WhatTheDuck
2022 Slack Plug-In Concept
In a team of four, I was tasked with creating a way to help new hire remote workers ease into their new workplace's community. WhatTheDuck is a plug-in concept for Slack designed to organize and prompt work and personal questions asked by employees by using tags and a dedicated Slack channel for quick finding.
Over the course of four months I researched new-hire remote worker issues, designed wireframes and applied design screens, and established a brand for the concept.
PROBLEM
Adults aged 23 - 29 experience anxiety during and after their training periods at work due to a lack in community and support in their workplace. We believe new hires' anxiety will decrease and preparedness will increase if we provide a sense of community and wellness with our daily check-in application/plug-in.
To understand our users and their problems, our team created 4 proto-personas that best represented our target user group. The persona I created, Danielle, was used to represent remote new hires who have difficulty retaining training information from modules.
KEY FINDINGS: After creating personas and scenarios for them to navigate, our team found that open communication and community were essential for success for new hires working remotely.
In a 15 minute spring on FigJam, our team created an impact matrix to find our MVP: a plug-in for Slack that prompts employees daily to share periods of confusion, frustration, and anxiety during the work day anonymously.
PROTOTYPING & TESTING
In the first mid-fidelity iteration of the plug-in, users respond to an emoji check-in that prioritizes ease of selection and time, as well as a daily question prompt that encourages employees to engage in a laid back, non-professional manner while at work to build community
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If users were stuck, they had the ability to ask fellow colleagues a work-related question after training ended
After testing the mid-fidelity prototype screens with a group of users that represented the target audience, it was discovered that users felt the plug-in took on too many roles rather than solving just one issue. To ensure the users' needs were considered, the team made the executive decision to pivot our focus onto having a plug-in that only served one purpose: asking your co-workers questions.
PIVOT
Plug-in now onboards the user and prompts them to get started using the system with a simple button
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Users can tag their questions in chat using #whattheduck and categorizing filters for organization
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In a channel dedicated to the plug-in, users can search by filters to find questions asked by other employees, as well as view replies, top answers, and questions of the week
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BEFORE
AFTER
WHATTHEDUCK
In #general, users are able to add a tag to their question by clicking the WhatTheDuck icon in the text box to apply #whattheduck and pre-set tags to their questions for organization. Once in the #whattheduck channel, users can view what questions have been asked by their colleagues and reply by clicking on the thread or react using emojis.
When users click on the WhatTheDuck app, they can find a comprised list of top questions from the week. To connect with their co-workers on a personal level, polls can be created on the right side using preset or custom questions that can be sent to the channel of the user's choice, which can be answered in real time in chat. If look for a specific type of question, such as "when is today's meeting?", users can search in #whattheduck using tags to quickly find what they are looking for.
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