverables
- Process : How did you arrive at your final solution? What constraints did you consider? How did you keep the user top of mind? Show us the “why” behind your work.
- Solution : Show us what your final solution looks like and how it works.
- Breakdown : Include any interaction notes, context, or other helpful details your future team will need to make your solution a reality.
My approach
I approached the exercise in five parts:
- Understanding the task: Contextual analysis, constraints, and assumptions
- Defining audience: When/where, user context, and needs
- Exploring ideas: Sketches, lightning demos, user interactions
- Visual design: Reiterating sketches and ideas
- Conclusions: Measure success and future explorations
Understanding the task
I immediately started taking notes after I got the exercise. It allowed me to immerse into the problem and understand the task at hand. Once I did that, I got back to the email with my doubts.
Before moving on to understanding users’ contexts and problems, I wanted to dive into what contributes to a successful social media strategy. I created this mind map to identify contextual details which will help me in making design decisions during the ideation process. This will also help me understand where Buffer fits holistically.
Defining audience
Exploring ideas
Visual design
Measure success
Tridip Thrizu
