!-Lave

Laundry Delivery App startup
For Drivers wanting to earn extra money!

• Project Management • App Design • UX Research • Information Architecture • User Flow • Design System • Product Branding • Prototyping • Stakeholder Presentation •

Role

My role as the Lead UX Product Designer and Project Manager for the !-Lave Design Team allowed me to navigate the group through a system of Research, Competitive Analysis, Visual and Brand Design, Site Architecture, and Communication with the client.

Immediately, we determined that we needed to evaluate:

  • Complete project review of existing work;
  • Clear deliverables of what the client needed;
  • Ultimately what we could reasonably provide in five weeks.

The client had worked previously with five separate teams with confusing management and inconsistent assets.

Once the project was reviewed in depth, we were able to jump in head-first to guide future design work and to provide a valuable deliverable to the client.

  • Focus on the Driver experience
  • Review provided research and design and fill in obvious gaps
  • Enhance the existing/approved work with a cohesive design and seamless integration for the next team
  • Create a presentation for client to use with potential investors

Tools

Figma, FigJam, Figma Mirror, Adobe Illustrator, Google Suite, Galaxy S21 Ultra, UberEats app, Instacart app, GrubHub app

Skip to the Prototype!
Top

Overview

!-Lave is a Canadian start-up central platform connecting customers to local laundromats by utilizing existing drivers. The goal of the project was to create a laundry service for customers utilizing existing services of local laundromats and drivers.

The Challenge

The project was larger than it appeared as !-Lave had three different business goals for each of its users, and each platform needed to work together to create one usable and seamless application.

  1. Customer: looking for an app-based service to deliver laundry to their doorstep.
  2. Driver: looking to earn extra money in-between other driving jobs using a phone app.
  3. Merchant: looking for a convenient way to earn money without additional hassle. Website attached to the existing register software.

The Solution

After speaking at length with the client and understanding her needs, our team made a determination focusing on the Driver app so that there would be enough information for potential investors.

See the Presentation!

Previous Research

When our team jumped into the project we had carefully reviewed previous work in order to get up to speed as quickly as possible. The previous designers had researched and synthesized information into an affinity, empathy, and journey map with a user persona from their initial driver interviews.

Inconsistencies

Quickly we had realized that the research was inconsistent between teams resulting in prototypes which did not match the approved flow.

  • Interview scripts had data discrepancies
  • Interviewers and user criteria varied
  • There were no video nor transcripts available for review

Hands-on, Real-Life Research Solution

The team signed up as delivery drivers! Allowing us to quickly understand the user's needs, constraints, and motivations. Because we didn't have any Uber drivers on hand to interview, we recorded and evaluated our first-hand experience.

With only five weeks to hand over deliverables, time was not on our side. This is what we did to get on board as quickly as possible:

  • Signed up as drivers with GrubHub, DoorDash, Instacart, and UberEats.
  • Reverse engineer the existing prototype to match data
  • Integrated all experiences with a Competitive Analysis

What we Discovered

As a driver, we realized that the onboarding process was overwhelming.

  • Each driver had to sign up as an employee requiring tedious paperwork
  • The process took almost an hour for each company
  • Sensitive information input required a high level of trust

Defining The Problem

We had spent the first two weeks of our time defining the project and understanding the user, and were then able to break down the top priorities for the drivers.

These were their top three priorities:

  1. Earn extra money
  2. Create own Schedule
  3. Communication with customer

“I enjoy creating my own schedule and working the hours and days that work for me.” -Mark S.

2. Earnings

“I’m doing this as my job,
money is the most motivating factor for me.” -John K.

3. Communication

“A messaging feature to speak with customers would be helpful in case we are running behind.” -Patricia D.

Between the interviews, the first-hand experience, and the secondary research, we translated the user's priorities into How Might We Statements.

How might we give drivers access to their earnings and payments?

How might we allow drivers to set their own schedules?

How might we allow drivers, customers, and laundromats to connect?

Design Review

Reverse Engineer Existing prototype

We decided to reverse-engineer the site to compare with the original flow. There were large discrepancies so we rebuilt the flow to match the research.

Being part of a project with multiple designers, we were able to review some research, UI screens and wire-framing that had already been started and realized that the prototype didn't match this work.

  • Earnings
  • Scheduling
  • Communication

Style Guide

Existing Brand

The existing design information provided was an accumulation of six different design teams.

  • The provided was logo not the correct version
  • The brand book was designed for print, not the correct platform
  • Each team had used different colors, fonts, and styles

Interactive Brand Rebuild

Based on the brand book and style guide, we chose direct colors, typography, and elements to follow throughout the design process to solve this issue.

  • Rebuilt the correct logo in Adobe Illustrator from the brand book
  • Provided a vector copy to the client for future use
  • Created an interactive Style Guide with consistent styles and components

Mid-fidelity

Original Prototype

When we reviewed the original prototype, we found that it was clean and maintained basic features. However, it did not match the defined user flow and it felt rushed because too much of the design was unfinished.

Reflow

We created clearly marked visuals and buttons to reflect our three problem statements:

  • Scheduling at startup and placed in the navigation bar
  • Earnings at the top of the screen when driving
  • Communication with messaging and Voice UX in the navigation
  • Hamburger Menu: added to all screens for easy access.

Hi-Fidelity

understanding Client Needs

As the project manager of the team, it was important to understand not only the Driver User, but also our Client. The client didn't understand the UX process however, it was our job to understand her needs. Some of the features she wanted in the app included:

  • Sign in for existing drivers (such as UberEats, etc)
  • Bar code to track laundry
  • Keep costs low utilizing existing services

What we figured out

  • Drivers want to sign in quickly. By signing in under their existing portal, all of their information is repopulated, avoiding the voluminous paperwork as a new employee.
  • Mapping API. Drivers rely on the map reliability and visibility while driving. Account for tolls, mulitple stoups, rerouting, and traffic.
  • Communication API. In-house messaging would require additional engineering. However, lack of communication can result in loss of tips and bad reviews. Utilizing existing messaging apps would save time and money and assist in privacy issues for the customer avoiding personal messaging.
  • Payment Management. Keeping track of payments is an entire program by itself. By outsourcing to a payment management company or an HR company, the client could prevent many headaches.

signing in as a driver

!-Lave is targeting existing drivers who want to make more money in their free time, thus:

  • Typical onboarding as a driver requires much time and many documents
  • By signing in with pre-existing drivers credentials, it simplifies the onboarding process

Tracking the Laundry

Our solution for tracking:

  • Bar scan the laundry when picked up, signaling the customer and laundromat
  • Photo of laundry drop off, creating a record

Prototype solutions

Listening to both the Driver and the Client we determined:

  • Scheduling is included in the sign-up process, along with living in the navigation bar
  • Earnings are included at the top of the driving page, along with living in the navigation bar
  • Communication is part of the driving process as messaging, along voice chat during a drive

Additionally, we wanted to create a log for the customer, merchant, and driver so we developed:

  • Bar scan the laundry when picked up, signaling the customer and laundromat
  • Photo of laundry drop off, creating a record for all three users: customer, merchant, driver
Experience the Prototype!

Next Steps

We did not want the client to be faced with potential questions about engineering and development and so these issues were brought to her attention.

HR Outsourcing

Issues which became evident with potential liability as an employer:

  • Driver’s car had to fulfill requirements (newer car, good condition etc.)
  • Driver’s car insurance increased
  • Driver’s taxes were affected
  • Background check was established

Possible Solution to Outsource with an online HR company

Mapping API

Drivers rely on the map reliability and visibility so a Clear Map is critical.

  • Maps need to account for traffic, tolls, multiple stops, rerouting
  • The app drains the battery; the apps often freeze

Possible Solutions with possible issues:

  • Google maps API would require a cost, but might drain the battery
  • In-house mapping would require more engineering but might freeze the app

Messaging/SMS API

Drivers are concerned with making the most money in the least amount of time and we found that lack of communication results in loss of tips and bad reviews

  • Communication about late orders, confusing location, traffic, or weather prevents damaging issues and loss of revenue
  • Preset messages allows for safer communication while driving

Possible Solutions with possible issues:

  • SMS API would cost additional money
  • In-house messaging would require more engineering but could provide more control over brand voice.
  • Privacy issues for the customer.

Payment Management

As demonstrated in the research, drivers are primarily concerned with earning money.

  • Drivers don’t want to get stuck with the cost of tolls, flat tires, wear and tear on their car, car insurance, nor additional fuel due to inaccurate address and needless driving to destination
  • Paying an employee can become complicated.

Possible Solutions with possible issues:

  • Provide a debit card to cover expenses such as tolls, and also the service or company (i.e. laundromat)
  • Pay through a prepaid Visa card which can be reloaded
  • Outsource with an online HR company