Enterprise Field Service Mobile App & Web Portals

Overview

Stats & Stories originated from a need to transform a manual image sharing process into an easy-to-use mobile application. Over time, it evolved into a mobile hub salespeople could use to log activities and access robust digital libraries while completing tasks in the field. We set out to create an app to maximize usability & drive user adoption while reducing the time personnel devoted to administrative work.

My Role

From the inception of its MVP, I have been leading the UX of States and Stories. Today with efforts focused on the evolution of the UX of its mobile and web portal applications my role has shifted to oversee all evolution efforts and tackling customer pain points in collaboration with a team of developers. Check out the project details below.

  • Photos worth 1000 tasks.

    The photo sharing task was originally managed through a combination of emails and shared drives on a company network. Users would often piecemeal their images and data to an administrator via email after attending an event in the field. It was a clunky process and required complex mapping to curate the images and their data in order to reuse them as crowdsourced content.

  • Depth of feeling, not depth of field

    I gathered insight by interviewing salespeople and administrative staff to empathize with the manual process and collect a “wishlist” of features for the solution(s). We chose to model our workflows after other popular photo sharing apps because they were so ubiquitous in users’ daily mobile habits.

  • The MVP Process

    I led the design of MVPs for both a mobile app and web portal for users to share photos with key personnel. I conducted user research to define requirements, and created wireframes to evaluate our design. I collaborated with my UX team on stylistic choices and art-directed pixel-perfect mock-ups to handoff to our development team.

“I want our people to feel like they’re Inspector Gadget.”

— Lead Sales Manager

The MVP

Mobile Application

A mobile application for salespeople to operate at events in the field was practical; it would be used to upload photos and tag them with relevant data for categorization. As a result, data would become more reliable because it was entered in a timely and standardized fashion.

Web “Curator Portal” Application

Rather than stash generic images in a repository, the curator portal allowed users to filter, search, edit and publish images to a digital gallery. Access to a public gallery was utilized for ongoing outreach to customers and prospects. 

Lo-fidelity Wireframes

Lo-fidelity mock-ups with annotations
MobileAppLoFidelity2.png
WebAppLoFidelity.png

Hi-fidelity Prototype

  • Sign-In

    The user’s current Salesforce credentials are utilized for an easier login

  • Dashboard

    Upon launch of the 
app, the user starts a 
new story or accesses 
one in progress

  • Gallery

    The user has options 
to access their 
library or the device camera to take 
a photo or video

  • Add Story

    A user previews 
and/or edits all items 
for their story

  • Notes

    Notes are typed 
or entered with a 
voice note to be translated into the app

  • Tags

    The user accesses 
a pre-populated list of prospects and clients to tag for categorization to assist with curator tasks

  • Stories in Progress

    The user can returned to saved work at a more 
convenient time - the offline mode is available for areas with low connectivity

77%

of staff installed Stats & Stories and submitted photos within the first 30 days of use

Reflections

It took us about 8 weeks in total to launch the MVPs. They were a necessary step to validate the adoption of our solutions by the salespeople and administrative staff. It was exciting to be a founding member of the team, and we were pleased with the outcome considering it was the client’s very first mobile application.

Next steps

We received informative feedback from the users after go-live which we used to form our design backlog for Phase 2. The client continued to enhance the application in future releases and developed new features to support related field service activities.

 

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Phase 2 - Present

Design Thinking Workshops

 

Using feedback we received from the MVP, I generated a design backlog. We then launched a series of user interviews & workshops with the client to discover new features to add to Stats & Stories and its accompanying web tools for admins.

I facilitated ideation sessions using methods such as storyboarding, analogies, mind maps, and brainstorming. I would collaborate with the client and development teams to select priorities by examining criteria like implementation rationality, user delight, and client business processes.

Mobile Application Enhancements

  • Dashboard 2.0

    In the design thinking workshops, we discovered there was a need for separate modules that required separate functionality from the first iteration of Stats & Stories. The original version of the app became the ‘Stories’ module while also adding a product directory, digital library, event manager, sales call details, and a review/approval workflow to track bonus awards on a quarterly basis.

  • Product Directory

    Salespeople would historically keep a physical catalog of all the products with them to reference during meetings. This digital directory consolidated hundreds of sheets of paper into a simple, searchable list.

  • Digital Library

    Special offers were difficult to share with customers since it often required a salesperson to handwrite or type a discount code in a text or email to a client. The digital version consolidates all active offers in one spot with a share feature that allows the salesperson to share the coupon via text or email.

  • Event Manager

    The event manager business process was created as result from developing the Stats & Stories mobile application, so we naturally chose to manage it through the app as well.

  • Bonus Awards

    Each quarter, salespeople are required to provide proof of sales that are eligible for bonuses. The process was managed via emails and spreadsheets prior to developing a mobile workflow and web admin tools. Salespeople are able to track their submissions and progress on a quarterly and annual basis.

  • Web Admin Reporting Tools

    It wasn’t long after launching the mobile application’s MVP that we started to receive requests for specific analytics outside the original scope of work. We could track them down through a series of MySQL tables, but inevitably built out a separate area in the web portal for reporting.

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