UX Redesign Assignment

I’m in a recruitment process to be part of a large company as a ux designer and they gave me this challenge where I have to redesign a screen for an airline. I only have to focus on the step where users have to select the flights (inbound and outbound), there’s a matrix with pricing with the typical “outbound and return”, and also there’s a long list of flilghts with the information.

I already have assumptions about what could be the main interaction problems, and I thought about presenting a design thinking approach.

I have no access to the users, and they didn’t provide any user research results… they asked me to present the desiderables of research, definition, wireframes, prototypes, etc in any way I consider appropriate… I have to back my redesign decisions, my assumptions, etc.

They asked me to recommend what would be next steps to follow after I present my recommendations.

I’m a bit lost cause I don’t have any user research results, and I feel like I have to work only with my assumptions, come up with a prototype and in the end I guess suggest testing.

What do you think they expect me to showcase?

Thanks in advance…

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From what I know, I think that presenting your design thinking approach is the way to go.

I think this conversation may be relevant. Designer's Exploitation

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Thanks Piper for your comment!

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This is surprisingly (and annoyingly) common.

I think your best approach is to design based on your assumptions but clearly communicate the flaw in that approach when you present.

@dougcollins will likely have a more useful answer.

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Thanks, @HAWK, for tagging me. This is certainly becoming a far-too-common practice.

Both @HAWK and @Piper_Wilson are on the right track here. The company is very likely looking to evaluate your design thinking at this stage, and your best bet is to approach the project based on your assumptions, since you’re forced to make them in this context. My best advice is to clearly state your assumptions as you make them, and to be prepared to discuss them in your interview.

Have they given you specific deliverables that they’re looking for, or are the instructions more vague?

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Thank you for your input.

Yes, the instructions are vague, and I have no deliverables so far.

I prepared a presentation I will defend later today with some assumptions, hypothesis with potential solutions. I designed a hi-fi prototype to show them how I would re-design certain features, and I plan to explain to them the reasoning behind it.

I didn’t test anything, so it’s all based in assumptions, I created proto-personas based on my first guess… but I will put empahsis on the importance of research to come up with a more refined solution.

they think I would be a good candidate for the visual design team as well. I also created a potential visual design based on my prototype, I was thinking about showing this to them…

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I’d keep the visual design in your back pocket unless they specifically ask for it, maybe to send over in a “thank you” email as a final touch to your application.

I think you’ve set yourself up well, but I’ll be interested to hear how things go. Will you check back in after and let us know?

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Yes of course I will probably post the presentation I created with google slides later =) I want to hear their feedback, and of course I would love feedback from you guys so I can publish it in my portfolio.

I will keep the visual design in my pocket and send it in a separate email to avoid confusion. I don’t want them to think it’s part of the process…

Thanks a lot! =)

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You’re welcome. Good luck - you’re going to rock it!

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Nice and cunning.

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I did exactly as he suggested!!! thank you guys!

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I recently had a task very similar to this! I had to design 2 pages of a larger subscription process. One thing I learned, was to talk about the things I didn’t do, and why. And also, what I would do differently given more time and In different circumstances. This way, I could still show that I knew what I was talking about. For example, why create a persona to change 2 pages? - it wouldn’t make any sense.

What I also included was a current userflow and a newly proposed userflow, too. This way I could show my intentions for the bigger picture if I was given more time.

Also, a section to show how you would measure the results of your changes could be really useful :slight_smile:

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@HAWK not as sneaky as the spoiler tag, which I didn’t even know we had!

What’s this blurriness magic???

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We have all sorts of magic at Discourse. :wink:

@AshleaMcKay it’s a spoiler markdown tag.

[spoiler]Text here[/spoiler]

And what about this one.

Don't click me

Damn it. Now I have to ban you.

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I love it!!! :smile:

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