BentoBin

The Problem

There are many competitors for productivity applications. Each app provides their own take on creating and saving content, while keeping everything accessible across multiple devices. Despite all these variations, organization is still a huge issue. Large amounts of content with different file types can cause busy dashboards with the inability to effectively sort what is important, especially on different devices/viewports. When saving content on different devices, there can be frustration in where the content is saved and located.

The Solution

BentoBin allows you to save anything from anywhere, in one place. Organization is effortless with BentoBin’s intuitive dashboard. BentoBin organizes files in “bins” and categorizes files by type (image, note, link).

01 User Research

The design process began with user research to get familiar with potential users and better understand what they are looking for in a cloud-storage app. I created a google forms survey and distributed it across social media as well as other forums (slack groups, email).
The survey focussed on the following:

• How many survey participants use cloud storage?
• How do they use cloud storage?
• What features do they find important?

02 Personas

After gathering the results from the survey, I conducted several follow-up interviews with survey participants to dig deeper in their experience with cloud storage apps. From analyzing both the survey results and the interview questions, two main personas who represent the users were identified.

03 Competitive Analysis

I continued the research process by identifying three cloud-storage competitors, and putting them through a SWOT analysis to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Google Drive, Pinterest, and Dropbox are the top cloud-storage apps that the survey participants used.

04 User Stories

I created a backlog of user stories for all the functionality needed to address the users’ problems. There was difficulty distinguishing which functions were necessary or just a “nice-to-have.” After prioritizing the user stories from highest to lowest, the highest-ranking user stories were put into the first design sprint to make up the first Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

05 User Flows

The following user stories were made into user flows:

• Upload a new file.
• Creating a new folder.
• Move an item into a new folder.

06 Wireframes and Usability Testing

Next, I moved on to the skeletal structure of the product. I sketched several iterations of each screen on paper, then used those sketches to make low-fidelity mockups using Figma.

The lo-fi wireframes were then used to conduct in-person and remote usability tests. I asked 2 participants to complete the following tasks:

• Sign up for an account
• Add a piece of content
• Organize a piece of content

07 Branding

I used mind-mapping to figure out a name for the product. I jotted down 2 words that describe the cloud-service, storage and organization, then wrote several words that related to those attributes. Throughout the research process, I heard buzzwords such as minimal, approachable, intuitive, and dependable. After several iterations, I narrowed the name down to BentoBin.

08 Logo Iterations

I was inspired by bento boxes, the modern japanese lunchbox. Bento boxes have separate compartments that hold different parts of your lunch. The name evokes a casual, fun and “kawaii” feeling towards the brand.

I conducted a preference test with 12 participants to see which logo stood out the most:

09 Mockups and Preference Testing

I applied all the branding (colors, typography, imagery) to the wireframes to create BentoBin’s initial high-fidelity mockups. I put my mockups up for testing at UsabilityHub.I created two variations of three different elements and conducted three preference tests on all three.

Out of 6 participants, 2 preference tests had unanimous winners while 1 preference test was split 50/50. Participants left great feedback after testing and provided great insight such as “the 1st mockup was cleaner and required less cognitive load.”

What did I learn?

The cloud-storage marketplace is somewhat over saturated with apps that have great designs with a lot of functionality. But despite the over saturation, cloud-storage users still need better solutions to solve cloud-storage problems such as making organization better, or allowing the user to add content faster. I would have never found these problems if it weren't for user research and multiple user testing. Based off of these problems, I focused on improving content organization and minimizing dashboard clutter.

If given more time, I would continue designing important functions such as search and sharing capabilities. I would expand the use of this app from “casual users” to “professional users” who use cloud-storage for corporate needs. This would require more user research and testing by corporate users, as well as upper management.

All-in-all, I learned that applying the research-driven design process to the problem will achieve an effective solution.