Before the pixel residue could settle after writing our last ticket in Jira, my team and I were informed of a significant business decision: the directory work needed to be released by the end of the year. We had only a few months to streamline the experience. In response, my team and I jokingly dubbed the project “December 1.0” to highlight the near-impossible task ahead. I immediately collaborated with the team to reduce the scope of the directory, optimizing it for faster implementation while ensuring it remained usable, provided user value, and met business requirements.
For the new Directory Landing Page rendition, I recommended removing the search query functionality and limiting members to search only by zip code. Although this seemed like a drastic change, it was necessary for speed and would be reintroduced as a fast follow. On the card side, we removed the top 'sort by' filter, and the cards' design remained unchanged.
MVP on the left, December 1.0 on the right
MVP on top, December 1.0 above
Adding images was a significant lift, so the lead group image was removed from the Details Page. Additionally, the Grouper information at the bottom of the page was removed due to rapidly changing business decisions. It was in the best interest of everyone involved to temporarily remove this section until we had clear and stable information to present to members.
MVP on the left, December 1.0 on the right
MVP on top, December 1.0 above
The most significant update came when we postponed the Profile Page, which meant one less page to build out. As a result, the 'My Group' information was moved from the Profile Page on to the Dashboard. I collaborated with the dashboard team to implement these changes, while the remaining sections of the Profile Page were planned for future iterations of the Directory experience.
MVP on the left, December 1.0 on the right
MVP on top, December 1.0 above
December 1.0 Thoughts
December 1.0 was challenging to design for due to the rapid pace of change. It became a 'design and build first, ask questions later' situation, where scalability and big-picture thinking were often sidelined as significant pivots with unclear reasoning occurred daily. Despite the frustrations, the experience brought my team closer together. It was a shared challenge that taught me the importance of listening and empathizing with everyone involved and helped me develop resilience in ambiguity - to iterate quickly and not get too attached to any particular solution.