What I learned in 90 Days as a Product Designer in Socar
I joined Socar in May 2023. This is my second job as a Product Designer, and the first where I would be involved from UX research to execution of the design. However, Socar had restructured by September 2023 and I was affected.
Although my time at Socar was brief, I appreciated how much experience I had to gain there. As a Product Designer in the Common Tech squad, we were involved with common features shared across the mobile apps Socar and Trevo, and occassionally Dash as well.
Socar is the only car rental platform where users could rent by the hour.
Trevo is an app with 2 types of users: user can enlist their car for day-by-day rental, or user can rent the car. Users can also book a buddy driver through the app.Here's a glimpse into my experience and the key takeaways:
Set expectations for gathering UX metrics
UX metrics can be different from the project success metrics. It’s important to define early how you can measure success for your own project, and to pick the right metrics that would contribute to these findings. For example, if you want to create a success metric to “improve user engagement” with a specific feature, you may want to track relevant information, such as the total time user spends on said feature, and whether the user comes back to engage with these feature time and time again. It’s important to talk to your Project Manager, let them know key metrics you’d like to track and how the team can assist you to do so, in order for you to track your own contribution and performance within the team.
Find the Why
I come from a background of working as a UI/UX Designer in an IT solution agency, which means that requirements primarily come from Business Analyst or Project Manager. Most of the time, clients come with a requirement instead of a problem. If it is not properly translated into the business requirement, this can lead to the wrong solution which may further complicate the product or feature down the line. If you are dedicated to protecting the interest of the users and the product, you have to be proactive.
As a product designer, you are the forefront of the team – you’re responsible for everyone’s time and effort, addressing the right problem and providing the right solution. It’s important to work closely with the Product Manager at this stage. Our role is to understand the root cause of the problem and asking the big question: Why.
The UX Must Be Reflected In The Product
Or, put another way, the product must reflect the UX processes put into it.
This might be one of the biggest challenges when you liaise with stakeholders who have different ideas. As a product designer, we need to strike a balance between requirements and user needs. Often I find myself making a case to Project Managers why we should focus on the problem than look at solutions.
It’s easy for anyone to suggest a solution – anyone can design. But what makes one valuable as a UX designer? We are the voice of the user, and we might be the only ones playing a role in the direction of ethics. We have to advocate for a win-win solution for both the business and the user.
Utilize ChatGPT to assist your research
ChatGPT can be a powerful tool that can allow you to brainstorm faster, from refining your documentation, coming up with stakeholder interview questions, helping you with the next steps in your research progress and more.
