Eric BellAl Jazeera Digital
Overhauling a mobile app while mentoring the product design teamLead Product Designer
2023-2024 | Qatar time, remote
Overhauling a mobile app while mentoring the product design team
Al Jazeera’s mission is to give voice to the voiceless . The digital team managed the publishing platform and web and mobile front ends for multiple editorial bureaus. My focus was to evaluate the state of the mobile app, then to create and guide implementation of a vision to address its biggest opportunities, while mentoring the product design team.
Voice to the voiceless
Al Jazeera’s digital team works to support multiple editorial bureaus working across four language regions. The mobile app specifically had taken a controversial new direction and needed a holistic vision. And the design team was fragmented across product teams, without its own leadership.
Team & role
Lead Product Designer. I joined the mobile team to focus on high priority needs within the app, while providing guidance for individual designers fragmented across other teams.
Approach
Mobile baseline evaulation and scoping. Conducting a thorough review of the mobile experience, including heuristic evaluation, user flow analytics, stakeholder interviews. Identified biggest impact opportunities, and scoped high priority project areas and strategic approaches for each.
Mobile overhaul and design system. Built out a Figma design system from scratch, both to align mobile app branding and style with web, and as a design team collaboration exercise.
Priority projects execution. Executed on top slice MVPs of remaining highest priority projects from original synthesis. Including filling functionality gaps between mobile and web, addressing critical mobile usability issues, and optimizing the onboarding experience.
Team coaching. Paired with individual designers across teams, introduced new team processes to improve collaboration and alignment, and encouraged team collaboration on design system creation.
Impact
- Aligned the mobile app experience with established branding and created a design system from scratch to enforce consistent patterns going forward.
- Designed and supported implementation of the top slice of high priority projects on a short timeline.
- Introduced design team processes for collaboration and alignment, and paired with product managers and engineers across teams to practice design thinking.