InkTank Tattoo App
A go-to resource for planning a tattoo from idea to ink!
Overview
The Problem
Getting a tattoo is an incredibly personal experience, and can be a complex and emotional process. Despite being a large global industry, information on getting a tattoo and resources for inspiration are scattered over various platforms. This can ultimately make it challenging for users to find the information they need to make informed decisions and be happy with their tattoo.
The Goal
To design an easy to access resource for users that simplifies the process of researching inspiration, imagining how a tattoo may look, finding the right tattoo artist and getting quick answers to their tattoo queries.
Role: UX Research & UX Design
Timeline: 6 month student project, CareerFoundry UX bootcamp.
The Process
Research
Competitor Analysis
In order to gain an understanding of what was already available on the market, I completed a competitor analysis of two of the most popular tattoo-related apps. Through this process, I was able to gain an understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and possible areas of improvement that could be incorporated into InkTank.
Throughout the process of the Competitor Analysis, I found that while there are tattoo-related apps on the market that cater particularly well for various aspects of the tattooing process, there were none that incorporated all the steps and elements of planning and getting a tattoo in one easy to access location.
User Research
Research Goals
To better understand user behaviour and attitude towards the process of getting a tattoo.
Documenting existing user preferences in use of tattoo related resources and any points of friction in existing tattoo related resources available to users.
To determine what tasks a user would like to complete using a tattoo related app.
User Surveys
Aims
To gain an insight into who our user demographic may be.
establish their current processes in getting tattooed.
To understand what they would find most beneficial in a tattoo app.
Key Insights:
The majority of respondents (40%) spend over 3 months on average planning and researching for a tattoo.
Instagram is the main source of inspiration, largely due to the ease at which they could find images, styles and artists.
The top three consideration for users when planning a tattoo were the tattoo design/concept, style, and size/position.
User Interviews
Three user interviews were conducted in order to gain deeper insight into the thoughts and behaviours of a cross section of our target user group, to further inform our app development. These interviews were conducted both online and via Skype video calls.
Interviews focused largely on participants' previous experiences planning and getting a tattoo, in order to understand the various means and methods users may undertake throughout this process.
These interviews provided valuable information for each of the research goals, and offered great additional insight into the various ways users may use the app.
Notes from these interviews were collated and grouped into topics, in order to summarise the following findings;
The amount of planning that goes in to a tattoo varies greatly between people, and even then between individual tattoos. Seems largely dependent on personal attitudes towards tattoos.
Everyone has a different process for getting a tattoo, but generally will consider the same elements.
Methods of finding tattoo inspiration varies between users, from those who enjoy browsing and those who like to search for particular items through specific searches - both will need to be catered for.
Users would like to save their inspiration images so they can go back to them and reference them at a later time and need a function to easily do this.
Users don’t want to go too far out of their way to get a tattoo, if they can find a reputable tattoo artist/studio nearer to their location.
Help when searching is a recurring interest - whether filtering searches or providing search options - and is dependent on how users like to search for inspiration.
Ideation
User Personas
Through my research, two clear user personas took shape - ‘The Newbie’ and ‘The Enthusiast’. While both have similar end goals, these two personas had different ways of going about researching their tattoos, and the emphasis of their research was placed in different areas - either design inspiration, or tattoo artist.
Amy, The Newbie, is a young student looking to get her first tattoo, but doesn’t really know where to start and needs a bit more help and guidance.
Jackson, The Enthusiast, has a number of tattoos and is very specific in what he wants for in his next tattoo. He's more interested in specific tattoo artists.
User Journey Maps
User journey maps were created for both user personas in order to develop an insight into their tasks, thoughts and emotions they may experience while undertaking specific tasks with the app.
This was an interesting task for me to undertake as it forced me to dive even further into how my user personas would experience the app. The most challenging element of this stage was anticipating what emotions my personas may be feeling at the various points of their journey, as this could vary greatly between various users. To overcome this I referred back to my user research, using quotes from my participants to help inform my decisions.
User Flows
By imagining what entry points and journeys my user personas would need to navigate to complete a task, I could then develop user flows to map out their entire journey from the entry point to task completion. This helped to establish which screens and processes were required and began to inform the Information Architecture of the app.
This was a step that I came back to multiple times throughout the development process as the app developed and took shape. I found that coming back to the user flow process and making adjustments at this level, rather than just at the information architecture level, enabled me to ensure any changes to the app maintained an instinctual user flow.
Development
Card Sort & Site Map
Based off my user flows, I developed a site map to begin mapping out the information architecture of InkTank. Once this was in place I facilitated a round of card sorting with five recruited participants, in order to test whether this was a logical structure and gain insight into how users would naturally group elements of the app in the most instinctual way.
This process showed that users largely grouped the elements of the app in the same manner, supporting the overarching structure that had been suggested. One standout difference presented by one participant was the grouping of all search categories into one group, rather than dividing them as other participants had. I found this of particular interest as it presented an alternate user flow not previously considered, that would be worth looking in to in order to provide instinctual pathways for the most users possible.
The card sort process did provide further insights into how users would navigate the app and allowed the overall structure & site map to be refined and optimised.
Similarity Matrix
Standardisation Grid
Dendrogram - Tattoo Studios
Dendrogram - Tattoo Artists
Dendrogram - Tattoo Images
Site map section - 'Explore Tattoos'
Site map section - 'Artists'
Site map section - 'Studios'
Site map section - 'User Profile'
Site map section - 'Tattoo FAQ'
Wireframing & Prototype
Beginning with hand sketched low-fi wireframes, I was able to begin visualising the InkTank app and main elements of the app’s navigation. Once the initial screens and features were mapped out, I created mid-fidelity mockups in Balsamiq to add further detail for peer review, before moving to Adobe XD to create a high-fidelity clickable prototype for a first round of usability testing.
At each stage in this process, I was encouraged to justify my design decisions against standards for design patterns and established user flows. Working on both mobile app and desktop app versions I created wireframes for the app onboarding and navigations through various user journeys.
User Testing
The goal of my usability testing was to evaluate the usability of InkTank in its present form, observing how users interacted through the app through a series of tasks. Through a series of five scenario-based tasks, I could measure the learnability of the app and establish any pain points users may come across when performing basic tasks, which may need to be addressed further.
Findings were collected and collated into a rainbow spreadsheet. Only a few minor issues were identified and flagged to potentially be revised. Subsequently a round of A/B Testing was conducted with another set of participants, to test some of the potential changes.
UI Design
Once iterations were made to the app, I was able to develop the visual design style of InkTank, combining elements of grids and spacing, visual design principles, emotional design theory, colour theory and the Material Design Guidelines to establish a distinct and harmonious visual style. A full accessibility evaluation was completed once the app prototype was created and it was made available for peer review. Minor edits were made following these assessments and a final prototype was completed.
Conclusion
What went well
The initial user research provided great insight into the features our target users would need, and helped to form a solid outline for the app’s main features. Overall the process of creating this app was very smooth and received great feedback in user testing.
What I learned?
It was particularly interesting to see how processes that were instinctual for some users in testing were foreign to others. This made me think particularly how to simplify processes, keep a variety of user abilities in mind when designing and not rely on my assumptions of existing user knowledge. I also found reviewing my design from the standpoint of accessibility of particular interest, which again linked in to the need to not make assumptions about users pre-existing capabilities and app use knowledge.
What's next?
InkTank still has room to grow and develop further as its user base increases. Additional features to be considered further include additional development of the ‘Guides’ section and inclusion of a ‘community board’, and the addition of a direct booking system for users to book appointments with artists through the app. This would require further research and discussions with tattoo artists and studios to understand how they currently manage booking systems and how they would best use this feature.