Project

UX Research & Design /
Ancestry.com

Responsibilities

Research programme plan, workshop facilitation, user group support, research synthesis, knowledge sharing

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The product team wanted to revisit the community feature and explore how to create an active and healthy social space for both experienced and new members. I closely collaborated with the product manager to plan and define the research.

“I don’t mind sharing my research with other members. It’s quite gratifying.”

– Ancestry User

Process

• Developed and launched a survey to collect quantitative data and recruit users.

• Organized group interviews to validate level of interest in key assumptions.

• Interviewed users to better understand their expectations and how they would like to interact with other members.

• Facilitated home visits for the product team to meet our users and observe their environment.

• Organized a user advisory group and interviewed regularly to get their input on all critical design decisions which allowed us to validate the concepts early on and guide product direction.

• Recommended actionable design solutions by analyzing the data and leading design workshops.

Research Methods

• Survey

• Several rounds of small group interviews 

• Contextual home visits and 1:1 remote interviews

Outcome

Results and recommendations directly influenced the UX design of Ancestry Commons and helped to align the efforts of the product team. We made the following recommendations.

• Create a separate space, Ancestry Commons, to display all aggregated information and sources for an ancestor.

• Provide a caring and collaborative environment for ‘pro-social’ members who are active participants and enjoy sharing and connecting with others.

• Improve our data logic to recommend highly relevant information at different touch points.