Scheduling Redesign

Redesigning the Entire Scheduling Workflow on the Later Mobile App

TL;DR

In early 2021, Later's product team identified issues with the mobile app's scheduling flow. It was a single linear process that was inflexible and cumbersome, requiring 6+ steps to schedule a post, whereas the industry standards were 3-5 steps. Our team aimed to increase scheduling among existing users and attract new signups, so we redesigned the flow. We incorporated components that users enjoyed from the original flow and created a more comprehensive and flexible 4-step process.

  • By reducing the steps required to schedule on the mobile app, users will find the process more simple and appealing; and therefore increase the total number of scheduled posts.

  • The assumption is that the current scheduling flow on the mobile app is too complicated and time-consuming, which is discouraging users from using the app.

  • Monthly Scheduled Posts

    • Decreased by 35%

      • Possilble Reasons:

        • Coming off of an abnormal height in scheduling during the pandemic.

        • Seasonality as scheduling decreases near the end of the year based on historical data.

    Task Completion Rate

    • Increased by 8%

  • Overall, we would consider this project a success with lots of learnings. We were able to reduce the steps in the scheduling flow and set up the designs to scale out to future features. We identified that there is still a need of our users to schedule from the media tab and not just from the schedule tab.

    The raw numbers in the data did not reflect the increase we wanted to see, however there were lots of other contributing factors to that. The task success rate did increase which meant that we were on the right track.

Released
08/21/2021

Platform
iOS, Android

Role
UX Designer

Key Activities

  • Cross-Functional Team Brainstorm

  • Heuristic Evaluation

  • Survey Research

  • Wirframing & Prototyping

  • Usability Test

  • Beta Test

The Problem

The current scheduling flow restricted users to a single starting point to schedule their post. Additionally, the workflow just took too long, requiring 6+ taps to complete. When compared to our industry competitors, the average ranged from 3-5 steps. As we planned to add more complex features to the product, the usability of the core feature on the app had to be seamless and intuitive; and currently it just wasn’t.

Our Current Scheduling Flow

iOS

Android

Identifying the Pain Points

By conducting an heuristic evaluation of the flow, I identified several usability issues in the navigation of the flow and the copy. This was further validated through survey data which reflected that our feature was not up to par with our competitors in the mobile space.

Heuristic Evaluation

  • User have to start the scheduling flow from the “Media” tab, as opposed to the “Schedule” tab.

  • No visual of the calendar prior to scheduling, which leaves users to remember the date/time of their other scheduled posts.

  • The caption box is too small to write out longer captions that will go below the fold.

  • The number of taps to schedule one post is too much, which can be cumbersome when there are multiple posts that need to be scheduled to different profiles

User Survey

Our research team conducted a survey prior to the start of this feature. While I cannot disclose the details of the survey, due to NDA, the main findings helped validate the assumptions that we already had in regards to scheduling. The main findings:

  • Scheduling new posts ranks as #1 important feature on mobile.

  • Editing scheduled posts ranks lowest in importance on mobile, since the web app is more optimized for editing media items.

  • *The scheduling flow is too complicated compared to our competitors.

*Users often referenced Buffer, a competitor to Later, as having a more simple and minimalistic approach to scheduling.

“Scheduling flow is complicated and not as easy as Buffer”
— Later Mobile User

Buffer’s primary screens

The Next Steps

With a solid understanding of the pain points in the current scheduling flow, we set out to design a solution with these objectives in mind:

  • Reduce number of steps to complete the scheduling flow down to 3-5 steps.

  • Allow users to visually see their calendar before scheduling.

  • Ensure that scheduling happens in the ‘Schedule’ tab.

  • Design the primary post modal to be scalable for complex features to be added seamlessly.

Concept A

  • This version focused on re-using the explicit text CTA to “Create Post” on the media preview, to now on the Schedule Tab also.

  • The post modal design explored a collapsable list view of options when the keyboard is activated.

  • Since this version has a “Create Post” CTA on the schedule tab, the media item would have to be selected through a media carousel in the post modal.

Concept B

  • This version explored the use of a universal floating action button (FAB) to start the scheduling flow.

  • The idea was for the FAB to be a persistent button throughout the app, but have a dynamic element to it, where the action changes depending on where you are in the app.

  • The post modal design focused on a more “blank canvas” approach, with a more emphasis given into the media library.

Feedback from the Team

  • Concept A seemed more clear in terms of the CTA starting the scheduling flow. However, the button takes over prime real estate in the Schedule tab.

  • Concept B reduced the need for big buttons with the FAB; and having it be a dynamic button opened up possibilities for more ideas.

  • The post modal in Concept B also gives users a better visibility of their media library, along with more filtering options.

Reducing the Steps to Scheduling

After getting the concepts reviewed by various stakeholders, I was able to make a decision on a flow. I took the original 6+ step scheduling process and cut it down into a 4 step workflow.

Using data from competitive analysis and user survey, I focused on making sure each step of the new flow matched up to the mental models of our users and what they are used to, when using social apps.

Testing

The testing that went into this project included a usability test and a beta test. Once we had a working prototype, the research team conducted a usability test first to identify any potential blockers in the new flow. The beta test came next as a way to see how our current users would react to the new change in their primary workflow. Listed below are the main findings from each test.

  • Beta tests at Later typically involves recruiting existing users to volunteer to test out a new feature prior to the general release. After a set time period, the research team conducts an interview/survey with the segmented users to get feedback on the particular feature.

Usability Test

  • Ease of use score increased from the current flow.

  • Many regarded the FAB as an improvement to the overall flow.

  • Majority of users did not find the need a full- screen preview of their media before entering the post modal.

Beta Test

  • Test ran for 3 weeks.

  • Users expectations of the redesign outweighed the improvements.

  • Users found the post modal to be more intuitive when looking at the More Options and Publishing sections.

  • Users did not like that they can no longer schedule from the media tab.

Research reports blurred out due to NDA

What We Learned From Testing

The findings from each test were very informative as we learned:

  • Many users actually did not see a huge improvement in scheduling.

  • Taking away the option to schedule a post from the Media tab seemed to be the highest complaint in the new flow.

    • This change caused our NPS score to drop significantly.

Even though our assumption of keeping scheduling solely in the Schedule tab would help users avoid confusion, taking away a workflow that they have become used to, too abruptly, worked to our detriment. Although the testing did not yield as positive of results as we hoped for, we made sure to add back the option to schedule from the media tab, resulting in multiple ways to start scheduling a post.

Final Flow

iOS App

Android App

Impact

The overall impact of this project was positive, as redesigning the scheduling flow opened up a lot of opportunities for us to add more complex features down the road. We also condensed the flow, allowing users to schedule their posts faster than the initial design. Not only did we impact the speed to which users could schedule, our ease of use score also increased.

On the quantitative side, it was interesting to see:

  • Decrease of 35% in monthly scheduled posts.

  • Increase of 8% in task success rate of scheduling.

Since the raw number of scheduled posts could be affected by multiple factors, the task success rate was the metric that validated the success of UX.

Reasons for Decrease in Monthly Scheduled Posts

  • Economic Factors: We were coming out of the pandemic during the time of this release (Aug 2021), where we saw the highest number scheduled post in 2020. This decrease could have been the market stabilizing after an abnormal high.

  • Seasonality Trends: Historic data shows that scheduled posts typically goes down in Q4, which is around the time this feature got to our users.