Desktime & Deskpass
Two businesses working together to help people find coworking spaces, and for spaces to find new users to give them a try
Project Overview
DESCRIPTION: Desktime is a directory to find coworking spaces, and Deskpass is a new service to help people find coworking spaces in their city and try out multiple spaces without a membership.
THE CHALLENGE: The current Desktime site caters towards host spaces looking to gain users rather than users looking for new spaces to work. We needed to find a way to make Desktime more relevant to users, while also emphasizing the relationship between the two sites in order to make Desktime a stronger advertisement for Deskpass.
MY ROLE: User Research, Client Lead, Strategy, Presentation Lead
DURATION: 4 weeks
Company Background
Desktime came to our team with a two-pronged problem. The directory service, Desktime, has been active online for years and aggregates coworking space information including amenities, location, and photos to a searchable database. However, the founder expressed concern that it was disorganized and clunky. Desktime wanted to take a look at the overall directory and see how we might improve the experience.
At the same time, the team behind Desktime has released Deskpass, a way to shop around for different coworking spaces in your city. The interface of Deskpass is much cleaner and simpler, but the user currently has a hard time seeing the relationship between the two services.
Research Methods
Surveys
Our survey centered around who uses coworking spaces, what they look for in a space, and how they structure their search.
Secondary Research
We analyzed data from several global surveys on coworking to grasp current trends and needs among users.
Interviews
For spaces, we spoke with vendors that were on Desktime and not on Deskpass, as well as those spaces that were listed on both.
For users, we spoke with people who currently use coworking spaces and those who've used them previously.
Contextual Inquiry
We observed how spaces are being used, how users interact with one another in an open space vs a closed space, and interactions between users and staff.
These methods, combined with a user research study that had been completed by the client previously, identified two different types of users.
The Hopper: This user was 28-40 and works from home most of the time but will work from a coworking space about 1-2 times per week to get a change of pace. This user is a fan of hopping around and trying out new spots, making them the most consistent & ideal Deskpass users.
The Home Baser: This user was 24-33 and typically works from a coworking space 3-4 times per week. While this user will hop around initially, they are only doing so to try out different spaces with the ultimate goal of finding a workspace to call “home.” This was the type of user that showed up most in our research and was also the one that we felt highlighted the most areas of opportunity.
The 3 C's
For the purposes of this project, we focused on the 3 C’s that came up again and again:
Next Steps
Knowing What We Know, How Might We...
Create an search that addresses emotional concerns of the user
Give users a sense of connection and community
Give users more informative space pages
All while emphasizing the Desktime/Deskpass relationship & enticing users to sign up with Deskpass?
Focus on Benefits
Highlight for both the Hopper and the Home Baser
An improved digital solution will have benefit tracks for both kinds of user, so that Deskpass can grow in each direction.
Strategize Using Existing Decision Models
Zero in on how people already make personal choices
Using a concept map we created grouping how people already make decisions, from dating to makeup purchases, we tested which examples could translate best to an improved Desktime experience when searching for a space.
Personalize Search with Clear Map
Show how Desktime and Deskpass work together to help everyone
We want to give our user a clear path from Desktime, where they'll find a space, to Deskpass, where they can try a space (or many spaces) before they hop again or find their home.
Final Deliverable & Client Reception
After sketching multiple new options for the Desktime website (while also showing its relationship to Deskpass), the founder of Desktime/Deskpass shared that his designers were hoping to migrate the site to another platform that had built-in features. As such, we did not design a new website or web application. Instead, we provided high fidelity wireframes that his designers and developers could use as a blueprint for the future site with rationale for our choices.
The client was thrilled that we were able to identify a new user outside their historic user, and that we gave research backed analysis for each design decision. Much of our copy now appears on the Desktime site to introduce users to Deskpass, and the amount of information shown on space pages continues to improve on Desktime as they test new versions.
Improved Landing Page
Our new homepage starts with a Space Finder quiz, which helps the user explore the general vibe and energy they're looking for to make searching the directory easier. New copy emphasizes how Desktime and Deskpass are partners.