Checkable
Helping small business owners go digital, one step at a time.
TL;DR.
Project Overview.
Checkable was a free digital check-up tool (part of MBIE-funded ‘Digital Boost’) that helped over 10K small business owners in NZ understand how they were showing up online—on their website, social media, search engines, and more.
Users could run a series of tests and get a personalised action plan with clear steps to improve things like visibility, speed, compliance, and accessibility.
I was the sole UX designer for Checkable—leading the UX strategy, information architecture, product logic, and copy, and mentored a UI designer.
We built and launched a complex, API-driven MVP in just 6 weeks, simplifying technical data into clear, actionable steps for users with low digital literacy.
Project Duration
2 years - academyEX
Jan 2022 - Oct 2024
My Role
UX Research
UX Design
UI Design
Copywriting
Tools
The challenge.
New Zealand small business owners (SMBs) were under immense pressure to digitise, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Yet many lacked the time, money, or knowledge to manage their website, social media, or online visibility. Existing digital tools were fragmented, technical, and costly.
Our goal was to create a single tool that brought everything together, simplified complexity, and helped users understand what they needed to do—whether on their own or with help.
“Where do I begin?”
SMBs wear many hats in business. They have a laundry list of things to do (with limited time and budget) and need a clear roadmap of priorities.
Tech fatigue and fear
SMBs were overwhelmed by jargon and felt they weren’t “technical enough” to understand or implement digital tasks.
“If I could, I would”
Tools like Google Ads can be intimidating. SMBs often outsourced work they could do themselves if they had the right scaffolding.
Proposed Solution.
Create a diagnostic tool within Digital Boost (a platform for small business owners to help them upskill in digital skills), that would check a user’s website and social platforms. The user would then get personalised recommendations and learning content on what to focus on to improve their digital presence.
Key features to support users’ goals are:
Digital Action Plan - personalised prioritisation of tasks, based on ease and impact to the user’s business.
Test status - for each test that Checkable runs, users will receive a status. We’d need to accommodate multiple scenarios for each test to display a range of different status’. Once a user makes a change to their website or socials, this status would update.
Learning content - educate users on each “check” - letting them know what it is, why it’s important and next steps to make improvements to their digital presence.
Google Ads portal - a simplified view of Google Ads, allowing users to set up quick, automated paid ads - without the excess features that they don’t need yet.
As requested by users, they could download a PDF of their Digital Action Plan, to physically highlight things to do or tick off things they had completed.
Instructions in the Digital Action Plan letting users know how to read their report
Example of the Google Ads page on Checkable - where users could access a simplified portal to create ads
Example of the "Instagram" check on Checkable. Providing users with an educational video and transcript, along with data about their Instagram profile
Example of a "Shopping Cart" check on Checkable - where users could see if their shopping cart was optimal for their customers
Example of Instagram check on Checkable, showing users their top performing posts and other insights
Things that made this tricky:
We used dozens of APIs to run different tests (Google, Meta, Twitter, Site speed, Accessibility, e-Commerce, SEO tools, etc).
Many users had low digital literacy, so language and UX had to be extra clear.
The logic behind the tool was complex—we had to consider data scenarios, edge cases, privacy and account connections across multiple platforms.
We worked across 4 time zones and had tight deadlines.
User-Centered
Design Process.
Design Process.
My approach focused on understanding the real needs and limitations of small business owners with low digital confidence. I started with user interviews and feedback from our wider Digital Boost community, then translated insights into clear, actionable flows and plain-language content. I worked closely with developers to ensure the UX held up across a wide range of edge cases and API responses—always prioritising “clear over clever”.
Information Architecture & Logic
I led the creation of a logic framework that translated dozens of API results into digestible outcomes and next steps. I designed for:
Multiple test results per user (e.g., SSL, SEO, accessibility, content structure, Google presence)
Edge cases (e.g., missing data, multiple domains, unverified accounts)
Real-time and delayed updates based on platform latency
Example of logic trees to decide on the different status displayed for each test.
Diagnostic Tool UX
Each test output was mapped to one of four action categories:
Completed
Easy Business Wins
Business Essentials
Long-Term Goals
Users were guided via progressive disclosure to prevent overwhelm, and offered learning guides and visual cues to support self-service or agency handoff.
Example: If a user had Site vulnerability risks, we displayed plain-English language about what it was, why it mattered, and what action to take—with links to guides or other resources.
Content & UX Copywriting
I wrote UX copy for the platform, with a focus on:
Plain language (no jargon)
Positive reinforcement
Clarity over cleverness
This was especially important in areas like:
Security vulnerabilities
Accessibility issues
Google Ads integration
Anything with an acronym (hello DNS, DKIM, SSL, ARIA…)
Example of a report giving layman’s term descriptions for complicated concepts in a “Site Vulnerabilities” check.
Visual & Interaction Design
Created responsive wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes
Led UI designer on component implementation and design system expansion
Used device mockups and feedback loops to refine layout and interactions
Collaboration & Leadership
Acted as the sole UX designer and design lead, mentoring a UI designer and coordinating across a cross-functional team spanning 4 time zones (NZ, South Africa, India, Indonesia).
Facilitated design reviews, sprint planning, and stakeholder walkthroughs with MBIE and academyEX.
Negotiated trade-offs between developer constraints and user experience—particularly around API dependencies and real-time updates.
Key Learnings.
✅ What We Delivered:
A fully interactive, data-driven dashboard that generated personalised digital action plans based on diagnostic checks
Simplified Google Ads portal for non-technical users
Ongoing improvement loop with visible score updates and test progress
40+ diagnostic criteria across web, social, SEO, accessibility, and marketing
📊 Results:
Over 10,000 active users onboarded
Named one of NZ’s most ambitious digital transformation projects (govt-internal recognition)
Sustained and extended with additional MBIE funding after launch
“This was the most technically complex, high-stakes project I’ve worked on to date. I’m proud of the scale, speed and empathy we brought to it.”
Reflections
What I’m proud of:
This was the most technically complex project I’ve worked on—and one of the fastest-moving. I’m proud that we built something meaningful that small business owners actually used and loved.
We made a scary topic feel approachable.
We handled a ton of edge cases without losing clarity.
We got people excited about making small, manageable changes to their digital presence.
Leading a diverse team across cultures and time zones
What I’d do differently:
If we’d had more time, I would have loved to do more usability testing earlier, especially for the more complex features. But given the timelines and scale of the APIs we were wrangling, we focused on getting a stable MVP live—and then kept improving.
Allocate more time for testing edge cases sooner
Advocate for additional user testing pre-MVP, if timelines had allowed
What I learned:
You don’t need to dumb things down—you just need to say them clearly.
The importance of structure, whitespace, and progressive disclosure for overwhelmed users.
How to work across global teams, cultures, and technical disciplines.
And: how to fight for what users actually need—not just what the tech can do.
Build graceful fallbacks for unpredictable data