Cloud Experience was a startup that offered cloud storage to consumer and business customers. The service was targeted toward users with cloud storage needs for casual computing.

 

During the redesign for the CX user experience the product team saw an opportunity to increase adoption and user satisfaction by designing a faster method for file uploads.

As the lead UX designer, my role for this project included: 

 

- Opportunity analysis based on existing usage patterns
- Ideation with the desktop development team
- Wire-framing and prototyping
- Design specification
- Continued evaluation of usage through analytics and user testing

 

Through a series of user interviews the product team discovered that users wanted a better way to upload files. While the available tools for file syncing did a good job, many users expressed a desire to transfer large batches of files into their accounts without an ongoing sync connection. 

 

I worked with the product team to design a lightweight desktop app for quickly transferring large batches of files to a user's CX account.

The desktop development team and I worked to iterate on the design for a streamlined upload app and had a working prototype ready for user testing within 3 weeks. To test the app with real users, we took advantage of the high foot traffic near our office (located on a pedestrian mall). 

 

We held 60 minute user tests with five participants over two days. Each test session consisted of a set of test tasks followed by a 20 minute interview about computer usage and media consumption habits. By the end of the test sessions the team had uncovered several usability issues and one major conceptual flaw with the app. 

With a tested design, the team set out to quickly build a Mac and Windows version of the app. I delivered final design specs in parallel with each sprint and the team was shipped an MVP within 6 weeks. 

The desktop app, named "Zipline", was released in early 2013. The app was quickly adopted by many users and the product team saw a noticeable increase in the average storage per user. 

 

Toward the end of 2014, the investment team made a decision to pivot the business to a white label business model. While the original business vision was not fully realized, the redesigned experience continues to power business growth.