Patti Larsen – Senior User Experience Designer

Background of Social Gator

The Social Gator mobile app was developed to consolidate social media accounts and postings. It was an attempt to provide social media consumers a “one-stop shop” to view activity from their social feeds.

My Role in the design of Social Gator

I worked with stakeholders to establish the vision and requirements for the app. Then I conducted extensive research on each of the social media platforms to determine (along with engineering) which features were able to be integrated. I also spent time researching competitors since there were a few apps (Hootsuite and Bindr) already doing what we envisioned.

Once the requirements for the app were established, I created wireframes and worked with front-end Engineer to determine feasibility and development options.

I provided design direction for graphic designer. Throughout the design and development phases, I maintained communication between myself, engineering, graphic design, and product management.

Users of Social Gator

The people we envisioned using the app were Social media consumers and Social Media Brand Managers using iPhones. I based our user personas on data pulled from usage of our other apps and sites. I then cross-checked our data with stats from w3counter.com.

Launch and login screens. This was a spec project for an investor. He had a vague idea of what he envisioned but wasn't very social media-savvy. We started at ground zero with educating him on how many of the social networks worked and how an idea like this might come together. We used these screens and the detailed wireframe to educate him on how users would move through the process.

Wireframe for design review with stakeholders. Using this wireframe, we walked through the architecture of the app, identified potential problems and addressed open issues to be resolved in the next version of the design prior to the official handoff to engineering.

Challenge of designing Social Gator

To develop a design for a Social Media aggregator which was responsive and could accommodate the various types of media presented. These types of media included text, images, video clips, branding elements, likes and shares.

Another challenge was educating the stakeholders on what was possible and what others were already doing. We needed to educate them on how we could do it better and with enough differentiation that the app might gain some traction.

Solution for Social Gator

I design and participated in the implementation of an iOS app, complete with front-end and back-end functionality.

Result of Social Gator

Additional start-up funding was secured. Founders and investors moved closer to achieving funding goals, despite the app not launching.

First set of requirements that were scrabbled together at the end of an investor meeting. He was on the fence about providing a second round of funding, and had an idea he wanted to see if we could put something together. Spoiler alert: we did and he re-upped his investment.