This case study was developed collaboratively during an 8-week UX Design bootcamp held at Tera in São Paulo/ Brazil. Diariamente (Daily in a free translation) aims to improve the on-demand cleaning service experience from the cleaners's perspective.
Design Team: Carolina Ciardi, Lais Alvarenga, Marcelo Rodrigues, and Raphael Lopes.
Project Goal: Create a digital product to improve the on-demand home cleaning service experience.
Timeframe: 6 weeks | 3 weeks of discovery and research + 3 weeks of design and testing
Tools: Figma, Miro, Google Suite
Overview
There are approximately 6 million cleaners in Brazil, with 70% of them working informally, without a contract. Some cleaners work full-time for the same family, while many are 'diaristas' (work for the day) and provide services for various clients on an occasional basis. These professionals depend on referrals and word of mouth to secure new clients, and this can pose a barrier to obtaining jobs and filling their schedules, particularly for new professionals in the early stages of their careers.
Problem
During the Bootcamp, a range of challenges was presented, and each team had the liberty to choose the one they wanted to tackle. One of them was: "How to enhance the experience of on-demand home cleaning services?" Given that this was a relatively unfamiliar domain for the group members, we opted to explore it as an opportunity to better understand the reality of this sector.
Additionally, we were given the opportunity to determine the primary stakeholder upon whom our efforts would be concentrated. Following a Stakeholder Map analysis, we opted to place the cleaner at the forefront, making our core problem statement:
Design Process
Throughout the course, we employed the Design Thinking Process to o empathise with users using research techniques, define who we were designing for using personas and journey mapping, ideate user flows, wireframes, prototype using Figma, apply usability tests and finally use visual design techniques to create a high fi mockup.
CSD Matrix
Before delving into the research phase, our initial step was to establish a CSD (Certainties, Suppositions, and Doubts) matrix. This matrix served to clarify our existing knowledge about the subject and identify the questions we aimed to address during the research process.
Research
Our research approach was divided into desk research and individual interviews with cleaning professionals.
Desk Research
The desk research findings revealed an increased demand for 'diaristas' cleaners, attributed to changes in Brazilian labour legislation in 2012 and 2015. These changes formalised and regularised domestic work, subsequently leading to a significant rise in the costs associated with hiring a full-time cleaner. Consequently, this increase in costs diminished the demand for registered professionals.
Interviews
For the individual interviews, we developed a script consisting of 12 open-ended questions to gain deeper insights into our users' motivations, needs, challenges, and daily routines. In total, we conducted 17 interviews, both in person and remotely. As a result, we uncovered the following key findings:
•The domestic cleaning market heavily relies on referrals and word of mouth, which limits professionals' autonomy in their pursuit of new job opportunities.
•A significant 80% of these women have dependents and serve as the sole source of income for their households.
• Professionals face difficulties in understanding how to commute to a new client's location, which is aggravated by the fear of being late and missing an opportunity. Approximately 40% of the interviewees reported either declining job offers or feeling hesitant to accept them because they were unsure about the best route to reach the workplace.
•A significant 80% of these women have dependents and serve as the sole source of income for their households.
• Professionals face difficulties in understanding how to commute to a new client's location, which is aggravated by the fear of being late and missing an opportunity. Approximately 40% of the interviewees reported either declining job offers or feeling hesitant to accept them because they were unsure about the best route to reach the workplace.
•Users have limited technology literacy, with 90% of the interviewees primarily using their smartphones for basic functions such as making calls, accessing WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube.
User Personas
From the research results, we managed to identify collective thoughts, behaviours, and pain points among the group of users we were designing for. This helped us create two distinct personas for the project, Marilene and Lúcia. These personas would remain at the forefront of our considerations throughout the remainder of the design process, ensuring that we were designing for genuine individuals with real-world issues.
Competitors and Benchmark
After research and user personas analysis, we realised that there are professionals who are open to using digital platforms to seek job opportunities. However, before proceeding, we needed to comprehend why they had not achieved success with existing platforms. Therefore, we went to benchmark with Parafuzo, one of the most well-known companies in the segment in São Paulo.
In our discussions with Parafuzo's team, we pinpointed two primary issues contributing to the scarcity of opportunities:
1. Supply exceeds demand.
2. The Parafuzo app establishes a radius of operation based on the cleaner's place of residence, which restricts the number of available job offers and excludes professionals residing in outlying areas.
2. The Parafuzo app establishes a radius of operation based on the cleaner's place of residence, which restricts the number of available job offers and excludes professionals residing in outlying areas.
User Journey
After gaining a better understanding of the pains and difficulties faced by the interviewed professionals, we developed a journey map. This map outlined key actions, questions, happy moments, pain points, and, opportunities where we could intervene to simplify and assist the lives of these individuals.
Ideation
Armed with a myriad of data to back up our design decisions, we were able to start wireframing the main features that were identified as being important to users. We began the process of rapid prototyping by sketching out ideas with pencil and paper. The goal of this was to focus on the high-level layout and navigation without getting bogged down by the visual elements.
Empowered by a myriad of data supporting our design choices, we embarked on the wireframing of the key features that were identified as being important to users. To kickstart the rapid prototyping process, we initiated idea sketches using pencil and paper. The primary objective was to concentrate on the fundamental layout and navigation aspects, without getting too focused on visual elements that could potentially divert our attention.
Solution: 'Diariamente'
'Diariamente' is a user-friendly mobile application that connects cleaners with job offers posted by employers, all while ensuring autonomy in their search for opportunities.
Given that our users typically don't have an email account, our aim was to provide a straightforward and efficient login option. Once registered, the app remains operational while the user is logged in. However, if a new login is required due to a device change or app reinstallation, it can be completed using the phone number and a code sent via SMS, eliminating the need for cleaning professionals to possess an email or remember a registration password.
The initial screen prominently displays the schedule, indicating days that are already booked with jobs and those that remain available. This enhanced visibility empowers professionals to gauge their monthly earnings and efficiently plan the days they have open for scheduling new jobs. By clicking on a preferred date, they gain access to all available opportunities in their city for that day, sorted by route time based on the selected mode of transportation.
'Diariamente' app integrates with Google Maps, offering the same transportation options provided by Google. This integration allows professionals to access route calculations and information on bus or subway lines to take, thereby enabling them to plan their journey with time and cost estimates. All of this functionality exists within the app, enhancing the user experience and accessibility. Moreover, it effectively addresses the issue of not knowing how to commute to a destination or what time to leave home in order to arrive punctually.
Upon accepting a job, the app facilitates communication by enabling professionals to contact the employer via WhatsApp. Furthermore, the app's scheduling feature sends notifications, serving as a constant reminder of upcoming appointments scheduled for the following day.
Monetization is based on a percentage of the daily earnings. Therefore, cleaners are not charged unless they secure work through the platform, and the amount displayed in the app corresponds to the funds they will receive in their bank account the following day.
Usability Test
In our final phase, we conducted a usability test with three users and observed that the hamburger menu was not immediately evident to all of them, as they did not initially click on it. However, once we introduced and explained its existence, they all comprehended its purpose and started using it. Consequently, our proposed solution is to incorporate an introductory screen with a tooltip upon the first login, providing users with an introduction to the menu.
Next Steps
1. Modify the schedule screen to enable professionals to book multiple jobs in a single day, especially when there are available opportunities within 4-hour slots.
2. Introduce a financial management feature, similar to Uber's system, but with a monthly overview, to help professionals organise and track their earnings goals effectively.
3. Incorporate a referral function, allowing clients to recommend cleaners to other individuals within the platform, further enhancing user engagement and expanding the network.
4. Broaden the range of services offered to encompass additional domestic tasks like ironing, cooking, and more, providing users with a more comprehensive and versatile platform for their needs.
Learnings
From this intensive journey, we have gleaned several valuable lessons, with the most significant ones being:
1. Documentation and organization were aspects where we initially made some mistakes, but our classmates introduced us to Miro, and from that moment on, our processes became clearer and more aligned for the entire group.
2. Effective communication is paramount. Each team member has their individual routines and commitments, and clear communication is vital for the seamless progress of the project. We learned this lesson, perhaps not in the easiest way.
3. In the initial stages of our journey, we faced difficulties in recruiting cleaners for interviews within a limited timeframe. Our initial strategy, a mini-guerrilla campaign in apartment buildings, proved unsuccessful as the professionals were often in a hurry and unable to participate. Consequently, we pivoted to gathering contacts from friends and Facebook groups. However, there were shortcomings in the initial research process, which had repercussions later in the project. Therefore, we had to revisit and rectify these issues before proceeding with the solution.
4. Explore more the ideation phase and refrain from rushing towards a final solution. It's remarkably easy to become carried away and inadvertently incorporate personal biases into our solution-creation process.
At the end of our journey, we had the opportunity to present our project at a Demo Day at Google Campus SP to a panel of designers from Tera, Web Motors, and Get Ninjas.
