Beam is a London based start-up that helps users better understand how their daily habits impact their mood over time. Data connected to the app and data points manually inputed by users are compared to deliver insights on how users feel and why they feel that way. The idea behind Beam was one users found promising, but once they used the app many struggled to use it continuously. This lead to a high drop off rate of users abandoning the app.
Product Designer in a design team of two with UI Designer Christine Loh.
Figma, Optimal Workshop, Google Meet, Google Sheets, Notion.
I was brought on as an initial designer to help Beam solve what they believed was a retention issue. Myself and another designer set out to verify if Beam's assumptions were correct. Insights from Google analytics and observations of participants using the app revealed that Beam did have a difficult time keeping the attention of users. In qualitative observations, participants expressed interest in the app but did not use it long term. To understand how to address this we conducted a competitor analysis of existing apps to see how they kept user's attention. We also used Self-Determination Theory as a guide in the design and research phases to ensure the app motivated users.
Patterns help users connect their habits and their mood and is the main feature of the app. But Beam couldn't deliver personal patterns from day one. Due to this we introduced a 'Most Popular' tab so users could see general common patterns and benefit from the insights the app could offer before connecting data of their own. This allowed us to introduce patterns right after the app was downloaded.
In our observations some participants struggled to understand the impact of certain scores they received from Beam such as the 'Beam score'. To guide users in understanding Beam's results the 'Weekly Report' was created. This 'Weekly Report' walks users through how they have been feeling and how this impacts their recommended patterns.
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In observations participants often went to various pages to find data insights. A new homepage was created to give users a central location to go to and introduce them to the most important insights Beam has to offer. This allowed users to easily see what insights their data generated.
Badges were created to motivate users to complete important steps when using Beam (such as adding their feelings for the first time). These badges also served to help gamify aspects of the app and make completing tasks a fun and shareable experience. These badges are visible right from the homepage to make sure users can easily keep track of the badges they currently have and what badges they wish to complete next.
Each time users input their feelings for the day a streak is maintained. Beam works best when users input data consistently so rewarding users for using the app was an important step in making sure Beam could show users more insights.
While some new features were introduced in an agile environment, others required considerable time from the development team to implement. Because Beam was also undergoing a complete visual redesign at the same time we decided these features should be introduced in the redesign. To help make sure our changes were helpful before development cognitive walkthroughs were conducted followed by usability tests.
We created user flows inspired by common use cases we discovered from survey responses with users. It was while creating our user flows that we realized some users may get lost in the current app. This caused us to create a revamped information architecture (IA) to make sure users could find what they wanted. Improving IA with tree tests, domain interviews, and card sorting helped make the onboarding experience clearer. It also lead us to create a main dashboard for the app. We were also able to add these improvements into the app quickly via two week sprints.
Prior to usability testing with participants two cognitive walkthroughs were conducted. I created a template for them on notion to use with Beam's design team. These walkthroughs based around our user flows and happy paths helped us catch key issues.
Usability tests with ten participants were conducted using tasks based around our existing user flows. Participants were screened to insure they were ideal users, with around half of the participants being existing users of the app. These usability tests lead to additional IA changes and an increased focus on fleshing out the profile section of the app. This was because tasks relating to the (previously unlabeled) profile section had caused several participants some confusion.
Beam's new app redesign is under development. As new insights are gathered they will be shared here. Currently I'm working on Beam's B2B dashboard and website redesign (both are not yet live). We're constantly improving Beam, so come back soon to see new updates!
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