An example roadmap and proposals for the Yelp user review website. (created in dec, 2013)

1. YELP PROJECT
An example roadmap and proposals
for the Yelp user review website.

2. 1. RESEARCH
Business goals
Target users
Understanding
the market:
gather data
competitive
benchmarking
Let’s Discover...

3. 1. RESEARCH

4. 1. RESEARCH
User needs
User scenarios
Strenghts and
problems within
the product
Opportunities
Let’s Discover...
HOW?
Quantitative
research
Qualitative
research
- stakeholders / user
interviews
- contextual inquiry:
(with Yelp users and
people w/ target profile)
- Google analytics
- Surveys
- Other data analysis
(logs, shares, likes)

5. 1. RESEARCH
Deliverables
Personas /
group profiles
Scenarios /
cases of use
User Interviews
& Usability Test
HENRY. Man, 35 yo, married w/ch.
Upper Middle Class. Heavy user of the
internet, mobile devices and digital/
online services.
HABITS
- Goes out a least once
a week, maybe more
- Drives his own car
- Bicycle activist
- Likes a good ethnic
restaurant, cool places
(bars etc) to meet
friends, outdoors trips
- Enjoys his evenings
with family & friends
GOALS
- Wants to find nice & cool
places to go
- Needs to spend the least
possible amount of money in it
- Wants to avoid frustrating
outcomes when choosing
- Would like to have reliable
reviews of bars, concerts,
restaurants, services, tourist
attractions and trip advice

6. 1. RESEARCH
Personas /
group profiles
Scenarios /
cases of use
User Interviews
& Usability Test
Deliverables
Based on the personas, some scenarios
are built (weʼll derive use cases from them,
more technical and detailed):
“Henry has just arrived in Curitiba with his wife. Itʼs his
hometown, but itʼs been almost twenty years since he
went to a bar to spend the evening.
He wanted to relax from the road trip (~6 hrs driving
non-stop), so he decides to find a cool place to show
his wife Curitibaʼs night life. As he could find none of
his friends, he decides to use an online service. Heʼs
heard of YELP before, so he gave it a try.”

7. DAY 1
HENRY arrives in
town and decides
to have some fun
Visit YELPʼs
mobile website,
which offers him
the YELP app
Website redirected
him to the App
Store, where he
downloads the app
Signs up to YELP
inside the app,
using his Facebook
account
Searches for bars
& cool things
to do in the
neighborhood
Finds a bar he
used to go
Goes to the bar
and takes pictures;
publishes them via
the YELP app
Returns home and
writes a review
inside the app
The next day, visits
the YELP website
on a PC/Desktop
Looks for a
Chinese restaurant
to take his family
Shares yesterdayʼs
review (bar) on
Facebook
Invites friends to
join YELP
DAY 2

8. 1. RESEARCH
Deliverables
Personas /
group profiles
Scenarios /
cases of use
User Interviews
& Usability Test
As an experiment*, two (2) users within the
target audience were interviewed and their
navigation was recorded
Mobile App YELP website
used the YELP used the
1 of them 2 of them
* in a real research, at least six (6) people are interviewed and tested

9. NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS FROM
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
Who?
What?
When?
How?
How often do you surf the internet? Do you do it at home, work or elsewhere? Where? And from which devices? Do you go out
(party, bars, parks etc) often? How do you choose where to go? Do you use some kind of online help or service to help you decide?
Which websites or apps have you tried? How often do you use these services or apps? What kind of information is more important
that the service show you? Who are the people and other sources that you trust for tips and information on trips, events & such?
What kinds of things compells you to leave your comfy sofa and visit a new place? Do you know Yelp? Just looking at the homepage,
what do you think Yelp does? In your opinion, is it easy to understand Yelp? What did you find easy to understand?

10. USABILITY TESTS
Interesting and
cool service
Possibly adictive
Cluttered
website
Outdated look
and feel
Bad navigation menus
Poor communication
(lack of consistency of terms
ex: “yelper, friend, fan”)

11. THROUGOUT THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE

12. 2 days/ live on
Mobile and
desktop
User Journey
Interaction
Touchpoints
Emotional map
Pain-points /
Opportunities
2. REVIEW
EXPERIENCE MAPPING

13. 2. REVIEW
EXPERIENCE MAPPING

14. HIGH IMPACT
LOW IMPACT
MORE
DIFFICULTY
LESS
DIFFICULTY
USA 1
USA 2
USA 3
USA 8 USA 7
USA 5
USA 6
USA 9
F1
F2
F3
USA 1 - USA 9
Usability adjustments/
improvments
F1 - F3a
Opportunities:
Sugested Functions/Flows
2. REVIEW
EVALUATING EFFORT VS. IMPACT

15. 1) At the download banner, in the mobile site, add to the icon
and to the title a link pointing to the app at the Apple
AppStore. There’s only a discrete “Ver” (“See”, in Portuguese)
with said link - not at all obvious.
2) When using Facebook to sign up, highlight the password
field, making clear that the user has to enter it manually.
3) Show some filters below the search field (on the page that
shows the list with the results - see mockup)
4) Provide more preset filters, change the wording in some
screens and replace “on/off” slider buttons with “checkboxes”
in the new design
3. PROPOSALS
USABILITY ADJUSTMENTS / IMPROVEMENTS
1
2
3
3

16. 5) Change color of buttons
“filter” and “map”
6) Show a numeric score below the stars
7) Ad an option to Sign-in with Facebook
next to the login fields on the desktop site
8) Add “Share on Facebook/Twitter” in
every place description page.
9) Replace “radio button” with “checkbox”
on bookmark tag; add more specific tags
and delete the useless “no tag/sem etiqueta”
3. PROPOSALS
USABILITY ADJUSTMENTS / IMPROVEMENTS
8
8
5 7
7
On map
Ex:

17. F1) Reminder to write a review
After the check-in or picture-taking,
the YELP app must send a reminder
note (something like “review John
Doe’s Bar now!”) when the user closes
the app or when the device detects it is
moving away from the chek-in site (500
meters is a safe distance, which can be
tracked accurately by the internal GPS,
if the mobile phone has it).
3. PROPOSALS
SUGGESTED NEW FUNCTIONS / FLOWS

18. 3. PROPOSALS
STORYBOARD - DON’T FORGET TO REVIEW!
The user goes to the place The user takes pictures or
checks-in in the YELP app
The user leaves the place
The GPS detects when the
user is 500 meters away
from the place
The user receives an alert
reminder to review the place
The user reviews the place

19. F2) “Write a review” page redesign
- Add feedback on review lenght also on the desktop site;
- Add text/label below stars;
3. PROPOSALS
SUGGESTED NEW FUNCTIONS / FLOWS
- Split form in two parts
(specially the app form), on
the second screen add
optional fields to further
detail the review and helps
improve the search and
better order the content and
reviews

20. 3. PROPOSALS
SUGGESTED NEW FUNCTIONS / FLOWS
F3) Rethink the bookmarks
For example, adding more valuable and specific tags, like:
“want to visit”,
“recomend to friends”,
“cheap and good”,
“cool!”,
“casual”,
etc.