The HP Printer Assistant (formerly known as the HP Printer Device Stage) is a software application for desktop printers. It is used to set up new HP printers, configure printer settings, print documents and images, monitor usage and printing supplies, as well as troubleshoot any printer problems. It is available for download from the HP support website.
I led the design effort for this project and was later promoted as Design Lead to mentor junior designers that were stepping into the software program. I created the strategic plan for revamping the entire software experience - from updating the information architecture (IA) and layout to overhauling the entire user interaction.
The first challenge I faced when I took over this program was helping introduce design thinking into the program's development process. I worked closely with the software managers and stakeholders to implement the overhaul of HP Printer Assistant. The strategic plan was successfully implemented in three phases: an integrated UX framework, clean up of workflows, and design consistency between the Windows and Mac OS versions.
I conducted surveys and user interviews to better understand the issues faced when using the HP Printer Device Stage software. Using these findings, I created an improved IA that housed all the software features - undergoing a few rounds of refinement before this IA was ready to serve as the foundation for HP Printer Assistant. I then used the IA to design new interaction models and interface concepts.
Part of the strategic plan included revisiting all scan and fax workflows. I conducted heuristic evaluations and user studies to better understand all the scan and fax workflows, as well as to find any existing usability issues. I documented all findings and presented my design proposal to the team and stakeholders - with this proposal becoming the first step towards incorporating design thinking into the software development process. (This effort was the first time the development teams worked with a dedicated designer on a software program, and the collaboration went rather smoothly throughout the sprint cycles.)
Working remotely with the junior designer (who was based in Shanghai), we created and tested a working concept that was translated into an Axure prototype. The team took this wireframe prototype and transformed it into a high-fidelity (Hi-Fi) prototype, which was used as a communication tool for the developers and stakeholders.
The Hi-Fi prototype was also used in a user test as part of proof-of-concept efforts to help gather user feedback and identify any unforeseen usability issues. The results of this test were used to refine the final design of HP Printer Assistant.
