Clutch

UX Design SCAD Project

Fall 2023

Collaborators

Jon Rodz, Ghalib Othman, Chi Quach, Fozzie Kretschmer

Timeline

September 23’ - November 23’

Tools

Figma

Links

View Award Submission

Project overview

After interviewing new millennial first-time restaurant owners, it became evident that navigating legal compliance when starting a business is an overlooked and stressful challenge. Clutch aims to minimize stress through a platform that guides you through the legal compliance process with features like progress tracking, guided walkthroughs, an AI assistant, and simplified form-filling. With many barriers to starting a restaurant and high failure rates, Clutch aims to contribute to the sustainability and diversity of new restaurants around the country and the world.

Role

As UX Visual Design Lead & Strategy Lead, I focused on the business, identifying features and user stories of our digital product while also leading in the branding process creating a single vision to inform our product and design decisions.

The Solution

Incorporate new features and revamp existing software through redesign.

The Process

Tenets

In reality, the design process isn't as straightforward as school projects, especially when managing multiple projects. Instead, relying on tenets (principles), goals, and a shared vision was more effective for this internship.

Simple

The experience should be easy to understand, EX: flow should be consistent and the language

All Encompassing

Thorough in use cases, which means there would be no confusion with the experience.

Flexible

Changes happen, so how can those changes happen seamlessly on a whim.

Streamlining Innovation

When implementing features or redesigning, I believe the key is to simplify and innovate. The software I redesigned was initially created without much consideration for customers, using complex language and unhelpful data. By focusing on readability and addressing customer pain points, I collaborated with product and engineering teams to improve both the physical and digital processes.

Navigating Constraints

For Project 1, I gathered feedback from a single customer due to time and resource limitations. Despite interviewing only one customer, I recognized the value of their input. In Project 2, time constraints prevented interviews, but I always considered the customer's perspective. Their frustrations, when shared, became my guiding light for the redesign, rooted in data-driven decision-making to address customer problems.

Working with Product Management

In the project, I initially focused on redesigning a specific software section as assigned by the Product team. However, as I explored the entire product, I grasped its overall vision and future goals. While giving priority to my designated section, I took on the responsibility of considering the entire product, resulting in a more unified redesign. Moreover, I spotted a potential future-facing feature and imagined how it could fit in—highlighting the importance of flexibility.

Embrace uncertainty

Unlike the first project, Project 2 lacked explicit business requirements. Despite this, I leveraged my UX Designer toolkit to create a user flow which help stakeholders gain clarity. I derived questions from customer feedback, collaborating with product and engineering teams for iterative development. While making UI, continued with a few assumptions, I maintained consistent communication with multiple stakeholders to align on physical process to inform the digital space. Embracing an agile approach, I iterated based on assumptions, refining as requirements clarified.

Dev Handoff

In Projects 1 and 2, through iterative processes and meticulous documentation, I ensured developers had all necessary information. This approach prevents them from overlooking key details or seeking clarification post-project. Notably, my design hand-off to developers garnered positive feedback, setting a new benchmark for UX Designers in the org.

Overall... excited for the future

Here is an ad I made that you might see one day, as an exercise to understand the Prime Air brand. Prime Air has a big promise that would revolutionize how we receive packages, so I am happy to be apart of that.

Thank you, Prime Air, for an unforgettable summer

Jon's dedication to understanding the needs of our associates have been evident through his proactive efforts to gather their input and delve into various resources to explore foundational product requirements. His holistic approach to the product has led him to initiate improvements that extend beyond its defined scope. Consistently, Jon has proactively sought assistance and remained receptive to feedback and critique, effectively overcoming obstacles in his path. Jon' dedication to customer-centric design process, ownership mentality, and results-driven approach will make him a valuable asset to any team.

Alex Stremiakov

Senior UX Designer

I'm very impressed with Jon's UX design work. He developed an intuitive, simple, and flexible UX for our operations software based on inputs from stakeholders and customers. He demonstrated ownership by thinking long term and developing a product that will adapt to all types of changes. Very excited to see the final product in action!

Trevor Swain

Industrial Engineer II

Huge Kudos to Jon for driving the UX exercise for the project. He showed great customer obsession and insisted on highest standards by iterating and evolving the UX designs for better customer experience. Also, loved the creativity in the mid-point presentation!! Great work!

Mayank Kunawat

Software Development Manager

Really appreciated Jon's enthusiasm, communication, and attention to detail when working on UX mock-ups for the the project. He was very good about staying in touch with his customers regarding the status of deliverables and was also quick to incorporate feedback. His products were delivered on time and his presentations were top-notch!

Elisha Stevenson

SDE II