Background

Unity is a central data hub for TMI’s entire business and connects to a companion iPad app for field employees.

Problem

TMI was using a Microsoft Access application to manage all their resources. It was slow and clunky after being developed over the life of the company; it could no longer scale with the growing business.

Goals

• Better user experience. Implement a feedback loop and reduce frustration. How can we make their workdays a little easier?
• Reduce errors. Everyone used the previous solution a little differently. The system did not prevent discrepancies.
• Standardization. Reduce “hacks” and employee workarounds. Eliminate tech debt and use consistent data conventions.
• Scale. Be expandable and adaptable to evolving business needs

Requirements

• One system to handle all day-to-day operations
• Convenient mobile access - eliminate the need for Remote Desktop
• Clean, reliable data

Audience

Unity is used across the company. Access, capabilities, modules and views were based on roles.

• Estimating and sales
• Project management
• Dispatch, vehicle and equipment management
• Contact management
• Human Resources (policies, payroll)
• Billing

Design Process

Because Unity is a system, we established a repeatable process.

1. Research & Discovery

• Stakeholder Interviews & Workshops: establish the purpose and business requirements
• User Interviews & Observation: Get into the field and observe and document how people are solving the problem/using the old system now. We need to understand the people using the module.
• Heuristic/Usability Review: If we are redesigning an existing module, where can we apply best practices
• Competitive/Comparative Analysis: How have other people solved these problems? What can we learn from industry standards? Where will we innovate?

2. Plan & Strategize

• Brainstorm Solutions: Whiteboards, workshops, and sketching constraint-free ideas.
• User Flows & Task Analysis: map out the user’s flow to complete the tasks and how it fits into the larger system. Where else will this data be used?

3. Design

• Sketches: Work out solutions on paper/whiteboard
• Wireframes / Low Fidelity Mockups: Show stakeholders and developers loose ideas to get feedback; work with the other designers to make sure the design system will be applied consistently and components will be reused effectively
• Interactive Prototyping: Make solutions look and feel “real” and ready to validate
• Validation: Return to the people we are designing for and ask them to complete their tasks using our prototypes. Iterate if we identify any gaps in the experience.
• Documentation / UX Plan: Outline every interaction state, edge case and everything else the engineering team may need to build

4. Development

• Collaborate: Work with developers as they build the modules and QA throughout the process.
• Write release notes: People using Unity need to know what was changing, why, and how they can provide feedback.

5. Feedback & Monitoring

• HotJar: I watched playback sessions to find opportunities to improve and addressed all incoming feedback.
• Google Analytics: Benchmarking and tracking behavior allowed us to use data to drive decisions.

Results

We designed for accessibility and listened to user needs to improve the experience.

Highlights

• Reduced design and development time by using repeatable patterns.
• Implemented a performance budget. Unity is more lightweight and much faster to use than their previous solution. A budget allowed us to balance design and engineering decisions.
• Every module can adapt to a wide range of content sizes, meaning TMI is not constrained by project or client size.

Modernizing the technology (Google for Work authentication, cloud-based hosting, responsive web components) made data more accessible and usable in and out of the offices.

• Date: 2015 - 2017
• Role: Design team lead and product designer
• Team composition: 3 designers, 5 engineers, 1 project manager
• Company: FiveSixTwo, Inc.