A UX Case Study
I started the project to understand my UX abilities to dissect the problem and identify possible solutions based on that. First and foremost I am thankful to get this problem to work with. I was not sure that I would be able to finish this in a short period of time however I am proud that so far things which I accomplished can help me learn to do things in a short time frame.
Design process
I decided to follow IDEO’s Human-Centered Design and Lean UX Design Thinking process to make sure that my design decisions were supported by user research and feedback.
Quantitative survey
Before jumping to any solution, it is good to understand my users and set a target group to narrow my problem. To find and write solutions is a myth so being empathic omits the gap between the products and the user.
I made a quick “google survey” based on my target group and circulated in my contact net..
Here are my findings :
What is an important feature for you in a construction estimation website?
How often do you use construction estimation on the phone?
Proto-Persona
Based on survey’s data I created a provisional persona of a potential user based. This persona guides my design decisions and priorities. Later in the process this will help me to find usability testing participants and focus on my product’s features.
Identify Needs
The starting point for all construction jobs, the cost estimate, has a direct impact on everything that will follow. An estimate that is clear, concise, accurate (as can be), and on time will have a direct effect on everything that follows or does not. Also, ease of use which was mentioned by many is really useful. We have to switch between many softwares and incorporate those into single platforms. This also helps to use the existing data in raw form and save a lot of extra work. On the sideline it is important to see a clear view of the project and a bird view to past, future and present in planning. Weather, labour, supply, structure all have a major role on a day to day basis so having a place where all these can be incorporated is very crucial specially in a small project.
Prioritize Needs
As I proceeded with my analysis work, I had to prioritize problems to work on to make it easier to test our solutions. So I will start with important pointers which I will include on my first step of designing possible solutions.
- Data sharing possibilities
- Import and export data
- Add contacts in data
- Connect to calendar and email
- Use of construction drawing
Approxi METER is designed for big & small project contractors, service companies and students to quickly create estimates for construction and repair projects. The app allows users to quantify material, labor and other costs needed to complete a construction project. It will also do all the calculations, so once all the data is entered in, the user will get the total estimated project cost. Tax information can also be included into the estimated cost at the user’s option. You can add contractors and generate invoices and send them via mail.
Summary app features include:
- Cloud based sharing of the workboard
- Make project estimates quantifying labor, material, subcontract and other costs
- Evaluate the amount of work on projects drawing
- Include taxes into the estimated cost at your option
- Store all the data locally on the device
- Work in online/offline mode
- Add contractors or company of supply information in database
- Generate Invoice based on estimations
- Schedule calendar
- Retrieve PDF forms of the estimates and share them via email, network drives and other sharing options available on device
Lo-Fi Prototype + User Journey
Takeaways
Approxi Meter has the first step and to be a working prototype to achieve this, it has to face many challenges. But one of the greatest one to accuracy of estimation which is hard to achieve in real time. Many things come sudden on construction sites and drawings and estimation is always not hundred percent accurate, so it’s even more important to make it as close and error-less as possible for a user to use those tools.
What could be an opportunity with the apps to test in future?
- Creating estimates on the spot on phone to be tested in future
- Testing solution for small turnkey project’s contractors
- Estimation for bidding projects
- Optimize the workflow
- Save time and reduce costs
- Increase efficiency with making drawings and estimates together
- Improve data accuracy
