Customer APP
Impact
V1: I designed the customer app from brainstorming to research to wireframe to high fidelity visual design.
After testing the design with customers of Draeger’s market and Backhaus and identifying improvements, the package retrieval completion rate increased from 65% to 90%.
The simple and polished customer app and merchant app were two of the essential keys that led Udelv to successfully get seed funding.
V2: Usable, enjoyable and useful mobile apps helped the company increase market exposure and started to partner with large stores such as Walmart, XLParts and Toyota in the Arizona and Taxes areas.
Added a “share access feature” in the app so users can share delivery access with their friends and family. This feature helped users’ retrieval rate increase by 10%.
V3: I improved the map page with clear icons and estimated time indication that helped users to track delivery easier.
Project Context
Due to the shortage of drivers, advancements in autonomous technology, and evolving customer needs, Udelv developed an autonomous delivery car as a solution to address these challenges. The CEO envisioned offering a solution through a mobile app or device, enabling users to connect with the car and retrieve their products from our vehicle.
I joined Udelv as the founding designer with the mission to create both the merchant and customer apps from scratch, aiming to develop a product usable by our customers and with a clear concept to showcase to potential investors.
ROLE
TIME
Version 1.1: 4 months
Overall product cycle: 4 years
TEAMMATE
CEO / CTO / Software Engineers / Mechanical Engineers / UX Engineers / Sales Team
Challenge
Design have to consider vehicle constraints
- Version 1 vehicle : Users can only open either top row or bottom row at once.
- Version 2 vehicle: Users can only open either front door or back compartment at once.
- User must retrieve deliveries in person
The product involve with merchant side
I needed to collaborate with the sales team to comprehend our potential clients and work with the operational team to understand how the logistic system functions with merchants.
Discover
Through online research, two main delivery-related issues have been identified as concerns for customers, and they express a desire for these issues to be resolved.
Package Theft
According to Clutch, 51% of respondents have had at least one package stolen from their porch in 2019. USPS lost mail statistics show that lost mail can’t be counted, it’s estimated that 1.7 million packages are stolen per day in the US.
Missed Deliveries
Missed deliveries are frustrating and inconvenient. When it comes to high-value orders, many people actually take the day off on the delivery date so that they can be home to receive the package. So, when a delivery doesn’t arrive as scheduled, the frustration typically turns into complaints and a loss of goodwill towards the retailer.
Competitive/Inspiration Analysis
To initiate the research process, we examined 9 comparable competitors in the self-driving industry, namely Nuro, Ford, Oxbotica, Kiwi, Starship, Marble, Dispatch, Piaggio, and Uber Freight. Additionally, we analyzed four mobile apps with features that we may consider implementing in our own mobile app.
Learnings From Analysis
Kiwi, Starship, Piaggio, and Uber Freight enable users to retrieve deliveries using a mobile app, while Nuro, Ford, Marble, and Dispatch provide a keypad option for users to enter a code and access their deliveries.
Most competitors offer tracking features.
Nuro and Dispatch offer alternative methods for users to retrieve their deliveries.
Kiwi and Starship integrate the shopping feature directly into their mobile apps, while others focus solely on tracking and retrieval functionalities.
Most competitors provide secure login authentication and verification for retrieving packages.
User Interview
I conducted interviews with coworkers, business partners, and customers. Based on the one-on-one interviews with eight people, I essentially divided them into three groups: parents working from home, young professionals, and seniors. These three types of people have different shopping habits, lifestyles, and constraints.
User Interview Finding
- Users think food and grocery shipping fees are too high. If the autonomous vehicle can reduce the cost, they are willing to try.
- If users feel they can control the delivery date and time, it could help them reduce missed deliveries and make them more willing to retrieve packages from autonomous vehicles.
- Everyone seems to want the most up-to-date map tracking feature for their packages.
- It sounds like seniors won’t be our direct audience due to the constraint that “users must retrieve in person on the road.” However, they are willing to try sometimes with their younger generations.
- Users behave differently for perishable food, grocery, important package, and normal package deliveries.
About Daily Life
- Users wants a way to know where is their packages.
- Users didn’t hear bell ring so they missed delivery for must sign package.
- Users feels frustrated that they need to go different sites to check individual deliveries status.
- Users wish their package could be delivered on the weekend.
About Udelv Product
- Users don’t want to download too many apps.
- Users don’t have smartphones.
- Users don’t know how to retrieve their package from autonomous vehicle.
- Users are not sure if they want to retrieve in person.
Ideate / Brainstorming
User Journey Map
This is an ideal journey that helped me define the task flow and think about possible.problems that users may encounter.
The Approach
- Convenient:
(A)Add sharing pick up access features to enhance the retrieve rate
(B)Allow user can retrieve delivery via text message
(C)Develop a feature that allows users to reschedule the time and location - Add full tracking of service operation on mobile devices.
- Safe: Enhance customer app security by adding a phone number and email verification sign-up and log-in process.
- Use a simple task flow for users to retrieve their packages easily
- Create a straightforward user interface to help users indicate the delivery location.
- Add text and notification features to remind users to pick up their delivery and help them retrieve the delivery successfully.
- Include instant delivery notifications.
Wireframe
Iteration And Test
Final Design
Easy to view orders and track status
All your active orders will be listed on the orders screen, and access can be shared by tapping the ‘Share’ button.
Orders that have arrived will be shown in orange, and tap it to go to the retrieval screen.
Track your delivery anywhere anytime
You can view the delivery progress on the map as well as from the estimated arrival.
The delivery vehicle will be shown on the map moving in real time.
Easy to retrieve the delivery
Slide the button that says ‘Slide to open’ to open the compartment your order is in.
Clear graphs and instructions to locate the side of the vehicle your order are in.
If the vehicle is not physically visible from your pickup spot, tap the map icon on the top right corner.
Share your pick up access securely
Confirm the pickup details and choose up to 3 trusted friends and family to share your order with, then tap ‘Send’.
Check out the app
