The old bug tracking system has been used by internal members for 20 years. When I started to use it, I thought the user experience was so poor it affected work efficiency. I really wanted to improve it, but the company didn’t have the resources. Recently, there were problems with data loss. To prevent it from happening again, we decided to build a new system. So I began the project with a scrum team with 10+ members from different departments.
To understand the problems and requirements of internal users, I designed a questionnaire and sent it to the PM, UI/UX design and Writer teams. I also interviewed RD and QC teams to understand their individual needs. I clarified the problems by categorizing the issues from 29 questionnaires and interviews.
I defined the personas of the system based on the questionnaire and interview results to make team members familiar with the target users. Therefore, when we are discussing the function or the design, we can focus on the personas' scenario.
Software Developer
Project Manager
UI Designer
Quality Control Specialist
According to the user feedback, the issue search function is unable to match user needs. To define the scope of the function, I researched 4 competitors that are used by internal users or with similar functions to the old system.
Support "AND" and "OR" logical operators
"AND" only
"AND" and "OR"
"AND" only
"AND" only
"AND" and "OR"
Support "=" and "=!" operators
"=" and "=!"
"=" and "=!"
"=" only
"=" only
"=" and "=!"
The design of issue search
All criteria in one search bar. Users can type and select the criteria.
Basic search: The search criteria setting includes text fields and options
Advanced search: All criteria in one search bar. Users can only type the criteria.
The search panel includes text fields and options
The search criteria setting includes text fields and options
All criteria in one search bar. Users can type and select the criteria.
To meet user needs, our goal is to build an issue search with "And" and "Or" logical operators, which is more flexible than Gitlab and more friendly than Jira.
I surveyed the information structure of the competitors based on user needs. To understand the relationship of information, I drew the information structure below.
I organized the sitemap to clarify the relationship of pages and discussed the work division with a collaborative UX designer.
To ensure design consistency, I defined the rules of each layout structure and discussed them with the collaborative UX Designer. Even if we are designing different pages or functions, we can still follow the same rules.
Design Goal: Users can quickly create and edit issues
What I have done:
Design Goal: Users can check the issue's milestone, and when to finish the issue.
What I have done:
Design Goal: Flexible and friendly issue search
What I have done:
To ensure the consistency of components and layouts, I defined the design guideline while designing functions and mentored another UX designer to write them. We keep all members updated by frequent releases.
Before the system was officially released, we ran two kinds of usability tests, one was for verifying the function and the design of the issue search (Rapid Usability Test), and the second was for verifying the design of the key functions (Formal Usability Test).
After discussing the rules of issue searches with the team, I asked the RDs to implement a prototype for the usability test. I invited 9 users from different positions (QC*2, PM*2, RD*2, UI*2, Writer *1) to usability tests. The main problems are as below:
Some subjects misunderstood the search criteria in the dropdown menu as historical records, so they took some time to find the search criteria.
Design Changes: Added a title in the dropdown menu to make it more clear
Subjects need to input AND/OR to connect search conditions. Some subjects thought that search conditions were connected with the default "AND", so they thought that it was not necessary to input it. Some subjects also didn’t input =/=! operators because they didn't notice them when typing. Due to the incomplete search conditions, they can’t find any results.
Design Changes:
If subjects want to use AND/OR to connect search conditions at the same time, they need to use () to set the order of operation. But some subjects don't know the meaning and how to use it.
Design Changes:
The major difference compared to the old system is that we combined the concept of project management into the new system. So the test scope included project management and key functions. I invited 6 users (RD Manager x 4, PM x 2) with project management requirements to the usability test.
I planned the test tasks based on the work scenario of the RD Manager and PM. When the test is in progress, I will provide a Single Ease Question (SEQ) questionnaire (a 7-point rating scale to assess the difficulty of a task) to subjects. 1 is the most difficult, and 7 is the easiest.) When the subjects finished all the tasks, I clarified why these tasks are below 5 points.
To scale the usability improvement, I asked them to fill out a System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and compared the score between the new and old systems.
When I conducted tests in the interview room, the rest of the project members recorded usability issues in an observation room. After each usability test, all project members recorded the top three usability issues on post-its and we categorized the same issues into groups.
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I proposed the design solutions of repeated issues from usability issues. We fixed these issues in the first milestone and the schedules of other issues were to be arranged by the PM.
To verify the improvement of the design of the issue search, I ran the same tasks in the second test. The user operation time decreased by 42% once the improved design was sent in place.
I resolved 94% of the usability issues from the old system and increased the system satisfaction (System Usability Scale) by 95%. We have successfully brought a better user experience to 700+ internal users. In addition, management was so impressed with the product that it will potentially be offered for sale to external customers.
Intuitive field orders and clear essential * marks make users create an issue easily. Clicking "Assign to me" to quickly add a personal task.
Click to edit a field directly instead of the complicated edit mode.
Using multiple search criteria via an AND/OR operator, it could meet all users' needs.
Users can find the issues through two clicks on a custom filter
Easily search for the issues assigned to you from different projects.
Combining the project schedule with issues allows users to easily check when to complete the task.
I tried to optimize the previous design process. When I started designing a function, I proposed the design with key pages and discussed them with the project members during the daily meeting. Then, I delivered detailed interaction design specs. The design process reduced the number of design changes.
To execute a project with another UX designer, it was necessary to define clearer rules of the components and layouts for maintaining design consistency. I learned how to build a design guideline for a new system, and also got experience in mentoring a designer to execute a project.
I asked the subjects to fill out the SEQ questionnaire to understand the level of difficulty of each task so that I can save time by focusing on the cause of difficult tasks.
