xq message.

UX/Product Designer • Oct 2022 - May 2023 • GSuite Add-On • Figma, HTML

eliza

37 years old
New York, NY
Physiotherapist

Needs:

How might we protect communications that contain sensitive patient information?

[re] define.


XQ Message aims to provide data privacy for individuals in a variety of fields. Using Zero Trust data protection software, they allow users to securely encrypt and decrypt sensitive messages, all while remaining HIPAA and GDPR compliant.

To provide secure email communications, XQ created a GSuite add-on as well as a Chrome extension and Outlook plug-in in order to allow users to safely continue using their preferred platform. The initial product had many points of confusion and friction points for the user. My objective was to provide a comprehensive UX audit and completely redesign every step in the flow of the GSuite add-on other than the actual encryption and sending of the message, keeping in mind the styling and functionality limitations of GSuite add-ons.

shipped product

Following XQ's brand guidelines, I created a new consistent suite of icons, some of which are shown here. These icons are part of a library that remains consistent across all of XQ's products, creating a cohesive brand appearance.

The original account confirmation (shown above) was mistaken by users as spam email. I reinterpreted this email (below), consolidating three possible points of action into one clear action, and creating trustworthy yet serious copy to reflect XQ's brand as a cybersecurity company. I both designed and coded these emails in HTML.

I developed a hub for users in the landing page of the add-on. This functions as a connector to one of XQ's main products, which allows the user to view, track, and manage all of their communications in one conveninent Dashboard. There are also settings to invite friends with a pre-filled email invitation and to adjust encryption settings.

The main challenge was to create a clear home page for this GSuite add-on that would clearly communicate a path for the user to take, while also providing other relevant information and links. The top two images depict former versions of the product, which were very text-heavy and less direct. The bottom image is the version of the product I developed. To address the goals of including enough explanation for new users and cleaning up the designs, I added more visual elements and utilized GSuite's limited functionality of buttons to our advantage. The result was a more concise page with clearer and more direct paths for the user to embark on.


Throughout this process, I communicated constantly with the developer on this project as new limitations for add-ons in the GSuite marketplace arose. This led to the most optimized version of the add-on while still accounting for product limitations. I tackled redesigning everything in the user experience, from initial product intentions to shipping the finished product to the marketplace. Throughout, I integrated other elements of XQ's suite of products – from directing the user to view communication statuses via Dashboard to redesigning the account confirmation emails to be more clear and direct.

This product has since been approved by Google and is active in the Google Workspace Marketplace, with over 8000 downloads.