Apple + IBM Watson Analytics for iPad

I worked with various Apple+IBM designers, developers and product managers on Watson Analytics for iPad. The application was released on December 16th 2016, which was made available on iTunes App Store. 

Watson Analytics for desktop is a powerful data analysis tool that provides the benefits of advanced analytics without the complexity. The data discovery service guides exploration, automates predictive analytics and enables dashboard and infographic creation. 

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My Role and Stakeholders

UX and Visual designer working closely with a Design Lead. Stakeholders included developers, marketing and offering management teams.

Who were we solving for?

1. Citizen/business analyst - Alternative channel to access content on the go

2. Apple iPad users looking for analytics app

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The Problem

1. Users needed the ability to analyze new data, open existing data and other artifacts that were available on the desktop experience

2. Have the ability for teams to analyze data, present their finding and solve business problems

The Challenge

1. How do we complement the desktop experience with an iPad experience?

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Competitive analysis

A competitive analysis covers 3 key topics:
1. The competitors
2. Competitor product summaries
3. Competitor strengths and weaknesses

Evaluating these different areas in our competitors helped us define the strategies around how the problems should be approached. 

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The goal alignment

At IBM we use prioritization grid to better align the product goal. All stakeholders gather on Mural.y to have a visual understanding of how the product should move forward towards one goal. The grid is ranged from Low to High on the y-axis, and Expensive to Cheap on the x-axis. The purpose of this activity is to identify and prioritize in rank, which has the highest user experience and the cheapest implementation costs. Once this gets finalized, we can decide on the minimum viable product for short to long term planning. 

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Design Process

Sketching sessions were done around the short term goal (MVP). The benefit of knowing the medium and long term goals was that it helped us prepare the timeline around the features that will take longer and more expensive to implement. Sketches were done by looking at other iOS native applications. Since many UI's are available to fit our needs, only the best 2-3 options were translated into high-fidelity designs to be presented to the broader stakeholder playback meetings. 

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Further user research for the next release

After the release of the app, a research session was conducted around finding more information on how the app can be improved for the following release, envisioning for iPhones. The purpose of the interview was gain insights from the user's perspective on what the optimal case would look like on smaller screens. 

The interview was conducted in following sequence:
1. Recap of the features that are available on Watson Analytics iPad app
2. Open discussion on what they think of the overall look and feel of the app
3. How well does the iPad app compliments the desktop experience
4. What types of analytics would the user need to perform on an iPhone
5. What are some specific roles of users using analytics on their iPhone

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Outcomes
 

For the users
"I can answer business questions; use my own words to explore and visualize data"
"I can take confident actions on insights; see what influences outcomes"
"I can do all this in minutes, on my iPad, where I am"


Overall
1. Designed using Design Thinking, in partnership with Apple
- Continuously vetted by clients via Watson Analytics design partnership program
- Beta managed via Watson Analytics Beta program, involving clients

2. Distributed publicly through Apple App store (4+ rating)
- Users discover / download directly from App store

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