In 2017, Google's Play Store contained an approximate 2.8 million apps. With so much choice and so little curation, selling (or even finding) the best app proved itself to be a challenge of Amazonian proportions.
Today's consumer is often overwhelmed by a similar burden of possibility. Whether it's choosing the most efficient savings app or the highest quality peanut butter, comparing dozens of options proves an arduous process.
Leading a team of four designers, I was tasked with a concept redesign of Price Patrol's core product - working to polish the app's branding and user experience while enhancing its value proposition through the fulfillment of unmet user needs.

DESIGN SPRINT
9 business days from project kickoff to high-fidelity prototype, plus everything in between.

Redesigning the ubiquitous price comparison app for a fighting chance in the crowded Play Store ecosystem.
PROJECT OVERVIEW

The latest venture of a Seattle startup, Price Patrol is a consumer-facing mobile app that helps shoppers to make sensible purchase decisions on everything from clothing and toys to food and electronics.
By tracking product prices with a 'radar' feature, and integrating with Google Maps and GPS locations services, the platform is able to keep tabs on nearby deals—and notify customers when their saved items fall below MSRP.
ONE STOP SHOPPING

OFFBRAND EXPERIENCE
While Price Patrol had the right idea, its app wasn't sufficiently equipped to compete in the crowded mobile ecosystem, where visibility issues and an oversaturation of similar price comparison tools had created a Red Ocean market.
Surveyed users expressed a strong desire to access in-app resources, but were often deterred by frustrating search functionalities, missing and/or illegible store details, and an ill-fitting brand identity often perceived as childish and unprofessional. With similar feature sets common in rival apps, the startup was coming across like a knockoff brand.
From a high level, my goal was to take Price Patrol off the clearance rack by providing an intuitive Android experience for savvy shoppers in need of practical cost-cutting resources.
But with limited time and manpower, attempting feature parity would require significant effort without equitable impact. Thus, as Project Manager, I delineated the following objectives for the redesign, all with the overarching goal of differentiation:
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Identify a niche market strategy through design research, and prepare the app for success on the Play Store.
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Realign the company's branding and visual style, so as to create a product that better appeals to its target demographic.
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Improve the overall product experience by satisfying unmet needs and alleviating existing pain points.

TARGET PLATFORM
Designing for Android 6 in consideration of Google's
Material Design standards.

COLLABORATORS
Monique Boediono [Research]
Hye Park [Visual Design]
Ralf Wiebeck - [Info. Architecture]

CHALLENGES
Working with designers of vastly different skill levels.
When you're racing against the clock, there isn't always time to coach and guide on a personal level. On this project, one collaborator couldn't pace, leaving the whole team affected.
Promoting transparency and accountability.
I began the redesign with a collaborative development of a shared team agreement. Everyone advocated transparency, but making that dream a reality proved more ambitious than our design goals.
Working an end-to-end process in under two weeks.
With Lean startup methodology under my belt, two weeks felt breezy with a team of four. Then came sluggish research recruiting, user personas, usability, and a genuine storm of unforeseen setbacks.
TOOLS & SOFTWARE
Digital Products
Sketch, Google Drive (Docs, Forms, Sheets), Slack, Illustrator CC, iWork Suite (Pages, Keynote), Quicktime, TextEdit, and InVision.
Physical Products
Dry Erase, Post-It Notes, Pen, Paper, Markers, and Panda Express.
ROLES
Project Management
I took charge of daily meetings and other Agile processes, providing personal support, delegating work, and helping others to stay productive and accountable.
Planning & Scope Definition
I drafted and continuously revised our project plan, including the production timeline, working agreement, feature prioritization, scope of work, and other documentation.
Creative Strategy & Vision
I synthesized research data to delineate and communicate an overarching design direction, establishing a shared vision and working to validate strategy at crucial milestones.
Research & Analysis
Assisting in other disciplines, I conducted market research, heuristic evaluation and usability testing, and aided efforts to develop user personas and behavioral models.
Ideation & Execution
I worked collaboratively to translate user insights into design goals, doing whatever it took (including branding, interaction design, info. architecture, etc.) to ensure timely execution.