As a small startup ready for its second round of funding, Stitcher wasn’t a stranger to numbers and analytics data. However, the team was having trouble understanding what made someone switch from casual to habitual user, and why new user churn numbers seemed a little high. Stitcher enlisted EchoUser’s help to solve this challenge.  

# Approach  

Considering the two distinct user types we were given, we decided to take a multi-pronged approach. The first component was RITE (rapid iterative testing and evaluation) usability testing on the existing iOS application with both entirely new users and a handful of power users. This would highlight usability trends across the two groups to be tackled in the next design sprint, while the iterative nature of the testing would allow for design advances in between sessions.  

For the second component, we enlisted six new users in a diary study activity over the course of a month, with the intention of shedding light on why new users might or might not revisit and use the Stitcher app more consistently over time.  

![stitcher-body3.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/stitcher_body3_a3ec214f1f.jpg)

# Impact  

Catering to the needs of two distinct user groups can be tough, but over the four total weeks of testing as well as the diary study, a number of problem areas surfaced that applied to both groups. These issues aren’t unique to Stitcher, and can provide focus when designing for multiple user types, ranging from content discovery to multi-tasking, transit challenges and so on. Ultimately, the EchoUser team helped guide Stitcher to provide users with every possible chance to have their own personal “A-ha!” moment.  

![stitcher-body4.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/stitcher_body4_30d6b956a6.jpg)


Iteratively mining for the”A-ha!” moment, the key point where a user goes from casual to habitual. 


The RITE Method for Internet Radio

Stitcher’s challenge was to improve the overall first-time user experience (FTUX) of the Stitcher iOS application without alienating their existing user base. 


Stitcher Iterative Test & Design

# Approach  

The _EchoUser UX as a Service_ model allows us to be flexible, allocating time and resources to different areas of focus as priorities shift and opportunities for development arise. We began our engagement with a Discovery Month to immerse our team in the vision, product, and context necessary to distinguish the experience Gooru wanted to create. This helped us map out the ongoing UX work over the coming months and plan ahead.  

![gooru-body1.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/gooru_body1_ffb8413b3c.jpg)

In early research stages, we facilitated a discovery workshop to determine what key emotional drivers — or “Guiding Principles” — lay behind all things Gooru. Identifying these key pieces would help anchor future designs to consistent holistic experiences. We conducted a short design sprint to further comprehend how the Gooru development process works and determine how best to incorporate a UX process.  

We identified key UX priorities with adjustable timelines over the subsequent months, but our UXaaS model allowed for ad hoc changes in UX support as needed. In one example, we had focused on designing features for the Back to School release in September 2014, which paved the way for more opportunities to interact with teachers and educators. We took the opportunity to conduct a Design Jam workshop with teachers, educators, Gooru team members, and EchoUser designers to brainstorm and design ideas for new features and concepts to further support students.  

![gooru-body2.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/gooru_body2_104c0b1877.jpg)

The full conceptualization of the product, supported by rounds of comprehensive research, revealed the need for an extensive redesign. Our team was faced with an overhaul of the entire experience, the first step being to deeply understand the current experience. This process kicked off with an “expert review” of the existing user interface, in which we evaluated aspects of the product that did and didn’t work. We conducted further research to understand the needs of both user groups, and developed personas to inform the design process.  

EchoUser created several low fidelity concepts for the new Gooru 3.0, and — with the help of the Gooru team — iterated upon the designs to reach a concept we felt would best support the users. Once a direction was established, the EchoUser team procured higher fidelity wireframes, and extensive user testing began to validate the refined concepts.  

# Impact  

EchoUser set the stage for Gooru to release a new version of their product each year. EchoUser continued after this foundational project on wire-framing, user testing, and additional visual design advancements.  

![gooru-body3.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/gooru_body3_daf02320e2.jpg)


Creating a space in which both teachers and students can seamlessly browse and share resources.


Full Service Design & Research

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Gooru’s mission is to **honor and preserve the human right to education**. To achieve their goal of making educational tools more accessible, Gooru is building a free personalized learning solution that helps teachers find, remix, and share collections of web resources for any K-12 curriculum. The nonprofit had the knowledge, relationships, and experience to drive this endeavor, but sought a partner to focus on bringing top-notch user experiences to both students and teachers. Initially, EchoUser helped design pieces of the experience; eventually, the team decided to overhaul all of Gooru’s offerings from the ground up, with the challenge of making the experience resonate for two very different users: teachers and students. 


Gooru Education Experiences

# Approach  

Our biggest challenge was this: normal people don’t “speak API.” As such, the existing UI — essentially an API with a skin — needed to be redesigned and re-architected. User research activities and a comprehensive iterative design process led to a product designed to deliver powerful IaaS functionality in a user-friendly package.  

First, we conducted over 12 user interviews and workshops to delve into user behavior and identify key user flows. We then translated our findings into a new product experience. A home screen provided much-needed context to novice and expert users of the complex app. We also provided complex JSON files with a visual face to help more novice users manage intricate cloud operations.  

![nimbula-body2.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/nimbula_body2_953d69a381.jpg)

# Impact  

At the end of the engagement, we delivered comprehensive research findings, as well as detailed wireframes and visual mockups that communicated how the redesigned product should look and function — and within a year, Nimbula was acquired by cloud computing giant Oracle.  

![nimbula-body1.jpg](https://echouser-api-media.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/nimbula_body1_c93870bfe8.jpg)


We set out to create a user-friendly interface to deliver the powerful functionality of IaaS. 


Prior to their acquisition by Oracle, Nimbula was an “Infrastructure as a Service” (IaaS) company that provided the tools for other companies to create and manage their own cloud services. They were faced with an intricate problem: how could they make their product intuitive enough for normal developers and cloud service end users without concealing its technical prowess? To solve this challenge, EchoUser conducted an end-to-end product redesign, from user research, to wireframes and testing, to pixel perfect mockups. 


Nimbula Cloud Services Research & Design

Setting vision can occur through, for example: 1) _workshops_, bringing in stakeholders to focus purely on vision, away from day-to-day stresses. And 2) _contextual inquiry / persona development_, to help figure out an **effective design focus**. 

- With Threadflip we started by [crafting an archetype persona](/cases/threadflip-fashion-marketplace). Fashionista sellers had "storefronts". Buyers wanted to see clothes, but also style, organization, and outfits. The target persona morphed from seller/buyer to a closet, aka, The Closet Persona. 

- A (confidential) phone manufacturer wanted us to act as a start-up consultant for a major product re-focus. Moodboards & visual design concepts set the foundation. 



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Setting Vision

**The best UX outcomes are continuous.** Product development is never "done". Wants, needs, styles and perceptions are always changing. The best UX, and UX service, adapts to these changes, which is the **heart of our partner philosophy**. 

- We worked with Mighty, an [investment management platform](/cases/mighty-investment-management-design), for a year and a half on two significant UX workflows - original and production design. Throughout the process, we interviewed users, worked on a design system, and collaborated closely.   

- Drivescale, a composable infrastructure startup, asked us to [improve their user experience](/cases/drivescale), while reflecting its power and flexibility. Across 3 months, we conducted lean UX research, reimagined the UX, and created a new product experience.

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EchoUser as a Service

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Growth businesses need UX that can adapt to evolving needs. 



Start-ups

Carving new paths requires partners that can see vision and discern the important. 

Our UX as a Service approach allows us to adapt and apply methods to vital needs. 



Domains

Methods