Access / 2018

DATE Mid - Late 2018

ROLE Lead Designer

TEAM Two Designers (Including Me) / Product Manager / Remote Development Team

TOOLS Sketch (Design) / InVision (Prototyping)

If you’re a school bus driver, your work day is divided between having a chat and some Folgers in the break room, heading to your bus and back (often on the other side of a huge yard), and of course, driving. With the time clock located near the break room, it is likely that a few minutes get added onto your time card, either from a long, snowy walk or getting caught up discussing the Bears game. For one Zonar customer, a top 3 national school bus operator, these extra minutes across thousands of drivers add up to millions lost each year.

Access is an Android app that guides drivers through their daily schedule and punching the clock between each assigned task. Drivers can also easily navigate to and from other Zonar apps, such as EVIR for conducting pre- and post-trip inspections, as needed.

SELECTED SCREENS

tASK SCREEN

Each task row expands to access detailed information about each task.

• Arrows unconventionally places on the left side of the screen after the customer suggested it was too hard to find the arrow is it’s traditional location on the right.

• Testing confirmed the customers’ assumption.

Task Screen (Expanded Task)

This screen is the central point of guidance for the driver. A start button next to a task indicates it is the next one to be completed. The panel that expands below a task walks to driver through each sub-task and provides CTAs to guide them.

• Buttons link to other Zonar apps required for the completion of certain sub-tasks, or other screens within Access.

• The user’s attention is drawn to the gray highlighted areas, and steps from the task to sub-task, and finally to the blue button’s action.

HOW ACCESS GOT MADE

The aforementioned customer approached Zonar to partner on a workflow app that synchronizes with their time clock system. They had calculated that in the previous quarter “padded hours” had cost $774, 097. Additionally, high driver turnover (about 25% annually) meant that new drivers constantly needed to be trained, and having a self-guided contextual software would greatly reduce training cost.

I met with the customer previously for some smaller projects and was requested by their senior leadership to be involved in discussions from the start. It was an exciting prospect, as I’d found that this customer is notable in how much care they put into crafting a great experience for their drivers. A year earlier I’d had their ear about the importance of user research and within two weeks and they had enthusiastically arranged for me to visit one of their sites and interview drivers.

At the start of this project, the customer was so precise in their requirements that they had already worked with their internal development team to mock up their vision of the app. The information architecture was sound and familiar to drivers, but the interaction and visual design needed help. They hoped that we could whip up something better - immediately.

As soon as we got the green light from Zonar leadership, I got to work as lead with support from another designer. By the next day, after some breakneck sketching, we had a lo-fi prototype to show the customer. We jumped on a call, they suggested changes, and round and round we went, with calls every 1-2 days for about two weeks. They took the final design to their development team and a few months later it was the central technology in their drivers’ work life. 

Fortunately, my advocacy for user research was not forgotten. A few months into the school year, myself, a lead researcher, and a product manager travelled to two sites to conduct research (SUS questionnaires and moderated usability testing). The results were above average and we made recommendations for future improvements. Largely contingent on the timely completion of this project and their satisfaction, the customer signed a new multi-year contract - one of the largest at Zonar.

DESIGN ARTIFACTS