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Iron Hack Scholarship

Virgin Galactic App Concept

For my application to the Iron Hack x The Sims Scholarship I developed an app concept for Virgin Galactic. The main aim was to find a way to increase collaborations or donations.

We had to complete four sprints in four days to reach a low-fidelity prototype of our solution. The fourth sprint was to make a presentation of our findings – I will not include the presentation here.

Date

01/2020

Sprint 1 – Learn

 

1.1 – Pain Points

Task: Describe the pain points in the website experience. Go to Virgin Galactic Website. Browse the web to discover what you can do in it.

  • Pain Point 1
    After you skip the introduction, you immediately get another introduction.
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance, time loss.
  • Pain Point 2
    Recently updated Website
    User reaction: Old users might find the new site somewhat unusual and therefore confusing to get around
  • Pain Point 3
    CTA’s don’t stand out well enough – not accessibly designed
    User reaction: sadness, exclusion
  • Pain Point 4
    Loading time is quite high – scored very low on the PageSpeed Insights from google
    User reaction: impatience, frustration, annoyance
  • Pain Point 5
    Certain sub-pages aren’t optimised for mobile. e.g. text is cut off on subpage “Mission”
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance
  • Pain Point 6
    Confusing navigation – Navigation points not consistent
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance
  • Pain Point 1
    After you skip the introduction, you immediately get another introduction.
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance, time loss.
  • Pain Point 2
    Recently updated Website
    User reaction: Old users might find the new site somewhat unusual and therefore confusing to get around
  • Pain Point 3
    CTA’s don’t stand out well enough – not accessibly designed
    User reaction: sadness, exclusion
  • Pain Point 4
    Loading time is quite high – scored very low on the PageSpeed Insights from google
    User reaction: impatience, frustration, annoyance
  • Pain Point 5
    Certain sub-pages aren’t optimised for mobile. e.g. text is cut off on subpage “Mission”
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance
  • Pain Point 6
    Confusing navigation – Navigation points not consistent
    User reaction: frustration, annoyance

1.2 – User Stories

Task: Point out the actions the user can perform as user stories. List the tasks a user can complete in this website. Hint: gain awareness and get informed are not tasks that can be completed.

  • As a science student, I want to see the latest media of space science, to satisfy my interest in the topic.
  • As an investor, I want to see their latest financial materials, so that I can make an educated decision.
  • As a (rich) space enthusiast, I want to sign up for a flight, so that I can go into space.
  • As a rocket scientist, I want to get some research papers from Virgin Galactic, so I can use it for my projects.
  • As a job seeker (e.g. designer, engineer, astronaut), I want to join the team, to be part of a cool unique project.
  • As a professor, I want to enquire about researching options with Virgin Galactic, so that I have data for a project.

1.3 – Task Flow

Task: How can the user become a collaborator for Virgin Galactic? Describe the task flow within the interface.

1.4 – Ways to get engaged

Task: How can the user support Virgin Galactic’s mission? Point out the existing ways to get engaged.

Virgin Galactic’s missions:

  • Using space for good
    To be the Spaceline for Earth
  • VSS Unity
    Offer everyone the opportunity to become private astronauts and experience the wonder of space for themselves. Our spaceships will also offer the research community a unique platform for space-based science.
  • Democratizing Space
    Inspiring young people through space-inspired Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives.

The user can support Virgin Galactic’s mission by:

  • Collaborating with the research team
  • Sign up for the seat waiting list for upcoming flights
  • Join the growing Virgin Galactic Team
  • Become an Investor
  • Donate to Galactic Unite program

Sprint 2 – Define

2.1 -Problem Statement

Task: Define what problem you are helping your user to overcome with a problem statement. Previous analysis points will give you a few different ideas on what to improve. Pick one opportunity.

My Statement:
The space enthusiast needs a way to donate to the Galactic Unite program from Virgin Galactic’s website because he/she wants to support future generations of space explorations.

2.2 -Hypothesis Statement

Task: Clearly explain what you’re going to work on with a hypothesis statement for the app design and experience optimization. Back up your decisions using insights you got from the previous analysis. Include reasoning and process.

My Statement:
I believe providing a way to donate from the virgin galactic website for users interested in donating to the Galactic Unite program will achieve a higher rate of donations. I will know I am right when the donations for the Galactic Unite program increase by 10% through the traffic on virgin galactic.

3.1 – User flow

Task: Plan a User flow of how the user would use the app to complete the task.

3.2 – Wireframe

Task: *BONUS* Wireframe the happy path. Design the flow of a user navigating from home until they successfully completed the task. We’ll be looking into the reasoning to improve the user experience.

Wireframe for the virgin galactic app concept