Overview
RapidWash is an on-demand laundry pickup and delivery mobile app. This products' goals are to:
• Provide users the ability to order their dirty laundry picked up, washed, dried, folded and delivered through the palm of their hand
• Revolutionize the way people do laundry, by providing the first and biggest on-demand, same day service
• Give independent contractors new avenues for income in an inconsistent industry
Roles: Product/UI UX Design, Web Design, Marketing Strategy
Product/UI UX Design: discovery, market & competitive research, wireframing, user personas, mapping user flows, development and implementation of consistent branding across screens, high-fidelity prototypes, UX testing, and handoff.
This portfolio page focuses on Product/UI UX Design; the application's design process. To view more on the RapidWash Web Design process, visit this link.
Problem
Users currently do not have a way to get their laundry done on demand like we do with food delivery, or ride-sharing. Other similar laundry delivery business models offer next-day delivery; which can be inconvenient for users with time-sensitive chores, who may not want to, or have time to do themselves.
Solution
Through discovery, research, ideation, user flows, wireframing, branding & iteration I designed & built a fully responsive website. The site is an important part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, to lead users to the app, both of which I later created. The site introduces users to the service- as well as allows them to navigate the site easily & gives them plenty of opportunities to provide their email, where we can begin building a relationship & convert them into customers once the app is designed and launched. (Coming soon!)
1. Discovery
I. My first step to discovery was understanding the app's purpose. Some of the questions I asked were:
-What problem(s) is RapidWash trying to solve?
-For who, and where?
-What are the brand values & goals?
-What is the business model?
II. Once I answered to these questions, I asked myself more questions directly related to design. Such as:
-What is the purpose of the app?
-What screens/features/processes does the app need?
-What will the branding identity look & feel like?
III. As the next part of my discovery process, I conducted market research & competitive analysis to learn more about the mobile laundry market, possible competitors, their business model, and of course their branding & design.
-Does this service/or a similar service already exist, in our area or elsewhere?
-What is their business model?
-What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong?
-How could we improve upon what is already out there?
I. What is RapidWash, & who is it for?
-RapidWash’s goal is to provide the fastest, easiest laundry pickup, wash, dry & fold service.
-RapidWash will service customers who live a busy lifestyle, or just don't like doing their laundry, in the Bay Area.
-Their goal is to provide users quick, reliable, easy & friendly service
-Users simply sign up, place an order, and receive fresh, folded laundry in a couple hours. Users have different plan options.
II. What does the website need to look like & accomplish?
-The purpose of the website is to introduce users to RapidWash, create brand awareness & to be used as a powerful marketing tool- it's more viable to have an app for the orders/deliveries themselves. The site will also build rapport, a relationship, and excitement within future customers while we build the app.
-Therefore, the site should have a home page, a service page, and sign up features for customers, employees, & partners, as part of a comprehensive email & ad marketing strategy.
-The brand's identity, and personality is friendly- making users feel calm, relaxed, even relieved. Ultimately, this is what the service is going to make future customers feel.
Ill. Who are our market competitors, & what are they currently doing?
-However, these services do not typicaly boast same day delivery but they also offer similar plan options.
-Their services are okay, their UX in general is okay but could be slightly improved.The competitors' branding & design is not as user-friendly, or visually modern as we plan on. One of the sites was not even fully responsive for mobile, which is already a huge issue in 2021.
-We can create a service that is better than existing ones because of our speed, flexibility, and improved user experience.
2. Market Research | Competitive Analysis
Below are the market research & competitive analysis notes; as well as notes on the top search results in the industry (for SEO purposes) in more detail below:
I focused on 2 services that are most similar to RapidWash, to evaluate what they were doing right and wrong. I learned some key differences between their businesses & ours. As mentioned in the discovery summary, a key selling point in RapidWash's favor was that other services available locally, promised next-day delivery- unlike RapidWash's true-to-its-name, same-day delivery. Another key point, from a marketing standpoint was that the competitors' websites were outdated, not as user-friendly on mobile, and lacking good user experience design. Their main advantage against RapidWash, was that they'd obviously rank higher in SEO immediately- so that was a long-term battle to focus on after launch.
3. Ideation
So now that I had enough valuable information to guide my design strategy & decisions, I began with creating wireframes for what the app may look like. When creating the wireframes, it's necessary to put myself in the users shoes and asked myself these questions, from a UX standpoint:
-Who is the user and what different users may we expect? (Customers, employees, partners)
-What processes does each type of user need to effortlessly complete their goals without a problem?
-How can we streamline each of these processes for efficiency, and create the best UX for irl use, taking into account real scenarios such as drivers navigating the app while in traffic?
Since there are three different types of users- customer, employee, and partners, we needed 3 versions of the app, one for each. The most important part of the app would be the customer's ordering process, and the employees' route process. It was key to build an efficient, streamlined and well-tested application.
4. Wireframing
I created low-fidelity wireframes for these 3 versions; so I created wireframes for each of the 3 versions.
For wireframing, I'm focusing on creating screens that are needed, features needed, layouts, and user experience during this stage, as opposed to visual design. Color, branding & style will come later so I focus on what's important right now.
Creating a good UX by ensuring the app is easy to navigate, responsive & accessible is important. I ensure it will achieve the business goals & function intuitively for all users, keeping in mind that this is not final but can still be improved while designing, or testing.
5. Branding Identity
I discussed the branding identity with the founder, and we went over a few questions such as:
-What is the branding identity in terms of mood, and what we intend the user to feel?
-What colors, fonts, graphics or images would fit the theme of an innovative laundry app?
-How can we communicate that visually?
I wanted the branding style to be calm & cool. Soothing, but also fun. I decided on a combination of two complementary colors: blue, and orange. Blue conveys a calm & relaxation, while orange gives it a sense of fun & joy. I was careful to select a palette that is very light- not too dark, bright or gaudy & instead opted for modern, soothing color tones that are easy on the eyes.
6. High-fidelity Prototyping
Now that I had a solid layout of what features the app needed, and how it was going to look like through the wireframes & style guide, it was time to implement my plans into the design on Figma.
Once I completed the designs, I created a prototype, which you can test for yourself by contacting me for the link.
RapidWash app is coming soon. 3 versions of it actually: Customer, employee, merchant facing. For now, it's a bit of a surprise. Stay posted for one of the most innovative apps in the Bay Area!
This is really it. For now. Go check out my other work.