REDESIGNING ZINIER'S SCHEDULE AND DISPATCH CONSOLE
ROLE
Lead Product Designer
RESPONSIBILITY
User research, design research, wireframing,
UX and UI design
YEAR
2020 – 2021
MORE INFO
01. About this case study
The schedule and dispatch console is a tool that allows dispatchers to assign tasks and manage technicians in the field. This case study illustrates how we transformed a basic tool into a powerful feature through an efficient design process, ultimately making it one of Zinier's key features.
Why we need redesign?
The initial version of the schedule and dispatch console was designed using legacy technology, which came with several technical constraints. The product team recognized the need to update the design of this feature.
As Zinier acquired more clients, now is time for the product team to revisit and enhance these features from both a user experience and technology standpoint.
What is the project goal?
01. Improve User Experience
Enhance the overall user experience of the dispatch console, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
02. Streamline workflows
Optimize workflows and processes for scheduling and dispatching technicians.
Design process
02. Design audit
We conducted a design audit to evaluate the current schedule and dispatch console and documented our findings. These findings were then compared and validated during user interviews and observations.
Based on our design audit, here are some of the issues we found:
03. Research
To understand the end-user perspective, we conducted several user research activities. Additionally, we held discussions with our customer relationship team to understand the current constraints from a business requirements standpoint.
Understanding dispatcher daily life cycle
During user research, we engaged in several activities with dispatchers, including interviews and user acceptance testing (UAT) and research for their daily life cycle.
Observation
We also observed their interactions with the console to helped us identify pain points and guided us in crafting the user experience for the new design.
User research synthesizing
Based on our research, we identified several key issues and needs that require immediate attention. Addressing these concerns will significantly enhance the day-to-day work of dispatchers. These issues align with our findings from the design audit.
In summary here what we found:
- The current dispatch console lacks real-time information from the field, making it challenging for dispatchers to efficiently assign tasks.
- User experience issues with the dispatch console are causing slow scheduling, resulting in delays and inefficiencies.
Problem statement
How can we enhance the user experience to enable dispatchers to assign tasks to the correct technicians more quickly and accurately?
04. Solution
There are many improvements we can make at this point, but we need to select a few key solutions that will have the greatest impact and allow us to gradually iterate for further enhancements. Here are some of the key solutions we have identified:
Redesigning console layout
As we have learned from our research, having a complete view of the technicians is crucial when dispatching tasks.
To address this, we have to redesign the console layout drastically, placing a primary focus on the technician list and relocating other elements outside of the console.
Redesigning task list UI
With this new layout, we have to transformed the task list from a table into a more compact card style on the right side panel, we make sure to still maintaining visibility of essential information.
Added real time data such as task status updates, technician location, weather conditions, task progress, etc.
We have integrated the console with various APIs from Zinier mobile app. This ensures dispatchers are well-informed about on-ground conditions, enabling them to make informed decisions when assigning tasks or addressing issues.
To support these updates, we've introduced a range of new icons, colors, and patterns to represent various statuses and conditions.
Better view with more flexible control
We're introducing a range of new features, including date control, a dedicated search function for technicians and tasks, collapsible task lists, and auto-scheduling capabilities.
While adding these functionalities, we've ensured that the technician schedule is still the main point on the dispatch console. We crafted the UI for colors, icons and margin to make sure is not overwhelming the dispatch console view.
Result
Use the slider to see the transformation
Scheduling Task to Technician
Scheduling task can be done by click on the calendar cell or
drag and drop from task list
Map View
We've incorporated a map view that displays tasks at their specific geographical points to give more realistic view of task locations
Dispatching Technician
We make dispatching technician much easier by utilising task card pop-up with actionable button.
Impact
Dispatch console was designed and build in 3 months and quickly become the main features from Zinier platform.
The console significantly enhances dispatcher efficiency and speed. Its new design is not only user-friendly but also come with minimal learning curve, thanks to the simple functionality making it easy to understand and use for existing or new user.
Read more about this in Zinier website