Hive: Case Study
The world is full of excess. One gadget for this, an app for that, and an extension app for that app you didn’t really need in the first place. Isn’t technology supposed to simplify your life? You don’t have time for this. You have... a business to run. An interest to explore. A career to start. An idea to share. A story to tell. Go home to your hive.
¨your go-to cloud storage space to create, inspire & share¨
Role: UX Design, UX Research, Visual Design, Brand Identity
Deliverables: Competitive Analysis, User Survey, User Personas, Wireframes, Usability Testing, High Fidelity Mockups, Clickable Prototype
Tools: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, InVision, Adobe Illustrator, UsabilityHub
Chapter 1: The Challenge Overview
For this project, I was challenged to rethink what cloud storage could be. In a market that is full of quite a few big players, what could be missing? I didn’t realize one of the most obvious solutions that is missing in the market - until I did my research.
The Problems Revealed
As someone who uses many different types of cloud storage applications, I began to notice many patterns of inefficiencies. I directed my focus and narrowed in on three main problems, which my user research later reinforced.
1. Cloud storage services are an overload for users. The average user has multiple storage spaces, each serving a similar, but-ever-so-slightly-different, function. This may involve many passwords to remember, multiple sessions of uploading items, different organizing systems, and new accounts to maintain.
2. Organizing and gathering content is not as all-encompassing as it should be. It’s your storage space, you should be able to organize your interface and files in the way that best suits your needs. All file types should be compatible.
3. The hassle of collaborating and sharing files is real. In 2018, collaborating and sharing files should be instant and in real-time like everything else we do online. Our social networks should be connected and our files should be shared and unshared, edited and perfected, easily and seamlessly.
Taking a Closer Look
When taking a closer look at some of the realities facing today’s cloud storage service users, the following frustrations continuously reappeared:
Remaining organized and in-control of your files (and schedule and life!) is more confusing when there are too many platforms to keep track of.
Finding and keeping content sorted in a way that makes your life easier is frustrating when you are unable to customize your organizational structure in a way that works best for you.
Brainstorming and creating content amidst an overload of UI elements is chaotic and cumbersome when inspiration hits.
Finding the right team is hard enough, but sharing and collaborating is more of a hassle when you cannot easily connect with them.
“a space to save and collect, a secure place for memories, and a connection to a community for sharing”
Developing a Solution
Before any problems could be solved, the design process needed to be carefully planned. However, even with the most thorough preparation, the process still involved continuous reiterations. To address the problem of a cluttered interface and maximize user efficiency, I made the following four design decisions - which were greatly influenced from user testing feedback.
Design a user interface that is simple and intuitive, by having minimal UI elements and using ‘whitespace’ to create a calm, controlled, and elegant space.
Establish an organizing system that acts as a chronological file and a categorical file - always with the flexibility to organize and adjust to user preferences.
Connect a social network feature to the cloud storage system, so user easily create teams, share and unshare, and collaborate in real-time.
Although, this is just the beginning. I discovered that my users want a space to save and collect photos, links or files that inspire them. They want this to be the same place that they store their own creations: photos, memories, documents. They want to be connected to a network of friends, family and coworkers who they could easily share things with and collaborate on new ideas.
¨Users want a community - a central space to make all of these things happen. This is where Hive comes in¨
Chapter 2: The Discovery Phase
Understanding the Needs of Users
In order to understand how Hive became my cloud storage solution, we need to begin with the user research process. What did my users want in a cloud storage system? What were they missing in their current situation? These were the things that I was trying to discover:
Understanding the Needs of Users
In order to understand how Hive became my cloud storage solution, we need to begin with the user research process. What did my users want in a cloud storage system? What were they missing in their current situation? I had my own ideas of the solution, but it wasn’t until I did my user research that I began to see the full picture. I reached out to my family, friends, social media, and Slack platforms to get a better idea of what my target market wanted.
The survey was taken by over 20 people in the target market.
View User Survey: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFhzyW0Nn0y3Tz2hB9ojBIH8VgR36SX7AOTdqp5bptc3UXoA/viewform?usp=sf_link)
These were the things that I was trying to discover:
Which cloud storage services are most used;
How often users uses their cloud storage service;
What are the main motivations to use a cloud storage service;
What types of content users typically work on or with in their cloud;
How happy users are with their cloud’s organizing structure;
Users organizing preferences in a cloud storage;
What are the main frustrations of the user with current cloud storages;
Finding Design Direction through Research Results
According to the survey results – and as I expected – they want it all! All users use their cloud storage system for both personal and business purposes. They want the capabilities for storage, sharing, and backing-up old files. Users want to be able to include documents, photos, old files, web pages and media. Cloud storage service usage is split almost equally between daily, weekly, and monthly users. Half are happy with their organizing system and half are not. Yet at the same time, 61% want to customize it. The key takeaway from these survey results confirmed my hunch. Users want the best of all the cloud storage services combined in one place.
¨the best of all the cloud storage services combined in one place¨
Looking Closer at the Competitors
Since Hive was to become a combination of all of the most useful and stand-out qualities of its competitors - I focused on identifying the main strengths that are specific to each of the most popular cloud storage service companies. Some of the key takeaways included: having accessible platforms on many devices, ease of collaboration, ability to share/unshare, document workspaces, visually appealing platforms, catchy company lingo, customizable boards, flexible storage options, easy transferring and sharing, and a simple/user-friendly interface.
Bringing Hive Users to Life
Now that I figured out who my users are, I needed to create their unique personalities, motivations, and stories in a realistic way. This way, I could refer back to them, to validate decisions as I continued through the design process.
Meet Verenice, Boris and Olivia. Our first Hivers! They represent a diverse set of motivations, whose needs can be met through the use of Hive cloud storage.
Verenice Hernandez, 37
Occupation: Business Director
Archetype: Leader
“Life is long enough if you time manage it properly.”
Motivations: Results, Communication, Central Organization, Security, Collaboration
Goals:
To be able to keep all colleagues on the same page with projects and information sharing
To keep the company system organized and working as efficient and effective as possible
For quick file sharing and easy access to old data files
Frustrations:
Not being able to access up to date information
An company system that is disorganized and not intuitive
Inability to communicate instantly with colleagues about projects and data
Boris Brody, 49
Occupation: Art Director, part-time model
Archetype: Visionary
“Life is beautiful chaos. However in a storage system, I want beauty, not chaos.”
Motivations: Quality, Beauty, Artistic Freedom, Security, Convenience
Goals:
To have a customizable cloud storage organizing system that is also visually pleasing to look at
To be secure in the fact that cloud storage service will guarantee back-ups and file retrieval
To be able to edit images and work entirely inside the cloud storage system
Frustrations:
Not having the freedom to visually customize my own organizing system
Have lost work due to inadequate file retrival features in cloud storage systems
Limited software application capabilities for working inside cloud storage systems
Olivia O’Riley, 19
Occupation: Student
Archetype: Collaborator
“The sky should be the limit in technology and I have high expectations to be able to do anything and everything.”
Motivations: Collaboration, Communication, Getting things done, Efficiency, Innovative
Goals:
To work as a group efficiently on class projects, communicating with colleagues easily
To keep backup files of academic and personal work
To be able to access all material from any device at any time
Frustrations:
Needing to use multiple cloud storage services to get things done
Wishes layouts were more update to date and visually attractive
Not the easiest to find colleagues or students contact info to collaborate
Chapter 3: Go Home to your Hive
Before creating the layout and interface of Hive, I first had to develop the brand of Hive. The brand identity defined the aesthetic decisions in the design process.
The Making of Hive
I intended to create a cloud application space that invoked feelings of being fresh, modern and light, mixed with the ability to focus and create. I felt that both the name and the concept of Hive, were a beautiful balance between being industrious and staying connected to ourselves and our surroundings. Inside of a hive, are the building blocks of honeycombs that are the ideal visual representation of organization, dependability and structure. With honeybees famed for being hard workers, Hive is the place we go to make things happen. But also, it is that in the home, or hive, where we collect the pieces of ourselves at the end of the day. Hive is that safe, familiar place in which inside, we can produce or be inspired. Hive is our ideal home that is always organized, inspiring, modern and elegant. The go-to place to decompress, accomplish or explore curiosities.
¨balance between being industrious and remaining connected¨
After deciding on the direction and personality behind the brand name, the logo was next. It is the honeycomb, a crucial piece of the hive, geometrically divided into pieces that were shaded in to look like stacked boxes. These subtly represent the building blocks of storage and also of success. The colors are modern and elegant, meant to soothe, inspire, and allude to the simple beauty of nature.
Designing a logo that reflects hive
Evoking the Hive emotions
The colors of my logo were inspired directly from one of my moodboard images of a modern and a lively room: using a similar color palette. Because the audience is mature, professional and creatively inclined - I chose a combination of a soothing light pink-peach and various shades of yellows to motivate and inspire and grays to create a subdued balance. The image represented the clean, modern and elegant space that I wanted Hive to feel like on your desktop.
I chose Italiana as the exclusive typeface for the hive logo, and Roboto for the primary typeface. I chose both of these fonts because of their elegance and simplicity. They fit the emotions and personality that I wanted Hive to embody.
View the Hive Style Guide Here
(https://www.figma.com/file/OResP8yJBrbmLOD2mg2ypQOQ/hive-style-guide?node-id=0%3A1)