Project details
Task overview:
I was tasked by my client to create an end to end multi role/user logistics app for the trucking industry to help the drivers maintain better communication with carriers, brokers, and delivery facilities. This is app has 4 different users so that is 4 different experiences to create.
I started with the log in and splash screens that would lend well to multiple user types. We have 4 different user profile for this app.
We gave a section to add drivers license and insurance cards right from the start so it would not be something they forget to do later.
Once the sketches were complete and I ran them by my client and he was happy with the direction I loaded them into Figma and go right to work creating the experiences each user would go through.
4 Experiences 1 App
To break it down quickly we have 4 different types of users.
Owner Operator (O/O), they own the truck they drive and can book any load they see fit.
Carrier Drivers, they drive trucks owned by the company, now some carriers hire O/O but that is not taken into account here.
Carrier Dispatchers, they will be able to create loads and assign them to company drivers.
Brokers, they can create loads for O/O to book and deliver.
The Experience; Owner Operator
Once I was able to sort out the key differences in each user's role the screens fell pretty well into place with what is most important for each role.
I kept in contact with my client, himself being both a driver and dispatcher he had a wealth of knowledge on both experiences. I was able to interview my dad who was a former truck driver with over 15 years of experience as well. I spent much of my own childhood in hanging out in his rig and traveling around the California and Nevada so I had another source of information that I asked questions to constantly as well.
For O/O drivers, keeping an eye of your drive time and being able to quickly find nearby fuel, scales and loads to book was the most important aspect I was able to design a search feature that solved that problem with ease.
As you can see below, with a quick look a the home page the driver can see their daily drive time to make sure that they have enough time to make to the next rest stop, or truck stop.
The search has two distinct search options. The first will let them look for loads that brokers have posted. The second will show all services stations, truck stops, scales, etc.. within the given location they search.
The Experience; Carrier Drivers
Carrier drivers and O/O have every similar experiences with some very noted differences.
The biggest difference will come from the homepage and the search page.
They will only be able to search for fuel, truck stops, scales, points of interest. Since they are not able to book and haul loads in the fashion that and O/O would be able to showing those would just be a distraction and lead to unpleasing experience or confusion.
The Experience; Carrier Dispatcher
Carrier Dispatcher is when the app really takes a different direction and is a whole new experience for this user.
They are going to create driver profile, create and track loads, as well as assign loads to drivers that do not have any.
As you will see from a few samples below, how the dispatcher will interact and the needs are vastly different of the drivers and requires a different set of options to meet the clients needs for this.
The Experience; Broker
The Broker and the Dispatcher have a similarities but they also have very big differences that needed to be addressed to ensure they would be successful in meeting the users needs and client requirements.
We needed to make sure they could book loads, make payments to O/O, keep track of the loads and drivers.
I was able to pack those requirements into the broker pages in the examples below.
Other Features
I had several other feature requirements from the client that we have added in and several on the horizon.
Some of the main features include payments, a rating system for locations, in app messaging.
Final Thoughts
This project was a quite unique project as most times you have one, maybe two different major experiences, this packed 4 different experiences with its own set of requirements.
Focusing on the user requirements and feature requests really helped shape the app and how it will be used. Overall my client is very happy with the overall feel experience of the app and is ready for the next steps.
The next phase is to get the the prototype test with some users and with that feedback we will iterate based on that feedback. My client has many driver and dispatcher friends that will be testing out the app and once we are able to get this tested updates will happen.