Portfolio- Joshua Hochman

Sprint

2

The team’s focus for our second sprint was on narrowing the project scope to focus on key concepts. We first organized our assumptions to verify with our client that we were headed in the right direction. We then began developing and testing the first iteration of our design.​

from Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas In Just Five Days, by Jake Knapp​

Part 1

Mapping

As a recap, we defined our project Long Term Goal as follows:

Help Guide users find relevant training content more quickly and with high accuracy.

Before we began designing, we needed to clarify our assumptions about the project objectives, the client’s platform, and its users, and verify those assumptions with our client.

Assumption 1

  • Users are likely to want the ability to sort search results based on their preferences. This could include options such as sorting by relevance, date, popularity, or length.

Assumption 2

  • Users will probably expect clear and informative search results with concise information about each video. Providing titles, durations, descriptions, and potentially even preview thumbnails will be important.

Assumption 3

  • Users will want the ability to save training content for later.

Assumption 4

  • Users will appreciate personalized search results based on their role, industry, or past searches.

Next, based on our understanding of who uses Guide, we identified four distinct personas that our design will need to address.

We then defined user journey maps for each of these users:

As we discussed these with our client, we used the How Might We...? method to convert objectives into strategies.

We then performed dot voting so each team member (and the client) could vote for the ideas they felt were strongest. This allowed us to narrow our focus and scope to just a few key ideas.

Using a Miro board for collaboration, each team member used green thumb icons to mark the ideas they felt were strongest. The client took a few minutes to review all the sticky notes and team votes, then used the red hand icons to indicate his favorite concepts.

The client was also given veto markers to knock out ideas that didn't align with the project objectives.

Part 2

Sketching

Before starting to sketch, we took some time for

LIGHTNING DEMOS

to look at how other businesses/websites utilize search.

For instance, Instagram or Google Maps.

We saw how popular apps used search bars, tag-based searches, AI-enhanced searches, autocomplete, filters, and sorts.

Then, it was time to start drawing some designs, where we used

CRAZY 8s

for rapidly exploring variations of individual strong ideas.

Each team member chose whichever of their sketches was strongest, then drew eight variations of the concept, spending no more than one minute on each.

In the next stage, we further narrowed down these ideas.

Part 3

Deciding

With a pile of sketches in hand, we were ready to build out our​

ART WALL.

We conducted another round of dot voting, with each team member picking their favorite elements and sticky notes and highlighting areas for discussion.

Each design was named after its theme, such as the Hunter & Gatherer concept seen here.
Clusters of dots naturally gathered around stronger ideas.

This was followed by a second round of voting: the straw poll. Here, we narrowed down our preferences to one best idea each. We were then ready to bring our client back in to cast the final “super votes” for top ideas.

Dot voting selections (blue) helped us cast straw poll votes (red) for best ideas

Part 4

prototyping

Now that we knew which elements were key to include in our designs, it was time to start making our initial prototypes.

We started out by reviewing our concept drawings and the stand-out ideas from the Deciding phase.

Next, we presented each paper prototype to the client for feedback, noting which elements he found most exciting. We then combined our initial designs together, incorporating his feedback, to create a single new design.

With this approach, we were able to narrow the design focus to two distinct features: a search bar search and a browse/exploratory search.

The client was very interested in our concept of “My Guide”, a pinned side panel that shows information specific to the current user, such as assigned modules or recently viewed content.

The My Guide panel allows the user to quickly access content based on their profile or history.

With our paper prototype complete, we then converted it into low-fidelity wireframes...

... and shortly thereafter, into mid-fidelity wireframes.

Part 5

TESTING

With the first mid-fidelity iteration of our design complete, it was time to start testing it with users.

Our Testing Process:

  • 4 total testing sessions: 3 employees, 1 human resources​
  • Remote interviews, conducted across different locations within the United States & India
  • Participants signed consent forms prior to testing​

Users were asked to show how they would search for content on a specific subject. We paid close attention to whether they opted to use the search bar or explore our “browse by topic” cards.

We also observed what approach they used to locate partially complete training content.

Testing Results

"Filters are useful, but I still have to click on videos to see how long they are. If I know the duration upfront, I don't have to guess or waste time."
John Doe
Tester

Team Recommendation #1

Add video duration and series information to preview cards

"I want that [sidebar with assignments, recently viewed, etc.] there all the time... This is everything that I need as soon as I get in."

"I don't understand why this only appears after clicking the search bar."
John Doe
Tester

Team Recommendation #2

Make the My Guide panel permanently visible and accessible (possibly from the home/landing page), with key user information and recent activity

"Breadcrumbs would help me know where I am and how to go back easily without starting over."
John Doe
Tester

Team Recommendation #3

Implement a breadcrumb navigation system, consistent across all pages of the flow’s experience​

"It's not clear if this is part of a series or just a standalone video. If it's a playlist, show me that upfront—otherwise, I have to guess."
John Doe
Tester

Team Recommendation #4

Add clear visual indicators for series vs standalone content (some sort of imagery or iconography), consistent across all categories.​

"I don't see an overall progress tracker; I'd have to check each course individually."
John Doe
Tester

Team Recommendation #5

Implement a global progress tracking system, perhaps adding it to My Guide.​

Up Next

...some surprising changes from our client over the holiday break will lead to dramatic changes to our project scope for Sprint 3.

Sprint 1
Sprint 3

© 2025 Joshua Hochman