Chaser

Slack integration that allows users to assign tasks right on Slack and helps users follow up on tasks with people in the organization automatically, inside or outside of your team.

client : chaser

Problem Definition

Chaser is having limited functions and is not entirely developed yet which cannot fully fulfill target users’needs.

Chaser is currently in the early stages of development, with the client actively building and optimizing features.

Role

User Researcher
UX Designer

Tools

Adobe XD

Miro

Team member

Tsz Ki Chan (Angela)
Devika Satheesh,Chalakkaran
Saijanani Ganapathy
Khushi Thakur
Victor Bruno Trindade Lucas

key takeaway

It is important to clarify the scope of work and deliverables with the client as it will set the process and plan of the project and the client's expectation of the outcome.
Prioritizing product update/change implementation based on the impact and effort needed for each element.

Target audience of Chaser

People that delegate works frequently or cross such as managers and directors
People that delegate works cross functionally such as chief of staff, product managers

research methods (discovery)

User interview
Heuristic evaluation
Competitive analysis

Result

Redesign suggestions on the 3 main functions of Chaser.

To-do list overview

The new to-do list card has a more robust structure with more information shown such as Priority level, Days countdown, Progress bar, and Chase button.

The filter option is added allowing the user to easily sort through the assigned tasks by the due date, priority level, progress, or alphabetical order.

The progress bar also makes it easier for the user to quickly track the overall progress at a glance. The progress bar is a way to translate the 4 different automated answers from Chaser into trackable data.

New design

Original design

Chaser’s main differentiator is the ability to send task reminders to co-workers.That function was under the “more options” menu. In the proposed version, it becomes a stand-alone button making it easier for task assigners to “CHASE” their co-workers.

Send to-do window

Provide users with more control when delegating tasks by adding more task details such as project name, priority level, due time, file attachment, and customizable reminders.

New design

Original design

Chaser has the ability to select multiple users to delegate a task. We suggest keeping the channel members shown for options but including task roles, as per RACI methodology.

Task message

Improve task message by showing attached files and task priority. Rephrase the four replies buttons in the task message to be more meaningful, sensible, and trackable for both the task delegator and task receiver by changing the replies to Acknowledged, Started on it, Wrapping up, and Finished. Show attachment files and the priority

New design

Original design

Chaser

User Interview

In order to gain more insights, I conducted a 1:1 interview session with Chaser’s potential users with different backgrounds across different industries, positions, and companies. Some of the industries include fintech, e-commerce, and automotive companies in positions such as PM, team leader as well as UX designer, QA person, etc. In addition, people both on Slack and not on Slack were interviewed to ensure different perspectives.

Standard lists of questions are asked to understand what they do, need, and feel when assigning tasks, receiving tasks, managing their to-do lists, following up with co-workers on tasks, and being followed up on the task status.

Current State Analysis

I analyzed the current design of Chaser by using the Heuristic evaluation, a method for identifying usability problems in any interface against a set of guidelines that make systems easy to use.

Following the user flow, Chaser was evaluated on each step.

Some of opportunities for improvement found are;

When assigning a task, the user is only allowed to include texts in the task description. Other functions, such as images and file attachments are helpful for task assigners to explain tasks.
When receiving a task, the user has limited response buttons. The user can also delete and edit the received task, which can confuse the task assigner and make the process complicated and confusing, as the task assigner will not know if the instruction is edited.
On the to-do list, tasks are sorted by last modified as default. The tasks with closer deadlines might get pushed down. It can be difficult for users to manage their tasks. The assigner will not be able to know the progress of the task unless they ask the task assignees through Chaser or by themselves.

Competitive Analysis

Analyzing existing products in the market that provide a similar features and looking for takeaways and opportunities.

Chaser is an app built solely on Slack, unlike others that have another interface/system, which allows flexibility and agility. Regardless of what other workspace tools users are using, they can use Chaser to manage their tasks.

Some insights found in the analysis are;

Most of the tools on Slack only allow text descriptions in task delegation, while it is found that task assigners often use visual, document links, or other ways to support text descriptions.
On some competitor products, users can create/choose different task lists to group the tasks so they can customize the way tasks show on the to-do list.
Some competitors allow users to set the priority of the task when doing task delegation in their system.

Chaser

Personas

Based on the user interview, two personas were built as a representative of target users, one as a task assigner and one as a task assignee. The strategies were developed by focusing on solving the persona's frustrations.

User Journey

Analyzing the user journey on their current experience using Chaser to delegating and receiving tasks to find out what they do and how they think and feel in each step. If there are any pain points, what Chaser could do to help solve the problems.

Current Journey

On the task assignee side, the user has difficulty prioritizing tasks and understanding the task description due to unclear and insufficient detail.
On the task assigner side, the user has difficulty tracking the process of delegated tasks.

Chaser

NEW Journey Map

With the new suggested design, the task assigner could attach documents or images along with the task description, providing clearer details of tasks. The priority level can be set to indicate the urgency of the task.
With the new four reply buttons and the progress bar, the progress of tasks is easier to update and track. The task assigner can quickly see the overall status of tasks in a glance with the progress bar, making task management become easier.

To-do list

The progress bar provides a simple but efficient visual communication between the task assigner and the task assignee. The task receiver can click on the progress bar to provide the task assigner an update on the task status. The update will show on the task assigner watching to-do list.

On the other hand, the task assigner has an overview of task status at a glance and can follow up on tasks by clicking on the Chase button.

Send to-do window

More task details are added to improve task clarity and delegation efficiency, such as project name, priority level, due time, file attachment, and customizable reminders.

When assigning tasks to multiple members, roles can be assigned to each member individually.

Task Message

The four replies buttons for the task receiver was revamped with meaningful phrases that will be useful and sensible for both the task assigner and assinee. The task reveiver can click on the button to update the task status. The update will be reflected on the task assigner watching to-do list.

The task message also includes more task details that were added to the send-to-do window, such as priority level, due time, and attached file.