One-Stop-Shop
for Truck Drivers
Made in Figma
An app that helps truck drivers plan their trips safely and with minimal distractions.
Problem Space
Given the increasing trend in distribution industry growth, there is an increased dependency on trucking industry for delivery of goods. The inefficiencies in the trucking industry lead to project delays that cause loss of monetary resources. Logistical issues lead to poorly timed deliveries that can put a strain on traffic and infrastructure.
Truck drivers also face problems in terms of safety and productivity. There is pressure caused by the regulatory nature of the occupation. This combined with the tight schedules and max hours of service creates a stressful work environment for the driver.
Research
Since access to truck drivers, fleet managment companies and dispatch officers was limited, I employed the use of secondary research, reading a number of truck driver’s personal experiences online to understand their pain points.
The following are some questions I researched. While this list is not exhaustive, it gives a sense of the nature of questions asked.
What apps do most truck drivers currently use to plan their trips
How and in what scenarios do they contact their dispatch officers
What are some factors that cause delays that could be avoided
Whats causes the most stress in their jobs
I read articles and reports on causes of delays. These include but not limited to increased demand with no sign of decreasing distribution industry trends. This adds pressure on the distribution industry to keep up with the growing need.
In addition, I researched how fleet management systems or dispatch officers contact specific truck drivers. I discovered that dispatch officers were still using primitive methods such as calling over mobile phone.
I looked at best practices for existing car apps. These included the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for CarPlay which helped guide the layout.
Goal
To create an accessible map based UI for drivers to navigate to their destination with minimal distractions i.e only get notified when an action is needed by the driver
Require maximum three interactions to reach content and initiate functions
Minimal on-screen information requiring minimal decision making
Voice integration enabling driver to control functions without taking their hands off the wheel
Create a simple and elegant experience
Assumptions
Assuming that there are different generations of trucks owned by a trucking company, some trucks don’t have integrated digital navigation or fleet connection systems.
Since this designed experience is for a trucking company in Canada, it can be assumed that most trucks have the driver seat on the left.
Functional Requirements
Alerts must notify the driver about:
Safety (weather alert, object on road etc)
Maintenance
Pitt stops
Goods collection
General fleet messages
Maintenance
Map and directions must:
Give directions to the driver
Locked by system to ensure goods are picked in an optimal way
Allows stops (Pit stop, Lodging, Gas etc)
Must notify the fleet management system when there are unexpected delays caused by:
Accidents
Equipment breakdowns and malfunctioning
Bad weather
Must be able to contact:
Fleet management system
Roadside assistance
Factory/company there are shipping to or from
911
Must check on the driver’s wellbeing by:
Giving a notification to the driver to make a pit stop
Technical Requirements
The system must not overwhelm or distract the user as they drive.
It’s key function must be to provide navigation for the optimal delivery/pickup route.
It must focus on the key task unless there is an alert that requires an action from the driver
Usability Requirements
The app must be accessible to a person while driving to provide directions with minimal interruptions to provide a safe driving experience.
It must only notify the driver when there is an actionable alert.
*Accessibility in this case means that the driver should not have to squint to see any required information
Measures of Success
To measure the success of the designed experience, I intend to mainly collect user reviews and feedback (if this was a real project) to see how the user feels after using the app. For the purpose of this project however, the driver must not feel distracted or overwhelmed by the whole experience.
First Iteration of Sketches
The following is the first iteration of sketches where i explored This first sketch explored incorporating the key tasks into a mobile screen.
Second Iteration of Low Fidelity Screens
In this next iteration I explored the things that worked in the first iteration to see if the layout would work on the other screens.
Mock Up iterations
Below are three iterations of alerts and how they show up on the screen.
In order to align with the goal of creating a UI free of distractions, a narration with the option to view the alert is adopted. This keeps the driver from getting distracted trying to read notifications.
Final Mock Ups
Information Architecture
Keeping the information Architecture simple is key to providing drivers with an easy to use interface. Below is the Information Architecture of this app.
Aesthetic Decisions
Choice of Font
SF Pro is optimized for accessibility which is one of the goals of this app.
Choice of Color
Subtle colors are chosen to ensure drivers are not distracted from the screen. Furthermore, according to the color psychology, blue (as the one used in the app) creates a sense of calmness which is critical to a driver. The accent, teal is a trending color for 2020 which aligns with the modernity this app is meant help to move the distribution industry towards.
Future Considerations
It would be nice to show how the app optimizes the route in the back-end in the UI design. For example an alert like, ‘An accident ahead. Your total time will shorten if you make a pit stop in the next 5 km instead of after 10 km”.
It would also be nice to have the app convert to driving and non-driving modes itself (without having to tap the dashboard button).