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Collaboration UX upgrade
Case study - Samsung notes
Project Background
Project intro
The main objective of this project is to elevate the collaborative experience within Samsung Notes. Presently, the app restricts sharing to entire notebooks, lacking the ability to share individual notes— an outdated design limitation.
The project aims to address this issue by exploring a streamlined and effortless method for note-sharing while catering to other essential user needs throughout the process.
Stakeholders
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R&D, Sr. professional
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HQ UX designers, VP of design
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Samsung account team
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3rd party research agency
My Role
In collaboration with a third-party research agency, I developed the recruitment criteria and interview questions for a study on general productivity enhancement. Upon reviewing the report, I identified a pressing need for improvements to the app.
To address this, I worked alongside Headquarter UX designers, NJ office UX designers, and PM colleagues, to ideate potential solutions. I also collaborated with R&D to further ensure that proposed design solutions were feasible and incorporated their feedback into the final design presentation, which was presented to the VP.
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As a result, the proposed idea was selected for further development by the note app team and was released in beta version in March 2023.
Why are we upgrading?
There is a demand, but why don’t our users use Samsung notes for collaboration?
Based on the user research, it appears that all of users rely on their phone's note app for quick and easy note-taking. A significant portion of these users also share their notes with others.
However, the adoption of the Samsung note-sharing feature is low, with only a few users having used it.
News from April 2019
The 'Shared notebook' is an outdated system.
Samsung's current approach to note-sharing is 'Shared notebook,' which only allows users to share entire notebooks rather than individual notes. Users wants to have a quick and easy solution.
Therefore, we are proposing the new ‘Shared notes.’
The outcome
Our users love the new solution. The new version received an 87.5% satisfaction rate and also boosted the rating for the overall app in the Google play store.
Research & Definition
Objectives & Funnel strategy
Multiple workshops and interview sessions were conducted to align our internal teams. We also met with user groups to understand their high-level expectations. These sessions provided valuable insights and set the foundation for our user-centered approach.
Research & Definition
Deep dive into user painpoints
After speaking with the users and comparing with the current solutions, I have identified the pain points and some expectation for the new solution.
Initial & Final feature list after aligning with cross funciton teams
The new solution
Upgraded
Collaborating Experience
Based on the research and the alignment with cross-functional teams, here is the new solution for the upgraded collaborating experience.
It is easy to use.
Create new shared notes
The new solution provides two easy ways to create new shared notes. Just like creating a regular note, users only need one tap on the FAB. They can also convert the existing personal note into a shared note.
Title bar
Access desired information - Homepage
The homepage is redesigned to place ‘notifications,’ ‘shared notebook,’ and ‘shared notes.’ It seamlessly merges with the existing notebook system, yet provides a familiar way for the shared note. Different UI layouts for various conditions and view types are also provided.
Notifications
Shared notebooks
Sorting
Shared notes
Shared note view types
Shared note status
Title bar
Access desired information - Member
The member information can also be accessed by expanding the title bar. The same component as the personal note.
Inspired by existing elements
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Personal note expanded title Shared notebook member list
Share with others using different methods
The sharing experience has also been improved to avoid confusion by showing the target limitation upfront.
The new solution provides the additional approach of ‘share link’ which gives more flexibility to the users.
Receive and respond to invitation
The notification system is also redesigned to ensure consistency and awareness.
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The new solution
Upgraded
Collaborating Experience
Based on the research and the alignment with cross-functional teams, here is the new solution for the upgraded collaborating experience.
It has a powerful toolkit.
Allow granular permissions
When collaborating, having different roles in the shared group is essential. Therefore, the new solution provides three role types: leader, editor, and viewer to fulfill all the needs. Leaders will be required to select another leader when leave.
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Edit member info
When leaders leave, they need to pick a new leader
Mention team members
This feature was developed from the insights of assigning tasks to others and a comment system. Due to development restrictions, I aligned with the R&D team to only provide a 'mention' function for the current update.
Type @ to mention
Type name to mention
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The recipient will receive a notification
Collaborate in real-time
The new solution allows multiple users to edit at the same time, the changes will be reflected in real-time. However, it is nice to inform users about other people’s status, so that they will not be surprised.
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If more than one user opens the note, the blue dot will be shown next to the number and next to the profile.
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The role of the member does not matter if read-only or not.
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If the other members leave, the dot will disappear.
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A smart tip will be provided for the first time to explain the UI.
The new solution
Upgraded
Collaborating Experience
Based on the research and the alignment with cross-functional teams, here is the new solution for the upgraded collaborating experience.
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It is beyond one device.
Seamless switch among devices
During user research, many users mention how synced notes help them to boost productivity. And here is a chance to take a step further with continuing on other devices.
Re-visit the objectives
Objectives & Funnel strategy
To make sure the new solution is fulfilling the initial objectives and strategy, here is a comparison of the new features and the diagram. As the diagram shows below, the objectives have been successfully transferred into living features.
Outcome & Items to improve
Outcome
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Presented to VP and fellow HQ UX designers
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Launched the feature in March 2023 in Beta version
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Received 87.5% satisfaction rate
Items to improve
There is never the perfect design, some areas can be investigated further or revisited in the future when the team has more time or resources. The way of collaborating among teams can also be optimized for the next project.
Project specs
Font table
Color palette
