FLINKO
A unified script less automation testing tool for all software testing needs, optimised for incredibly short agile sprints.
Problem Statement
Make a cutting-edge Test automation tool for software testing that the test engineers can employ to optimize their testing activities and make it less time consuming.
Project Makeup
Role – UX Researcher, UX Designer, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & Testing
Stakeholders - Test Yantra Softwares Solutions Pvt Ltd
Timeline – 1 year
My role in Test Yantra Software Solutions India Pvt Ltd started off with a lengthy KT on Software testing domain and then getting drafted to develop a state-of-the-art Test Automation tool. In the beginning I was the complete design team, but we later expanded the team to a total of 3 before I left the organization.
Disclaimer - The application was first called TESTOPTIMIZE. Then after I was onboarded it had gone through a complete overhaul to become FLINKO and over the past couple of years it had received another update. They changed the name to FIREFLINK and also have revamped the website and logo from where I left.
As described by my favourite quote "Nothing is permanent, Everything is permitted" by Ezio Auditore, the initial designs had to evolve, and I am glad I was able to contribute as much as I could.
Challenges
-
Starting from scratch
-
Domain knowledge or precisely the lack of it
-
Lack of a design system nor branding for the tool.
-
Lack of a Design team (initially)
-
No process in place
How I dealt with it...
Preparation
As with any domain, I had to understand the process and the nuances that governs those processes before we dive deep into design. I spend hours digging through the testing docs send to me and interacting with the user groups - Test engineers asking all sort of queries.
Finding the Solutions
We also simultaneously started building a branding around the platform working on some visual elements and finally moving on to make a design system from scratch. Working with XD meant that we could then make each element into a component and deploy it as a local design system for ease of use.
Resilience
Even though we were a small group of designers we were feisty and wanted to get the job done. It wasn’t easy but we did bring results to the table. My initial days were difficult in this project as I was jumping from Industrial design to Digital product designs. This meant adapting to new challenges and reskilling myself all over again in the realm of UI/UX.
My contributions...
-
Implement a process that we lacked at the very beginning of the project. It was just me and 100+ developers and it was quite overwhelming initially. So, something had to done and that too quickly. At the end of the project, I was able to tackle this challenge right from breaking up the designs deliverables to sprint planning for the team to final hand off I was able to tackle the design workflow.
-
Tons of Testing with the users, as the team primarily had a lot of test engineers that were helping with the Development process. They were involved with the design validations right from the start.
-
Establish and co-design a design system for the team to work with in. This became the design bible that the team used and made sure there was consistency in delivery across the different modules. Also worked on the visual design and typography aspects in the initial days.
-
There was an exercise to do branding around the application and do website design and the initial logo for the application. All this made me promote myself to a full stack Designer. :)
-
I was able to learn a bit of Selenium. It was important that the designs team picked up on this for an effective design experience to be formulated.
Project Planning
1.
Flinko Platform Design
-
TESTOPTIMIZE screens study
-
Typography exercise
-
User Flow Analysis
-
Flinko Final Creatives
3.
Branding
-
Presentation Decks, Banners, Posters etc
-
Website design
-
Logo
CMS Platform Design
2.
-
User Flow study
-
Individual Section Designs
-
Additional Pages
1. Flinko Platform Design
The TESTOPTIMIZE existing application was evaluated and analysed thoroughly along with the insights from the users were used to redesign the application from ground up. The development team had already started off with their side of work without direction from the design team, so had to hustle to get the designs ready for the hand off quickly. The application was divided into different modules that was researched, analysed, designed, and packaged for hand off separately in modules in sprint based manners.
-
TESTOPTIMIZE screens study
-
Typography Exercise
-
User Flow Analysis
-
Flinko Final Creatives
2. CMS Platform Design
Once the platform work had reached a good stage, I was put in charge to design a content management system (CMS) for the backend team. This would make sure the Back-end team of Flinko had a platform where they can update and curate the supporting data on Flinko post release of the application. This would include items like a FAQs section, Blog space and other educational and instructional contents. The aim of the CMS application was to make sure the content team wouldn’t have to relying on a dedicated the Dev team for the website updating.
-
User Flow study
-
Individual Section Designs
-
Additional Designs
3. Branding
This included working on banners and posters along with presentation decks. I even designed the initial website for the platform release along with the logo for the application. Yay…
-
Presentation Decks, Banners, Posters etc.
-
Website Designs
-
Logo
