PostUp
The Google Design Sprint: Effortlessly locate remote-friendly public workspaces with key amenities.
About PostUp
PostUp simplifies the search for remote-friendly workspaces, ensuring users can quickly locate spots with reliable WiFi, quiet environments, and essential amenities. Developed during a 5-day Google Design Sprint, the app addresses the inefficiencies of existing solutions like Google Maps and Yelp by offering a user-centered platform tailored to remote workers' needs.
ROLE
UI/UX Designer
TIMELINE
Feb 2023
LOCATION
Remote
Designed using
challenge
PostUp aims to alleviate the common struggles faced by remote workers searching for a public place to work from. These individuals often grapple with the time-consuming process of locating conducive work environments with reliable amenities such as WiFi, quiet spaces, and accessible bathrooms.
Insights from user feedback highlight the paramount importance of efficient access to accurate information regarding these essential factors. Despite existing solutions like Google and Yelp providing some assistance, users still encounter inefficiencies, such as the need to sift through excessive photos and reviews.
PostUp wants to help remote workers find places to work by providing a directory of public places that already exist.
process
Day 1: User Journey Mapping
To kick off the 5-day GV Design Sprint, I started by forming a deeper understanding of remote workers’ goals, needs, and behaviors. I reviewed existing research and user interviews provided by stakeholders before mapping the user journey. This helped visualize the experience from searching for a workspace to settling in. Identifying pain points—such as unreliable WiFi, excessive search time, and lack of quiet spaces—allowed me to define key areas for improvement and guide my design decisions.
Day 2: Sketching
I began Day 2 with a competitor analysis through lightning demos. Google Maps and Yelp were frequently mentioned in user interviews, but both had shortcomings:
Google Maps: Users spent too much time digging through reviews to find relevant details.
Yelp: Search results were inaccurate, with unrelated businesses like gelato shops appearing under the coffee and tea category.
Workfrom: Covered most user needs but lacked a mobile app and could improve space profile pages for quicker decision-making.
Following this analysis, I used the Crazy 8’s technique to rapidly sketch out eight potential screens, helping me visualize the most critical aspects of the user experience.
Day 3: Storyboarding
With key insights from the previous day, I sketched out the core screens necessary to validate the concept. This storyboard served as the foundation for my prototype, ensuring that each step of the user journey was accounted for and aligned with the problem I set out to solve.
Day 4: Prototyping
Using Marvel, I translated my sketches into a functional prototype. I focused on designing five main screens that supported the MVP, ensuring that remote workers could quickly find and evaluate workspaces without unnecessary friction. The challenge was staying focused on the core functionality rather than refining every UI detail, but this constraint helped maintain momentum.
Day 5: Usability Testing
With the prototype complete, I recruited five remote workers for usability testing. The goal was to validate whether users could efficiently find a public workspace in seconds. A key insight was that many participants instinctively used the search function, expecting a Google-like experience. However, instead of building a full search database, I decided to replace the search bar with categorized browsing options such as "Cafe," "Library," and "Coworking Space" to streamline the experience.
By the end of the sprint, I had a validated prototype demonstrating how PostUp could help remote workers quickly discover reliable public workspaces without the frustration of sifting through scattered, unreliable information.
Outcome
The final prototype for PostUp successfully streamlined the process of finding public workspaces for remote workers. By focusing on categorized browsing instead of a traditional search function, users could quickly identify locations with reliable WiFi, quiet environments, and essential amenities.
Usability testing validated the effectiveness of this approach, demonstrating that remote workers could locate a suitable workspace within seconds—solving a key pain point in their workflow. The insights gained from this sprint laid the foundation for future iterations, such as adding a "save" feature for planning ahead and introducing both map and list views to accommodate different user preferences.
Ultimately, PostUp's design sprint resulted in a user-friendly, efficient solution that empowers remote professionals to spend less time searching and more time working productively in the right environment.
