BIRDNEST
Redesigning the web experience for a local coworking start-up.
The client
Birdnest is a San Francisco-based start-up that transforms hip restaurants closed during the day into coworking spaces. It was recently admitted to the Alchemist Accelerator and won the 2017 Founders Space Pitch Competition.
Objectives
During the client kickoff meeting, the team distilled the following project goals from the client:
Identify the target audience and needs.
Identify Birdnest's brand positioning.
Redesign a home page that leverages target audience needs and brand positioning to increase membership conversion.
My roles
UX Designer - My greatest contribution was refining user and client needs into actionable items. I also took ownership in producing a 17-page research report, synthesizing user values in affinity maps and strategy matrices, and designing the high-fidelity mockup.
Project Manager - My duty as PM of a team of 3 involved setting the project schedule, time-boxing exercises, delegating tasks, check-in correspondence with client, and quality control for all client-facing deliverables.
Problem
Target users of freelancers and bootstrap start-ups need a collaborative, coworking community to increase their networking opportunities for potential clients and support systems. Users also gain motivation working next to people who have similar professional goals.
How might we highlight this unique value proposition that is highly valued by users and not yet emphasized by the competition?
Solution
By tailoring our redesign of Birdnest’s website towards emphasizing a collaborative, coworking community, we are better able to demonstrate added value to the Birdnest membership and alignment with user needs.
We know this to be successful when Birdnest has a higher retention rate of current members and an increased conversion rate of new members.
The Process
The competitive landscape of coworking spaces
Competition literally moved next door
After doing some competitive analysis, we discovered that both Birdnest and Spacious are direct competitors with the same business model with restaurants. Spacious expanded from New York and is ahead of Birdnest in terms of funding and multiple locations.
How does Birdnest stand out?
Surveying 60+ participants
Filling in the whys through user interviews
Interviewed 11 users mixed of current Birdnest members and target users.
Goal to identify key insights to users' habits, pain points & needs.
Unique value proposition
Recommendation matrices helped prioritize actionable items from the key insights. While Birdnest's hypothesis that users would care about affordability and convenient locations were true, a different opportunity emerged.
The matrix measures what users prioritize as well as what is easy or difficult for Birdnest to implement.
Users highly cared about building a network and support system. Additionally, it would be an easy implementation for Birdnest's model and is not yet capitalized by competition.
Users want a coworking community
Bootstrap Startups want to be supported through mentors and resources in risky times of business.
The Freelancer's wants are driven by the need to network for potential collaborations and clients.
Birdnest connects members, founders act as mentors
“It’s great how personable the founders are!” - Meric
3/3 current Birdnest members interviewed brought up how much they loved how approachable Birdnest founders are. As part of our strategy, we want to bring the founders to the forefront of building the Birdnest community.
Implementing programs and sharing of expertise
The Birdnest founders had recently begun setting up learning events and happy hours but has confirmation to bring this amenity to the forefront. Birdnest founders also have MBAs and were accepted to the accelerators in the past. They would love to share their expertise with startups who are looking to apply to accelerators.
Align to user values and gain members
We hypothesize for the user to find value in Birdnest's community which catalyzes the user to commit to a membership.
birdnest website redesign
Generic existing site
"The images are warm but it doesn’t look like a coworking space to me… I would like to see people in the pictures!" - Amanda
"The navigation is confusing... Some links stay on the home page, some go to a separate page." - CJ
Feature prioritization matrix
How might we emphasize community?
Feature prioritization:
Showcase upcoming events
Include events as an amenity icon
Photos of people working
Showcase online community and presence
Feature the Birdnest founders
Homepage storytelling
The team decided to simplify the navigation and have an impressive home page that tells a story and shows value.
Image of people coworking
Headline & call to action
Amenities
Local partnerships
Testimonials
Locations
Pricing
Community events
Social media
Founders
Design evolution
Messaging validation
People like the casual tone
Users appreciate local partnership
Users feel welcomed by community
Users liked having a face to the founders -- it humanizes them
Unique voice in the market
Usability feedback
Headline is unclear, description text missed
More pictures of people using the space
Amenity icons and content are effective
Clarify hours
Simplify and emphasize pricing
“I love the community aspect, being able to refer work to each other really makes it a NEST!” -Teri
Style guide
Objective:
To guide UI design and future brand development
Created by melding:
User perception of SF
User value of community
Birdnest current brand
Stakeholder preferences
Responsive design
Next steps
Site map
Anchored link homepage is great for now, but once Birdnest expands, so should the website.
Pricing
Test out more pricing options, particularly one in between monthly unlimited and 3-day free trial as to not alienate freelancers.
Payment/membership flow
Build out the payment flow and the membership profile page the comes after it.
Invest in a professional photographs
Users want to see how people use the space and believe that pictures of people humanizes the site.