Ever envisioned a world where your packages glide through the skies with the precision of drones?

SCROLL DOWN TO DISCOVER THEIR STORY

Who are they?

Arcuas, a drone-delivery tech start-up, is poised to become a frontrunner in the global drone delivery arena by offering rapid, secure, and seamless pick-up-to-drop-off services.

PROJECt type

Client Project @ Careerist

role

Product Designer

timeline

6 weeks

What did they seek?

Arcuas needed to streamline their internal operations’ fleet management dashboard to improve overall efficiency. During the initial stakeholder meeting, the surrounding comments and concerns were shared…

Need to reduce the amount of steps when adding or assigning orders to drones

Notifications must be noticeable enough to quickly respond to

Human error is a big factor - automating everything is the ideal goal

Need one integrated interface to oversee other activities

Key Challenges

Through the lens of opportunity, challenges became catalysts for innovation. 

CHALLENGE #1

The diversity of drone pilot experiences highlighted the need for a seamless and easy-to-understand fleet management dashboard

example

Whether a drone pilot had years of experience or was a new hire in training, the dashboard's lack of a clear user journey and functional overview made it difficult for all users to navigate effectively, regardless of their expertise level

impact

This confusion and frustration among users—both drone pilots and management—led to slower response times and delayed deliveries

CHALLENGE #2

Addressing safety concerns and potential issues with drones and their surroundings emphasized the need for real-time alert functionality

example

While assigning delivery orders, users struggled to identify critical alerts due to the dashboard's lack of clear visibility and notification functionality. This made it difficult to monitor drone statuses, such as low battery levels, sudden technical failures, or environmental hazards

impact

Delayed response times heightened safety risks, like mid-flight malfunctions or obstacles, which led to slower deliveries and potential negative customer experiences, damaging the company's reputation

CHALLENGE #3

Recognizing the need for software feedback, we explored ways to optimize the operational workflow for improved oversight and efficiency

Example

Management found it difficult to track drone performance and recurring issues because the dashboard lacked logs and detailed reports, making it impossible to analyze trends or pinpoint specific problems

impact

Without this critical feedback, management struggled to solve problems quickly, hindering their ability to scale effectively and reduce the risk of lost growth opportunities or sponsor support

Discovery 

[ COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS - TAKEAWAY ]

The ever-evolving nature of the industry meant that information online was limited, pushing us to dig deeper to uncover what could keep Arcuas competitive for the long haul. One key insight stood out: reducing delivery time was crucial. This realization set the stage for brainstorming solutions, where we focused on tackling weather dependency and envisioning an integrated, user-friendly dashboard—one that pilots could not only rely on but quickly learn to master.

As part of our discovery phase, a competitive analysis…

a subject matter experts’ questionnaire ,

…and a contextual inquiry was conducted.

[ QUESTIONNAIRE - TAKEAWAY ]

Through this phase, we gained valuable insights into their work environment and challenges. We identified when most issues occurred, the types of problems they encountered, and the areas that held more importance to them, helping us better understand their needs, goals, and pain points.

[ CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY- TAKEAWAY ]

The contextual inquiry helped us take a closer look at how users interacted with the dashboard in their day-to-day tasks. By observing them assigning and managing orders, we uncovered some unspoken needs that had a real impact on their workflow. For instance, their sorting system for tracking drone statuses—whether en route, ready for takeoff, or assigned—wasn’t effective. Users couldn’t see all the drones at once, as each category would collapse after being viewed, causing frustration and inefficiency. This phase not only revealed new insights but also validated many of our earlier assumptions.

Key Insights

Identifying Their Biggest Pain Points

What was observed?

  • Drones tend to have the most issues during delivery

  • Platform is not easy to quickly learn

  • Most important features are:

    • viewing and creating orders

    • assigning orders to drones

    • visibility of drone statuses

    • drone battery percentage

    • speed and geographical info

What was learnt?

  • Inconsistent navigation bar, causing confusion

  • Uniform drone color hindering identification

  • Complex drone management limiting visibility

  • Excessive clicks for simple operations

  • Manually entering customers’ data reducing efficiency

  • Insufficient weather data for informed decision-making

  • Lack of dedicated data management to identify and resolve future issues

Their biggest pain points occurred once a drone had been sent out on its way to make a delivery — between step 3 and 4 as shown above.

How might we enhance a
drone pilot's capacity to manage up to
15 drones using Arcuas' software efficiently?

Goals

My team and I saw the need to create an efficient workflow to help Arcuas deliver top-notch customer satisfaction while preparing their system for future growth in the fast-moving tech industry. To tackle this, we divided our work, each focusing on specific areas as outlined below.

user goals:

  • To provide a streamlined system that reduces unnecessary steps, enabling users to assign orders, monitor statuses, and handle alerts with ease

  • To achieve seamless integration of tools and information, ensuring users can access everything they need in one unified platform

  • To optimize the interface for user-friendliness, making it intuitive for both seasoned drone pilots and new trainees with clear visual cues and logical workflows

  • To ensure reliability in operations by minimizing errors and delays, allowing users to focus on critical tasks like responding to high-priority alerts or resolving technical issues

business goals:

Design Adaptability

Before and After

After exploring various design concepts through iterations and performing a usability test, an evaluation of what worked and what needed improvement was observed and noted; as shown below:

GREEN = AREAS THAT WORKED RED = AREAS THAT NEEDED IMPROVEMENT

A second usability test was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the new design changes and identify any areas needing further review.

Final Design

The final design presentation to the stakeholders was a resounding success, with every concept and feature receiving high praise and no negative feedback. The following snippets provide a detailed overview of each feature and the impact they delivered.

Drone Selection

Enhanced Map Navigation

  • Enables map scrolling for precise location identification on the map

  • Displays comprehensive drone statistics including battery life, status, speed, etc

  • Provides options to view or edit the displayed drone information within the panel for verification and record keeping purposes

Adding an Order

  • Effortlessly direct the map to the precise location of a chosen drone with a simple click

  • Elevate the experience by not only pinpointing the drone on the map but also providing quick access to essential drone details

  • Color-coded drone highlighting based on status, streamlining pilot workflow and enhancing multitasking for managing numerous drones simultaneously

  • Users must click the purple "plus" button associated with a specific drone to add order

  • Drone pilots manually input order details as automation is currently unavailable. My design envisions implementing automation to streamline this process in the future

  • Upon assigning the order, pilots must complete a comprehensive safety pre-flight checklist, ensuring every box is checked

  • Initiating "takeoff" triggers the drone's delivery process; its status shifts to "en-route" until completion

Enhanced Multi-Stop Design

  • Permits the inclusion of multiple orders on a single drone (up to three maximum)

  • Seamless and user-friendly addition process, all consolidated in a single location

  • Clearly displays order locations on the map, along with plotted drone route

  • Facilitates easy tracking of the drone's progress within the route, enabling pilots to pinpoint its current stage

Advanced Notification System

  • Instant visual alerts and red-highlighted drones with attention icon

  • Quick issue addressing via clicking on drone or the "action" button

  • Immediate action buttons accompany the drone information panel, facilitating instant response upon issue identification.

  • Significantly shorten issue resolution times, boosting overall pilot efficiency

Drone Sorting Mechanism

  • Introducing an enhanced feature that empowers drone pilots to effortlessly organize drone data across three distinct categories: battery, status, and time

  • Achieve streamlined data arrangement with battery and time, as a simple click on their respective arrows swiftly reorders the data in either ascending or descending sequences

  • Enjoy enhanced sorting by status through intuitive radio buttons, allowing pilots to prioritize and display their preferred status on the top

Future Anticipated Results

  • Satisfaction Rate Increase

    Feedback from both the drone pilot and the CEO indicated unanimous satisfaction with the design enhancements, suggesting a substantial increase in user satisfaction, although specific percentages are challenging with a small sample size.

  • Task Management Efficiency

    Appreciation for the enhanced task management features was evident in the enthusiastic and optimistic feedback from users, anticipating a considerable reduction in average task completion time, signaling an enhancement in operational efficiency and the streamlined management of up to 15 drones simultaneously.

  • Impact on Business Goals

    Excitement was expressed about the potential business impact of the design changes. Although specific percentages pose a challenge, their positive outlook suggested a notable improvement in operational efficiency and a decrease in potential errors.

Key Takeaways

Embarking on one of my initial client projects within a startup environment proved both intriguing and rich in insights.
A notable learning experience involved…

  • Mastering UI Kit Integration

    …honing my skills in navigating their established UI kit. Beyond its intended purpose of maintaining design consistency, the true lesson unfolded in leveraging it to elevate existing features and reimagining their purpose. This process not only sparked creative exploration but also nurtured a mindset of innovation, contributing to a captivating and enlightening learning experience.

  • Strategic Collaboration

    …collaborating with critical-thinking designers taught me the significance of compromise in design decisions, focusing on solving client problems with choices that deliver the highest value. Emphasizing collective goals, discussing potential solutions, and efficiently splitting work under time constraints emerged as key strategies I adapted effectively, carrying them into future projects. Diverse perspectives were truly inspiring.

  • Navigating Growth

    …embarking on my journey as a novice designer guided by a seasoned lead, where the enlightening process of embracing lessons in fostering diverse ideas, efficient task management, and the art of utilizing design shortcuts empowered me to master the craft of creating polished prototypes; fueling my pursuit of excellence in this creative field.

Testimonials

"Throughout our internship, Maria consistently displayed a remarkable level of proactiveness and ingenuity. Her innovative ideas became the cornerstone of the key feature our team was entrusted to develop. Maria's unwavering dedication, expertise, and insight convinced me that she is poised for success in the field of UX design, both presently and in the future."

Leah Thomas
UX/UI Designer

"Maria has been an incredible intern who has made great strides in her interactive thinking and interaction design! Her tailored feedback will make her a great asset to any design team!"

Tajuana Cerutti
UX Designer

Sola Babatunde
UX Lead Designer

"Maria showed a great deal of initiative from the start of our group project until the very end. Her creativity served as the inspiration for the foundational feature our group was tasked with bringing to fruition. She demonstrated a level of perseverance, skill, and understanding that led me to believe that she will thrive as a UX Designer now and in the years to come."