2021
Isla Bonita
Building a sustainability platform from scratch, focusing on its value proposition.
Team
David Vazquez Cortizo (founder), Monika Litzinger (co-designer), a small front-end and back-end developer team.
Role
Product Designer / Product Owner (pro bono)
Responsibilities
Research, Strategy, Brand, Visual Design, Concept, Interaction Design
The Process
Co-creating a value proposition, identifying the riskiest assumptions using the value proposition canvas and conducting fast experiments to put them to the test.
Generating further insights on different target groups’ jobs, pains and gains by conducting interviews and moderated click-dummy tests.
Co-creating a further de-risked, third iteration of the value proposition.
Building a brand in collaboration with key stakeholders, starting with a brand sprint.
Designing a vision of the mobile app.
Defining the MVP scope of the app (& handing it over).
The Outcome
A recognisable brand that reflects the values of young adult climate activists and those who may become such.
A value proposition resulting in a mobile app MVP for people wanting to be at the forefront of sustainable action.
This article focuses on how we found our way to building the right thing. If you’re interested in details on the interaction and UI design work I did for this project, let’s have a chat!
Finding the Right Product to Build
Using the VPC & Fast Experiments
The project with the code name “Sustainability Marketplace” kicked off with a workshop. It’s goal: Align on the main product ideas, user segment characteristics, identifying the riskiest assumptions we had on those two (all using the VPC), and eventually conducting fast experiments to put these assumptions to the test to then iterate on the value prop.
At the end of the day, everyone was aligned on the direction the product should take: Support sustainability activists by connecting them to other individuals and corporations that help them hands-on or via funding.
Digging Deeper into Who and What to Design for
The previously conducted research had to be enriched since some assumptions needed further testing. For these further insights, click-dummies were crafted, and sustainability experts and people that were not invested but interested in the topic were interviewed.
From all the conducted research, a simple user journey was crafted, that documents key steps and challenges of people actively wanting to contribute to ecological sustainability.
Together with key stakeholders, crucial steps of the user journey were selected as target steps to start with tackling / designing for.
In the end this led us to refine our value proposition (canvas) once again, defining the MVP scope: Educate, act, fund & find support.
In order for individuals and corporations to be willing to support activists, they have to have a fast way to be educated about the most pressing environmental issues. For corporations, it is even easier to decide for projects/activists to support, if their attention is being drawn to them by a large number of individuals.
We therefor decided to focus on bringing individuals and activists together first, with corporations following eventually as soon as the platform has grown.
Brand Workshops Made for Fast Progression
To provide a consistent appearance and feel for all the assets to be created for the MVP, a brand was designed from scratch. Of course, things were kept lean, only investing about two to three days into the brand definition and visual brand work. To kick that off, short workshops with key stakeholders were held to define and align on the brand. These workshops were partly derived from GV’s three-hour brand sprint. A workshop on “What, How, Why” (Simon Sinek) and project values became the foundation for our brand values (shaped after the workshop). A brand personality workshop, using personality sliders and a competitive landscape matrix helped us put our brand in context of other existing sustainability platforms.
With these assets created and aligned on in the brand workshops, a visual brand appearance was crafted including logos, colours, shapes, icons,… that conveys the values of "trustworthy", "empowering" and "effective" in the context of sustainability.
Vision & MVP
A full app vision of the product was crafted that covered the functionality defined in VPC V3 (educate, act, fund & find support) and acts as a north star and research asset.
From this first vision, the to-be-implemented MVP scope was shaped in close collaboration with PMs/founders and developers and validated via moderated click-dummy tests. It contained an education (”Daily”) page providing users with the most important sustainability topics and news of the day, a projects and challenges (”act”) page containing projects to be funded or helped with hands-on and challenges to be done by users on their own, and a basic profile with settings for the shown content.
After defining the MVP Scope, I handed over the project to Monika Litzinger.
Curious about what happened to the project after the first MVP features were implemented or would like to know more about the interaction and UI details I designed for this project? Let’s have a chat!
2021
Isla Bonita
Building a sustainability platform from scratch, focusing on its value proposition.
Team
David Vazquez Cortizo (founder), Monika Litzinger (co-designer), a small front-end and back-end developer team.
Role
Product Designer / Product Owner (pro bono)
Responsibilities
Research, Strategy, Brand, Visual Design, Concept, Interaction Design
The Process
Co-creating a value proposition, identifying the riskiest assumptions using the value proposition canvas and conducting fast experiments to put them to the test.
Generating further insights on different target groups’ jobs, pains and gains by conducting interviews and moderated click-dummy tests.
Co-creating a further de-risked, third iteration of the value proposition.
Building a brand in collaboration with key stakeholders, starting with a brand sprint.
Designing a vision of the mobile app.
Defining the MVP scope of the app (& handing it over).
The Outcome
A recognisable brand that reflects the values of young adult climate activists and those who may become such.
A value proposition resulting in a mobile app MVP for people wanting to be at the forefront of sustainable action.
This article focuses on how we found our way to building the right thing. If you’re interested in details on the interaction and UI design work I did for this project, let’s have a chat!
Finding the Right Product to Build
Using the VPC & Fast Experiments
The project with the code name “Sustainability Marketplace” kicked off with a workshop. It’s goal: Align on the main product ideas, user segment characteristics, identifying the riskiest assumptions we had on those two (all using the VPC), and eventually conducting fast experiments to put these assumptions to the test to then iterate on the value prop.
At the end of the day, everyone was aligned on the direction the product should take: Support sustainability activists by connecting them to other individuals and corporations that help them hands-on or via funding.
Digging Deeper into Who and What to Design for
The previously conducted research had to be enriched since some assumptions needed further testing. For these further insights, click-dummies were crafted, and sustainability experts and people that were not invested but interested in the topic were interviewed.
From all the conducted research, a simple user journey was crafted, that documents key steps and challenges of people actively wanting to contribute to ecological sustainability.
Together with key stakeholders, crucial steps of the user journey were selected as target steps to start with tackling / designing for.
In the end this led us to refine our value proposition (canvas) once again, defining the MVP scope: Educate, act, fund & find support.
In order for individuals and corporations to be willing to support activists, they have to have a fast way to be educated about the most pressing environmental issues. For corporations, it is even easier to decide for projects/activists to support, if their attention is being drawn to them by a large number of individuals.
We therefor decided to focus on bringing individuals and activists together first, with corporations following eventually as soon as the platform has grown.
Brand Workshops Made for Fast Progression
To provide a consistent appearance and feel for all the assets to be created for the MVP, a brand was designed from scratch. Of course, things were kept lean, only investing about two to three days into the brand definition and visual brand work. To kick that off, short workshops with key stakeholders were held to define and align on the brand. These workshops were partly derived from GV’s three-hour brand sprint. A workshop on “What, How, Why” (Simon Sinek) and project values became the foundation for our brand values (shaped after the workshop). A brand personality workshop, using personality sliders and a competitive landscape matrix helped us put our brand in context of other existing sustainability platforms.
With these assets created and aligned on in the brand workshops, a visual brand appearance was crafted including logos, colours, shapes, icons,… that conveys the values of "trustworthy", "empowering" and "effective" in the context of sustainability.
Vision & MVP
A full app vision of the product was crafted that covered the functionality defined in VPC V3 (educate, act, fund & find support) and acts as a north star and research asset.
From this first vision, the to-be-implemented MVP scope was shaped in close collaboration with PMs/founders and developers and validated via moderated click-dummy tests. It contained an education (”Daily”) page providing users with the most important sustainability topics and news of the day, a projects and challenges (”act”) page containing projects to be funded or helped with hands-on and challenges to be done by users on their own, and a basic profile with settings for the shown content.
After defining the MVP Scope, I handed over the project to Monika Litzinger.
Curious about what happened to the project after the first MVP features were implemented or would like to know more about the interaction and UI details I designed for this project? Let’s have a chat!
2021
Isla Bonita
Building a sustainability platform from scratch, focusing on its value proposition.
Team
David Vazquez Cortizo (founder), Monika Litzinger (co-designer), a small front-end and back-end developer team.
Role
Product Designer / Product Owner (pro bono)
Responsibilities
Research, Strategy, Brand, Visual Design, Concept, Interaction Design
The Process
Co-creating a value proposition, identifying the riskiest assumptions using the value proposition canvas and conducting fast experiments to put them to the test.
Generating further insights on different target groups’ jobs, pains and gains by conducting interviews and moderated click-dummy tests.
Co-creating a further de-risked, third iteration of the value proposition.
Building a brand in collaboration with key stakeholders, starting with a brand sprint.
Designing a vision of the mobile app.
Defining the MVP scope of the app (& handing it over).
The Outcome
A recognisable brand that reflects the values of young adult climate activists and those who may become such.
A value proposition resulting in a mobile app MVP for people wanting to be at the forefront of sustainable action.
This article focuses on how we found our way to building the right thing. If you’re interested in details on the interaction and UI design work I did for this project, let’s have a chat!
Finding the Right Product to Build
Using the VPC & Fast Experiments
The project with the code name “Sustainability Marketplace” kicked off with a workshop. It’s goal: Align on the main product ideas, user segment characteristics, identifying the riskiest assumptions we had on those two (all using the VPC), and eventually conducting fast experiments to put these assumptions to the test to then iterate on the value prop.
At the end of the day, everyone was aligned on the direction the product should take: Support sustainability activists by connecting them to other individuals and corporations that help them hands-on or via funding.
Digging Deeper into Who and What to Design for
The previously conducted research had to be enriched since some assumptions needed further testing. For these further insights, click-dummies were crafted, and sustainability experts and people that were not invested but interested in the topic were interviewed.
From all the conducted research, a simple user journey was crafted, that documents key steps and challenges of people actively wanting to contribute to ecological sustainability.
Together with key stakeholders, crucial steps of the user journey were selected as target steps to start with tackling / designing for.
In the end this led us to refine our value proposition (canvas) once again, defining the MVP scope: Educate, act, fund & find support.
In order for individuals and corporations to be willing to support activists, they have to have a fast way to be educated about the most pressing environmental issues. For corporations, it is even easier to decide for projects/activists to support, if their attention is being drawn to them by a large number of individuals.
We therefor decided to focus on bringing individuals and activists together first, with corporations following eventually as soon as the platform has grown.
Brand Workshops Made for Fast Progression
To provide a consistent appearance and feel for all the assets to be created for the MVP, a brand was designed from scratch. Of course, things were kept lean, only investing about two to three days into the brand definition and visual brand work. To kick that off, short workshops with key stakeholders were held to define and align on the brand. These workshops were partly derived from GV’s three-hour brand sprint. A workshop on “What, How, Why” (Simon Sinek) and project values became the foundation for our brand values (shaped after the workshop). A brand personality workshop, using personality sliders and a competitive landscape matrix helped us put our brand in context of other existing sustainability platforms.
With these assets created and aligned on in the brand workshops, a visual brand appearance was crafted including logos, colours, shapes, icons,… that conveys the values of "trustworthy", "empowering" and "effective" in the context of sustainability.
Vision & MVP
A full app vision of the product was crafted that covered the functionality defined in VPC V3 (educate, act, fund & find support) and acts as a north star and research asset.
From this first vision, the to-be-implemented MVP scope was shaped in close collaboration with PMs/founders and developers and validated via moderated click-dummy tests. It contained an education (”Daily”) page providing users with the most important sustainability topics and news of the day, a projects and challenges (”act”) page containing projects to be funded or helped with hands-on and challenges to be done by users on their own, and a basic profile with settings for the shown content.
After defining the MVP Scope, I handed over the project to Monika Litzinger.
Curious about what happened to the project after the first MVP features were implemented or would like to know more about the interaction and UI details I designed for this project? Let’s have a chat!