Founded in 2010, BizLog is a U.S. based company providing a leading mobile and Cloud automated mileage tracking solution for businesses. One of the major solutions they provide is TripLog, a Top-Rated GPS mileage tracker app with over 1 million total downloads. Featured on Forbes, CNN, Inc, and PCWorld.
Bullet points
I was lead designer. I work closely with the owner and original developer of the app to identify areas of improvement and simplify the user experience. I was responsible for wire frames mock ups, flow charts, visual communication, and final designs.
Bullet points
In recent years the ‘GPS App’ market place had become crowded with many major players entering into the field (ie Microsoft, Intuit, and others) the TripLog app in contrast felt dated when compared to these other emerging apps and was in need of an update and in doing so increase user adoption.
Bullet points
My user-centered design process is comprised of 5 parts Discover, Direct, Design, Build, Test. With Design, Build, Test in an ever reoccurring cycle meant to produce the most effective design. In practice, for TripLog, the process went like this:
Discover: The first step was to learn as much as I possible could about TripLog through a series of 1 on 1 talks and survey responses, I built an outline on who TripLog is, who the target audience is, how users find them, and why users choose TripLog over their competitors. These outlines were backed up with a cursory analysis of the competition, market landscape, and identification of areas of interest.
Direct: I then took all the information and created a roadmap that includes: user personas, positioning, value proposition, direction on look + feel and tone + voice as well a list of ranked priorities and goals. This gives the design work clear metrics to aim for.
Design: From there I started creating mock ups and wire frame designs meant address the goals outline. All a while including management in on the design process, giving regular updates, and presenting new ideas to problems or issues discovered in the design process.
Build: The designs were then handed off to the developer with specs detailed.
Test: To make sure the designs accomplished the goals we set, we were sure to conduct intermittent analysis, gauging the functionally of the design, which informs the re-design.
The original design had lots of information coming at you with no real focus of on what was important. A visual hierarchy was desperately needed.
We found many users downloaded the app and deleted it with in minutes. We took this to mean the first impression experience needed to change.
One of the main draws of TripLog was the 6 autostart options, but this in turn caused user confusion. Being able to effectively communicate these option were key.
When you first download the app you were met with a blank screen. Unsure what to do next users would delete the app. Un-populated screens were a problem.
Our surveys showed that the users most engaged with the app were small business owners.
Users would setup the app to auto track and go weeks or months not opening up again. We needed to make the app a fun experience with interesting information to check up regularly.
To take advantage of what we learned, I first needed to create a persona of our users to gleam better insights. My persona build was designed to highlight some of the most engaged and likely users TripLog resonates with. I broke them out into 4 archetypes, as well as, suggested messaging that might resonate with each type. This document was followed with other documents establishing a road map, ect…
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Once the users were established it was time to move on to actual wire frames and designs.
On-boarding: One of the more important aspects of an app design is the on-boarding process, it being the first thing your users will engage with. It’s ability to capture important user information and prepare the user for the type of app experience they can expect is key. By working closely with TripLog’s businesses dev and marketer, I was able to craft a registering process that captured vital marketing information, while being personalized and guides users. In the end, the implementation of my on-boarding / registering design increased user registration by 52%. While, adding much more valuable information like field of work, type of tax deductions, and business name.
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Check out the app in action at the IOS store or Google Play store