A Knowledge Hub Design Process
Type: Web product design MVP
Role: UX/UI Designer
Year: 2023
Collaborator: Eszter Varga
Role: UX/UI Designer
Year: 2023
Collaborator: Eszter Varga
aim10x is the o9 Solutions' networking and community brand, aimed at connecting supply chain industry professionals. This detailed case study explores the UX/UI design process behind the aim10x knowledge hub, focusing on the strategic decisions and methodologies employed.
The Challenge: Bridging the Engagement Gap
The core challenge was addressing the low engagement within the aim10x community. Despite having a platform (Mighty Network). It failed to foster meaningful connections and engagement among members.
Several key issues contributed to this problem from a fragmented user experience and a lack of strategic vision. Content and resources were scattered across disparate platforms, creating confusion and hindering meaningful interactions. This disjointed approach resulted in a lack of clear follow-up strategies, data silos that prevented informed decision-making, and a high number of passive 'lurkers' who struggled to consume content due to excessive friction.
The Solution: A Unified Knowledge Hub
To address these challenges, we envisioned a centralised knowledge hub that would serve as the go-to destination for supply chain industry leaders. This platform would not only consolidate valuable content and networking opportunities but also provide o9 Solutions with actionable insights into user behaviour and interests.
As the UX/UI designer, I played a pivotal role in shaping the new aim10x platform. My responsibilities spanned the entire design process, from facilitating workshops and conducting research to designing the user interface and conducting usability testing. I was also responsible for developing a cohesive UI kit and visual system that could accommodate diverse content types, ensuring a consistent and engaging user experience.
As the UX/UI designer, I played a pivotal role in shaping the new aim10x platform. My responsibilities spanned the entire design process, from facilitating workshops and conducting research to designing the user interface and conducting usability testing. I was also responsible for developing a cohesive UI kit and visual system that could accommodate diverse content types, ensuring a consistent and engaging user experience.
Uncovering the User Landscape: Discovery and Research
Our journey began with a comprehensive discovery phase, aimed at understanding the existing challenges and user behaviours. Recognising the need to move beyond fragmented content delivery, we started by analysing data from surveys and web analytics. This provided a foundational understanding of the current user experience and content consumption patterns. To further refine our understanding, we conducted two distinct sets of interviews.
The first focused on 'lurkers,' those who passively engaged with the platform. These 30-minute interviews explored their perceptions of the platform's clarity, content discoverability, and perceived value. The second set targeted 'engagers,' active members of the network. These 45-minute interviews delved into their experiences with signing up, event discovery, and networking features, validating assumptions about the platform's usability and functionality.
The insights gathered from these interviews, coupled with the initial data analysis, allowed us to define our target user groups, their primary goals, and the obstacles preventing their achievement. We translated these findings into tangible resources such as personas, user journey maps, and a prioritisation matrix, which served as guiding tools throughout the design process.
The entire buyer personas can’t be revealed for a non-disclosure agreement.
Defining the Vision: Strategy and Hypothesis
With a clear understanding of the user landscape, we shifted our focus to defining the strategic direction of the aim10x platform. I facilitated a workshop, leveraging the Lean UX Canvas framework and bringing alignment between the business strategy, product core values, and user needs. Our strategic mission needed to nurture o9 prospects and support client advocacy by providing a platform for easily accessing relevant, high-quality content. Therefore, we identified key product objectives, with a primary focus on increasing user retention and understanding content consumption patterns. This led to the formulation of our core hypothesis:
Members want to consume content per 'sense' (watch, read, listen, attend).
This hypothesis guided our design decisions and informed our validation strategy, which included discovery interviews and Hotjar recordings to track user behaviour after content consumption.
Design and Iteration: From Wireframes to High-Fidelity Prototypes
Building on the strategic foundation, we transitioned into the design phase. We created detailed information architecture and user flows to ensure intuitive navigation and content discovery.
Low-fidelity wireframes were developed to visualise the user journey and identify potential pain points. These wireframes were then transformed into high-fidelity prototypes, incorporating a systematic layout for content cards (watch, read, listen, attend) with variations in imagery, headings, and labels.
We also incorporated o9 Solutions resources alongside aim10x exclusive content, using light and dark mode cards to distinguish between brands. Alternative carousel layouts were implemented to improve page scannability and engagement. Throughout the design process, we maintained a focus on creating a flexible and cohesive visual system that could accommodate diverse content types.
Validation and Refinement: Usability Testing and Iteration
To validate our design decisions and test our core hypothesis—that members prefer to consume content by 'sense'—we conducted usability testing with eight prospects. The testing focused on content search behaviour and information architecture effectiveness. The results confirmed our hypothesis regarding content consumption by 'sense.'
Additionally, we gained further valuable insight: users, while appreciating industry-specific content filtering, also expressed a clear need and desire to search content by department. This feedback led to significant improvements in the filtering system, search options, and signup process. We also refined the copywriting to more effectively highlight the platform's unique selling points. These iterations were crucial in ensuring that the aim10x platform not only met the needs of its users but also aligned with our strategic objectives of increasing user retention and understanding content consumption patterns.
Additionally, we gained further valuable insight: users, while appreciating industry-specific content filtering, also expressed a clear need and desire to search content by department. This feedback led to significant improvements in the filtering system, search options, and signup process. We also refined the copywriting to more effectively highlight the platform's unique selling points. These iterations were crucial in ensuring that the aim10x platform not only met the needs of its users but also aligned with our strategic objectives of increasing user retention and understanding content consumption patterns.
Traffic Gains and Strategic Consolidation
The launch of the aim10x platform successfully generated substantial initial traffic, demonstrating its potential to attract a diverse audience, including partners, clients, and prospects. Notably, content focused on digital transformation and practical 'how-to' videos resonated strongly with viewers, indicating a clear demand for actionable insights. However, our analysis also revealed that long-form content, even from prominent speakers, faced challenges in maintaining viewer engagement.
Despite the platform's initial success in attracting traffic, we observed that community engagement did not meet our initial expectations. After a six-month evaluation period, o9 Solutions made a strategic decision to integrate the aim10x content into the company's main website as a dedicated Media Page. This strategic pivot allowed for a more unified approach, enabling teams across the organization to collaborate towards shared objectives and nurture prospects with a consistent global strategy. This shift also allowed us to leverage the main website traffic and SEO strategy to increase the visibility of the content.
Process and Product: Key Takeaways
This project provided invaluable insights into the complexities of building a knowledge and networking platform for a specialised industry. Leading the project through the entire product design lifecycle, from initial discovery and problem definition to the creation of a polished UI kit, allowed me to hone my skills in applying frameworks like Lean UX Canvas and 'How Might We're to drive strategic design decisions. Conducting thorough usability testing proved essential for early design iterations, ensuring that the platform met the needs of our target audience.
