In 2013, most Dell consumer PCs and tablets included a system diagnostics and management application called My Dell. For two of its updates I served as the sole interaction designer and Experience Design Group representative on the product team. Our goals were to evolve My Dell into a more feature-rich and easier-to-use tool. It would later be rebranded as Dell SupportAssist.
The team needed the following:
- A revised home screen and site architecture that accommodated feature changes
- An interaction sequence for a system diagnostics troubleshooting wizard that takes users from identified issues to implemented solutions
- A more sophisticated UI for managing system notifications
- A welcome experience that more clearly defined the purpose and features of the app
What I did
Drawing from user and VOC research as well as brainstorming sessions with the team and project manager, I took these steps:
- Conceptualized the diagnostics troubleshooter with a hand-drawn storyboard and mapped out the task flow and decision points
- Replicated the task flow within a low-fi Axure prototype of the current app
- Designed a welcome experience and demonstrated the first use flow with a medium fidelity Axure prototype
- Designed a new layout (again in Axure) for the notifications section of the app and a new flow for resolving identified issues
- Designed multiple home page layouts which we tested with real users and iterated
- Built multiple behavioral specifications which I submitted, along with Axure prototypes, to 3rd party developers
Outcomes
- A third-party assessment showed a 58% reduction in the number of steps to issue resolution and an 84% reduction in time spent on the phone when the app transitioned from My Dell to Dell SupportAssist
- The design group adopted Axure as its preferred design and testing tool