My goal: bring value to the user's project planning by displaying key dates within a Canvas Timeline.
Overview
Problem
Phase 1 of Canvas Timeline only gave users a high-level view of
initiative periods. This didn't tell the whole story, leaving room for more
questions that couldn't be answered in Canvas with only showing limited
information. Our users demanded to see a full picture of the various
marketing activities supporting an initiative to organize the right timing of
marketing activities, resource requirements, and visualize dependencies.
Success Measures
- Increase in the creation of Timeline charts from existing and new canvas users
- Update existing Timeline charts with content dates
- Increased views and shares of Timelines with content dates
What is Kapost?
Kapost is a content marketing SaaS platform built for Marketers to create and manage a content operation.
About Canvas Timeline
Canvas Timeline is a Gantt chart planner created to enable marketers to visualize and organize the timing of multiple initiatives and their associated activities – by plotting planned, in progress, and completed initiatives over specific weeks, months, or quarters.
Team
1 Product Managers • 1 Product Owner • 1 Product Designer • 1 Frontend engineer (consultant)
1 Product Managers • 1 Product Owner • 1 Product Designer • 1 Frontend engineer (consultant)
My Role
My role in this project was to pick up where the previous designer finished and carry through the UX refinement, including interaction and visual design, while also participating in all relevant activities, including user testing sessions. I only contributed during the second phase, since the first phase was designed before I joined the team.
Approach
Primary Personas + Use Cases
Content Manager + Planners are the individuals tasked with building and communicating plans that address the organization's strategic needs.
- Visualize a high-level view of initiative spans and drill into content associated
- Visualize content under multiple initiatives in one complete view
- Choose what content dates they want to show on a Timeline
- Adjust initiative spans and content dates while editing a Timeline
- See when task dates are overdue
Marketing Executives aren't regular users inside Kapost. They're responsible for reviewing and approving plans, and occasionally they check the status of plans at a high level to ensure the work being executed aligns with the company's greater goals.
- Visualize a high-level view of initiative spans and drill into content associated
- Visualize content under multiple initiatives in one complete view
- Understand key content dates in the context of initiatives
- See when dates are overdue
Research
Discovery research wasn't necessary since it was conducted during phase 1. The feedback gathered during those sessions influenced the design assumptions for phase 2.
Discovery research wasn't necessary since it was conducted during phase 1. The feedback gathered during those sessions influenced the design assumptions for phase 2.
Design Exploration + Ideation
Product Design
Prototypes + Usability Testing
After going multiple cycles ideation and design exploration, I designed the final direction screens and created a click-through prototype with InVision to conduct series of usability testing.
After going multiple cycles ideation and design exploration, I designed the final direction screens and created a click-through prototype with InVision to conduct series of usability testing.
The goal of having a usability testing session was to validate our design assumptions, visual + interaction design solutions, and to uncover missing essential functionality needed for users while building their timelines.
Our session included 6 participants. Some were Canvas users, and some were not. Two participants matched the Marketing Executive persona, and the other 4 matched the Content Manager + Planner persona.
The feedback we collected overall was positive, but it didn't validate our design solutions 100%. There was some confusion with how the new dates were displayed in the Timeline, and we learned other user needs. We heard: "I need to visualize only some or one workflow date," "the ability to visualize the content dates as a bar and not a dot," dots are too small," "there needs to be a more visual distinction with dates," "I want to create and edit content," I want to edit custom fields.."
After we reviewed the feedback and created themes, we outlined the recommendations for the next design iteration:
• visually differentiate task status (Incomplete, complete and overdue)
•the ability to scope the dates we display on the Timeline
•display content dates as a bar – not (just) dots
•more visual distinction on how we display content vs. initiative details in the sidebar panel reference
•Increase the size of dots/bars for ease of selecting
•Remove checkboxes for workflow because it's confusing that it's not clickable.
Other feedback not related to content dates like "the ability to create and edit content and custom fields" was moved to features backlog for future consideration since it was feedback that blocked users from using the Timeline.
Final Results
We conducted one round of feedback with the same group of participants to validate our design iteration. These were informal 1:1 sessions to talk-through the changes. Overall, our participants responded well to the changes and said it was a huge improvement from the session before. Since we didn't hear anything concerning that could prevent users from working in the Timeline, we made the decision to implement this design direction.
Design deliverables:
• End-to-end Hifi screens
• Design specifications (Style guide + Abstract)
• Longtail designs (first-time user experience, edge cases, zero states, partial and loading states)
• Product onboarding guide using Pendo (designed and written)
• End-to-end Hifi screens
• Design specifications (Style guide + Abstract)
• Longtail designs (first-time user experience, edge cases, zero states, partial and loading states)
• Product onboarding guide using Pendo (designed and written)
Impact
Canvas Timeline Phase 2 was released to the general audience on May 29, 2019. Since the implementation of Content Dates in Timeline, we have seen a
significant increase in adoption by 15% and usage by 61%.
The enhancement to initiative planning with Canvas charts elevated Kapost to a one-stop-shop for Marketing content creation.