INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR WORK

IDP Live - one app to digitally transform an entire business (and industry)

In a difficult time - with digital transformation at the core of many businesses - IDP chose a radical path by flipping their own business model on its head.

the project

IDP Education is an Australian, ASX Listed business, that helps international students apply to study abroad.

I had joined IDP Education over 2 years before the inception of this project and have since been a central part of the company’s ambitious digital transformation, culminating in the inception of IDP Live, the company's latest app.

my role

I supported the development of Ask IDP as the UX/UI Designer.

This project took place from March 2020 to June 2021.

My main tasks included:

  • lead ideation of new products and experiences while making sure they align with user and business needs.

  • develop the app’s core structure, allowing for a level of flexibility that makes the product future-proof.

  • carry out user research at every step along the way, making sure our assumptions are being challenged, validated and reviewed.

  • establish a new design system that is component based and allows us to build before we design interfaces, giving us the flexibility to try new concepts quickly before committing to them.

IDP Live’s final screen designs.

the process

To make this project a success within a tight time limit of 12 months, my process followed the Design Thinking methodology.

The steps involved:

  • Empathise: Review of existing user research within IDP as well as quantitative research data we had collected via the app 1.0 over the last 18 months.

  • Define: Group and theme findings and pain points to define the core features of IDP Live.

  • Ideate: Brainstorm ways to visually convey the new core features and make the new app future-proof.

  • Prototype: Turn wireframes into prototypes to test with user, stakeholders and developers.

  • Test: Run user research session to test individual features as well as the wider flow and interface.

Early wireframes to showcase suggested solutions.

Low-fidelity prototypes for testing with users and stakeholders.

outcomes and learnings

DP Live (MVP) replaced the previous IDP Study Abroad app by the end of March 2021, after completing its beta testing cycle with over 100 users. 

With a tight timeline of just under 12 months to take a product from inception to MVP release, I’ve made many improvements along the way, helping us to scale quickly and address user needs on the fly.

While working on IDP Live I've learned some important lessons:

  • Tight deadlines can work out: With not a lot of time to play around with concepts, making quick decisions of what's in scope and out of scope is more important than ever.

  • Start testing as early as possible: Even concepts can be tested, as long as you keep visuals simple.

  • Get development involved from the beginning: Allowing for development to pick up from early wireframing stages helps iterate earlier.