Improving service route planning.

Legacy processes and IoT don't mix. Or do they?
I was hired to help define how to create an all-in-one suite of asset tracking solutions using Internet of Things.
Their customers were old established organizations with outdated systems using excel and pen and paper for large tracking systems.

Objective

Understand the end-user and deliver a solution they found usable, while significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of their operations.

Project Type

Full Time

My Role

Product Designer

Duration

9 Months

Client

IoT Start-up

My Contribution

-> Discovery
-> User Interviews
-> Visual direction
-> Prototyping
Written & Illustrated by Seth Roberts & Brian Hawes
There was a lack of design process.
As the only designer, it was my job to establish timelines and communicate across team functions.
I needed to find a way to find common ground and come up with a design strategy and timelines that everyone could agree on.
To understand more of the problem space, I interviewed target users.
This included the use cases of the different users of the app and how they interact with each other.
From this I created a system map to better understand the interactions and goals of each user.
This allowed us to understand the user flows within their domain. We can map this to the software.
Ex. We saw a consistent relationship of service requests, operators and drivers.
Example Guiding Questions
Combining ideas from user research & stakeholder meetings.
I used these guiding questions to break down the current process.
The goal was to discover new opportunities by exploring customer problems.
We started by understanding the conceptual model they had of their current process.
Ex. Users consitently said their main tools were spreadsheets and google maps.
I worked closely with the stakeholders to understand their perspectives.
I collaborated with engineering and the execs to balance the features with our resources.
I proposed a phased approach, where the most important elements would be tackled first, and then additional features would be added later.
Ex. Let's build out manual routing first, then add route suggestions and automations.
Feature Value Mapping
Feedback warning: only maintenance trips can be added.
Improvement through user testing.
I worked closely with our test users to identify areas where our features weren't clear and why they were hard to use.
This uncovered areas where we needed to add more signifiers, feedback and correctly display element affordance.
Ex. Truck space is restricted when building a route. The user needs to know this.
Results:
I combined information from generative research, business objectives and the engineering team.
This resulted in a solution that was buildable, while matching the users conceptual model and current way of doing things.
Ex. Our customers were already using maps and tables to track their data.
Create service requests and dispatch drivers.

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