FedEx Ground® Navigation App
Ideating, prototyping, and pitching a native navigation mobile app to be used by more than 3,000 FedEx Ground drivers in 18 business days was one of the most exciting challenges I've faced to date. Not only were we competing against other agencies vying for the job, but we were also the last party invited to pitch our concept and I was flying solo with the rest of my team buried on other projects.
Advocating for testing
With limited information on the project objective and sparse context surrounding the current driver application, I pleaded to speak with drivers that would be using the app. Feeling the pressure of a tight turnaround, leadership was reluctant in trusting that time spent on discovery would actually speed things up. Luckily, my reputation earned me a little slack, and within hours I was on the phone interviewing drivers and uncovering needs.
Initial research complete
By the end of day three, my initial interviews, user personas, journey maps, and user stories were complete and my wireframe user flows were presented and approved. During the design process, I carried the driver's Panasonic scanning device to test my iterations and held daily meetings with the engineers, stakeholders, and project managers to ensure each iteration remained viable without diluting the end-user experience.
Simple, but effective
Once the drivers confirmed that my low-fidelity mockup solved the core needs of the minimum viable product, I polished the UI using FedEx's Brand Guidelines and assembled the final prototype for the executive review. I even assisted with content for the proposed SoW to ensure expectations were aligned on both sides.
Success!
FedEx appreciated that our solution not only solved their core needs, it was the least complex of their submissions and we won the contract. Within two months of dev hand-off, design reviews, and internal QA, our engineers successfully deployed the app for more than 3,000 FedEx Ground drivers in time for the holiday season target deadline.
