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Trim NYC is a SaaS and e-commerce service that connects beauticians with clients for on-location beauty services. When I joined this project, the founder had been working with a developer to bring his initial vision to life with low-fidelity prototypes.
The team at Trim NYC hired me as the only native English speaker for both my fluency in English and UX expertise to establish UX standards, develop UX copy, create a product suited to an American market, and ultimately guide the development of the product into its final stages.
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The Task
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I set out to answer these questions:
“How can booking users easily and securely book and receive beauty services from wherever they are?”
“How can stylist users easily and securely receive payment for their services? What else might they need?”
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My Process
My first step was to communicate with stakeholders to define goals and provide my recommendations for interface improvement.
After looking over the interface and exploring stakeholder concerns, I realized that there were deeper issues stemming from team communication that was affecting the development of the product.
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Uncovering Issues
Besides myself, the entire team was international. With a team where no one spoke English fluently, the company was bound to experience problems tailoring their product to an American market. Initially, the prototype was not only filled with English grammatical errors, but also required UI adjustments with margin spacing, icon sizing, and typeface consistency. I worked with our developer to fix them and communicated UX strategies to begin implementing changes.
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Acknowledging the Challenge
However, communicating these necessary changes proved to be no easy feat in the beginning. I learned quickly that our developer had trouble understanding instructions for corrections through written text. Timezone differences made it difficult to collaborate in real-time. Emails were getting lost in translation, and I saw that changes were not being made correctly to the prototype. I realized that I would have to change how I communicated with my team to ensure our collective success.
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Tackling the Challenge
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Recognizing the challenge of relying solely on written text, I decided to improve my methods. Firstly, I ensured that I visually demonstrated each prototype change, providing clear visual cues and explanations as I navigated through the modifications.
Additionally, I encouraged our developer to ask questions and provide feedback on the efficacy of my explanations, fostering a collaborative environment. By combining verbal instructions with visual aids, I aimed to enhance understanding and mitigate any potential language barriers.
Results
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As a result of my adaptability and leadership, the Trim New York app was launched on schedule in 2022, with an approximate timeline reduction of 10%. The startup has grown since my contract was discharged, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for this revolutionary product and the amazing team behind it.
