Grabbem is a SaaS (Software as a service) file-storage product that allows
users to grab and share content with a simple yet intuitive design.
Grabbem is a cloud-based Saas (Software as a service) product providing users with a convenient way to collect and store information. Grabbem’s core value is giving the user the ability to categorize and save images, notes, and links with a simple yet functional design.
Information can provide inspiration, memories, and resources. It is our natural instinct to save them so we can remember them later. There are multiple Saas cloud-based sharing products available to users, often times these sharing platforms have confusing task management solutions and busy dashboards. They lack in simplicity and visibility when the user tries and categorize and tag content in a logical and searchable solution.
Grabbem aims to create a simple and intuitive user-friendly experience for users looking to collect images, notes, and links and have the ability to collaborate and share with others. The user has the ability to save any kind of content all in one place with the ability to categorize (tags) or by type (images, notes, and links).
I started my research with a survey posted online to multiple media platforms, public forums, and email contacts. I wanted to understand what people were looking for in a cloud file-storage and sharing application, but also, their frustrations and what they currently use for storing information online.
View survey questionsHere are what I found out:
64% uses browser’s bookmark
30%-40% uses Pinterest or Facebook
73% uses a smartphone to browse
65% uses a laptop
News, social network, and media were among the highest in searches
66% writes notes and saves them
85% of respondents have a Facebook or Twitter account
42% would use social media to sign up while the rest would register an account using email
It is safe to say that majority of users saves content and the way they do it is bookmarking in the browser. Frustration comes when users need to find their content due to disorganized information.
I then interviewed 3 people to dig deeper into their experience
with saving content and file-storage platforms.
Project Manager
Age: 32 / Location: New York, Ny / Gender: Male
Luke works at a construction site and develops many drafts in the software he uses. His software includes, Cad, Alias, Excel. He works on a construction site which allows him to walk a lot. Sometimes. if he forgets something in his vehicle to show his co-workers and emplyees, he would have to walk back to his car a long way. With the ease of gabbem, he could simply show on his laptop. He would love something that is something something simple and easay to use with the help of a cloud system.
Forgetting documents in his car or home can cause waste of time to retrieve /
Too many file sharing softwares which makes him undecisive on which one to use /
softwares are not simple enough to use.
“I need something that will always be there”
Data Analyst
Age: 26 / Location: San Mareo, Ca / Gender: Female
Julie is a Data analyst. She has many links, numbers and excel sheets to bookmark and save. She does sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of data she has. She would like something that would help her organize and help het to take notes with ease.
Hark to keep track and organize bookmarks /
She forgets her passwords all the time /
Organizing is time consuming.
“I would love a note taker assistant!”
Graphic Designer
Age: 31 / Location: San Francisco, Ca / Gender: Male
Timothy saves many browser links, videos, images, and photos. His job as a Designer motivates hit to gather many information the world offers. He needs a reliable and easy to use service that can quickly organize his information with ease. He also collaborates with his co-worker and friends and would like something that others can play abound with his designs.
some softwares can get expensive /
Some softwares doesn't offer the feaatures he needs /
He tends to join the softwares with nice designs but not gis target audiance.
“I need something that can handle all my information that offers great pricing”
After interviewing three different users, three common goals came up.
These goals will influence the design decisions.
I started looking at some of the top cloud services on the market today. I studied their user needs, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I realized that these products all have their pros and cons. While Dropbox has their strength in their simplicity of use, low-visibility in file types in their dashboard can be frustrating.
While Evernote is known for their note taking ability, their many features can come off as bloated and complex. I found Box to be more business and corporate targeted. Starting with that, I started to look for products built around “simple, yet functional”. Pinterest, Dribbble, Foodgawker, and Instagram all came to mind. Why not have a product built on these foundations and have the ability to have a cloud storage and collaborative nature all in the nature of functional, simplicity, and pleasing aesthetics.
My next step in the design process was to create user stories to help determine and prioritize the important features to focus on users. These were created based only on the minimum viable product.
From my user research, I created user flows in Sketch focusing on onboarding and dashboard.
When I got to the concept and branding phase, I wanted this product to have a catchy name. Pinterest, Dribbble, Dropbox are all memorable names and inspired me to make one as memorable. Eventually, I would land on grabbem. I wanted to associate a verb to entice action. I thought of a monkey grabbing a banana, a kid grabbing candy, an adult grabbing a drink, etc. In this case, users would be grabbing images, links, and notes.
Grabbem identity is expressive and casual, but also trustworthy in the world of cloud storage.
Blue was chosen for it's association with security. The high saturation was added to the blue to give it a certain unique tone. Grabbem identity is expensive and casual, but also trustworthy in the world of cloud storage.
Shrikhand - Logo Titillium Web - Headline Titillium Web - Body copy
I created wireframes to see the functionality of the product.
I talked about earlier about my design focuses based on my user research and competitive analysis. Here are the following:
I sketched freely on paper first to get a good grasp of how I wanted the layout to be. I tested them out to couple friends while watching a football game. I each got 5 minutes of their time for a beer each. I told them about the product and gave them certain goals to accomplish. Both testers found it fairly easy to navigate but had a hard time figuring out how to add images, notes, and links. They also had a problem on how to edit a file.
The dashboard is laid out in an intuitive way so that each element of the dashboard is highly visible and easy to find. White space has been implemented for simplicity and space.
Users are directed to a blank state and given the option to drag and drop or upload an image. I created a white space on this page so that users are not so distracted and they are able to accomplish their goals.
Once an image is uploaded, users can add it as a tag, share, edit, or delete. The “x” on the top right corner indicates exit out of the window to improve user navigation.
This was an interesting project for me. I learned from my users in my user research phase about what their needs were and had I not, I would of had a hard time about which direction to go. There were many instances where I wanted to make this product super pretty and nice looking. After going through series of user testing, I made decisions based on the users. The user flow has definitely helped me plan my steps and decide easier about which steps to take.
If given more time, I would team up with a group with an expertise in design, development, and business because I feel like this product has many opportunities to fulfill beyond the minimum viable product.
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