They Believe In Us
I’ve been fortunate to work with and for people from some amazing organizations.
ITS Logistics: On The Road Software
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
Projects started as an invoice system for both sales and purchasing purposes that would integrate into their larger drayage software called DART and continued to incorporate additional pieces that would be added to DART including asset management, terminal integration, and OTR (On the Road).
SOFTWARE:
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop,
Figma, Figjam, and Dovetail
DELIVERABLES:
User Research, User Experience,
Visual Design, Prototyping, User Testing, Project Management
Their Story
A third-party brokerage company that customers hire to find carriers that can transport their containers. So a company like Walmart will hire them will find and hire various vendors to transport these containers. They make their money with the cost difference between what customers pay them vs. what carriers charge them. So the more efficient they are, the more profitable they are. All of their software systems are designed to make them more efficient.
Research: User Testing
We backed up our research with user testing. The goal of the user testing was to understand if our new style performed well with the users and increased their efficiency in their work. Our methodology included sitting down one-on-one with users and observing them going through tasks in a prototype. All sessions were recorded and later transcribed and analyzed. The stakeholder had never seen user testing before and they found the process really interesting. They saw firsthand how user research can lead to better software design and asked us to look at some of their other systems as well.
We backed up our research with user testing. The goal of the user testing was to understand if our new style performed well with the users and increased their efficiency in their work. Our methodology included sitting down one-on-one with users and observing them going through tasks in a prototype. All sessions were recorded and later transcribed and analyzed. The stakeholder had never seen user testing before and they found the process really interesting. They saw firsthand how user research can lead to better software design and asked us to look at some of their other systems as well.
Define: Wireframes
The first step in our updating the DART process was tackling the workflow issues by creating wireframes of the user experience before moving onto the visual design. To unveil where improvements were needed, we conducted more Usability Testing. We evaluated our designs by observing the users try to complete tasks; this provided us with the best sense of where improvements were most needed. During testing, users were very excited with multiple users expressing the new system will “Cut time in half!” At this stage, this is where many UX projects stop. However, in true design thinking we continued iterating with our visual design exploration.
At this point we showed the wireframes for the invoice system in the current style guide and showed what that would look like updated to the lighter colors with better contrast. This shows how much easier it is to read the table data and have a much better visual hierarchy between elements on the screen.
Define: Visual Design
With the visual design exploration we started by creating a mood board to define looks and feel.In the first round we presented 4 very different design styles. Including the versions that were closer to their current branding and the versions that were new to them. This exercise was for us to help the client push their brand to the next level and to help them see a potential in their brand.
Final Design
Here is the final design. After 3 round of design, the client felt that gaming and tech inspired design was the right direction for them. We also made sure that our design is completely responsive, adaptive and also has animations to bring the design to life.
Impact and what I learned
UX brings consultative value to projects, and sometimes that means pushing back on what we think we know and what the client partner thinks they know. UX is research driven and we can often measure the value of good design.
Design is an iterative process to get to a finished product. We should never settle for our first design. There will always be a push and pull between what schedules allow and the value we can provide. Don’t be afraid to push boundaries and show the art of the possible.
- Once software is developed, conduct additional user testing to find any missed pain points and understand the users intentions while using the live application.
- Continue iterations through user issues to improve the software.