Venture Small Business Directory
This project is a case study for the Google UX Design Professional Certificate course. It highlights the design process and decisions made, wireframes, mockups and High-fidelity prototypes in Figma along with explanations of the user research and testing that informed them.
Project Overview
A small business directory website is a platform that allows users to search for and find information about local businesses in a specific area. The website’s main goal is to provide an easy-to-use and visually appealing interface for users to quickly find the information they need.
My Contributions
My role was to identify the customer who is going to use the app, conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing. Low and high fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and finalize the mobile application design ready for the developer. The duration of the project was November 2022 to December 2022.
Problem Statement
“The small business directory website currently lacks a user-friendly interface and efficient navigation, leading to frustration for users trying to find and contact local businesses. The problem with small business directory websites are that they are not up to date and have wrong business information or they do not have enough businesses listed.
Goals
The goal of the project is to create a intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to find the information they need about local businesses. The website should meet the needs of the user for fast search results and up to date and correct information about business listings. The opening hours and contact details is important information on a business directory.
Design Process
The first step was to conduct user research to understand the needs of the target audience and how they currently find information about local businesses. This include user interviews and a competitor analysis. The information gathered during the research phase define the problem that the directory is trying to solve.
Design Considerations
Design considerations include that the directory should be easy to navigate, a powerful search function that allows users to easily find the business they are looking for, the listings should be clear and concise and easy to read. They should include all the information that the users are likely to be looking for. Mobile-friendly, accessibility to users with disabilities and the directory should be consistent with the overall branding and visually pleasing.
The next step was to create wireframes and prototypes of the website’s layout and navigation. This involved deciding on the structure and organization of the website’s content, as well as designing the user interface.
Once the usability testing is complete, the website can be designed and developed. The visual design of the website, including the typography, color scheme, and imagery was created in the mockups designs.
Usability testing helped with the search page and with the content of the specific business page.
The mockups of the website.
The mockups of the mobile screen.
High-fidelity Prototype
The main focus of the website is fast and easy search results with all the information the user needs. Login and register pages was also added to the user flow.
Final Designs
The first three screens is the final designs of the website and the last three screens is how the design will look on a mobile phone.
