UX Case Study
Win back clients by adding much needed mobile app features
Boost client retention by providing Security Guards with an essential and highly requested feature set for their mobile application.
Who is Valiant? And What Do They Do?
Valiant is an innovative human capital management firm dedicated to providing cutting-edge software solutions for the security guard industry.
Our state-of-the-art software helps security guard companies streamline their operations, manage their workforce more efficiently, and achieve their business goals with ease.
"The Problem"
Numerous end users of our current mobile application have expressed concerns regarding its limited functionality, which is hindering their
day-to-day work.
These essential features are currently missing from the application, resulting in a less than optimal user experience.
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Valiant has reported lost revenue up to 20% last quarter because of clients leaving the platform. The majority of complaints have been centered around the mobile app.
THE CHALLENGE
Through diligent research and user feedback, we will identify the most sought-after features for our mobile application, and deliver a cutting-edge solution that leverages the latest technology.
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Valiant is looking to win back clients by make the necessary
upgrades to the user interface and user experience.
Emphathize
Research
User Interviews
Online Surveys
Competitor Analysis
Specify
Feature Prioritization
App Functionality
THE PROCESS
Ideate
Lo-Fi Sketches
Wireframes
Bring to Life
Prototype Design
Verify
Prototype Testing
User Testing
THE TEAM
My Role
UX Designer and Project Lead
Key Contributions
Tools Used
Adobe XD
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Internal Icon Gallery
Customer Service Team
Product Managers
Developers
Quality Assurance Team
Project Duration
3 week sprints
2 months total
User Research
Learning about the schedulers and end users
SCHEDULERS
Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Tiffany McGaferty
Scheduler (15 yrs)
53 years old, lives
in New York. Married, has 2 kids (18 and 16 years old)
High income level.
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Become a leader at her company.
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Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Frank Geminetti
Scheduler (4 yrs)
28 years old, lives
in New Jersey. Married, has 1 child (3 yrs old) Middle income level.
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Enjoys his job. Wants to move up the corporate ladder.
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END USERS
Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Johnathan Winters
Armed Security Guard (18 yrs)
46 years old, lives
in Nebraska. Married, has 3 kids (4, 7, 9 years old) Middle income level.
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Looking forward to retirement.
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Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Charles Magenico
Armed Security Guard (33 yrs)
59 years old, lives
in Mississippi. Not married, has no kids. High income level.
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Looks for opportunity for higher paying security roles. Has been an armed guard for most of
his career.
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Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Amanda Zehetener
Unarmed Security Guard (6 yrs)
39 years old, lives
in Virginia. Married, has 2 kids (3 and 6 years old). Middle income level.
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Loves being a security guard. Has ambition to become an armed guard in the future.
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Name:
Occupation:
Demographic:
Ambitions:
Lindsey Baker
Armed Security Guard (16 yrs)
36 years old, lives
in Michigan. Not married, has no kids. Middle income level.
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Loves being a security guard. Expects to be her only career and will likely retire as a security guard.
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ONLINE SURVEY
In a 2 week sprint, 10 questions surveys were sent to 100 schedulers and to 500 end users. Questions were centered on the mobile app, its pain points and what features would be most welcomed. 90 schedulers responded and 380 end users.
Key Insights taken from the survey results.
Insight #1
The App is view only with no way to interact.
The app only gives the user the ability to view the schedule and their paycheck. There is no way to interact with the app.
Insight #2
The App doesn't look very good or
professional.
The app doesn't look or feel very modern.
A new design or re-skin with new colors and better fonts would give more user confidence.
Insight #3
The App is sometimes very slow
when pressing buttons.
The performance of the app is slow. Please increase the speed of simple actions like viewing the weekly schedule.
Insight #4
Give us what we want! The security guards have spoken.
Users have been asking for new features and Valiant has not addressed those needs in some time.
Competitor Analysis
How does Valiant compare to its competitors?
What did we learn?
Research Insights
New mobile app features are needed.
Valiant needs features that will align the mobile app business with their competitors.
Users want to punch in and out on their phones.
This is a feature that has the most amount of requests from our online survey.
The users are not tech savy. They need simplicity.
An easy, intuitive user experience with a simple user journey is what is needed.
Project Goals
Defining The New Features
GOAL #1
Improve schedule accessibility with a new dashboard "Schedule" button
To provide a more seamless experience for security guards, a new "Schedule" button will be added to the dashboard. This button will be prominently displayed and easily accessible, allowing guards to quickly access their schedules and clock in or out with ease.
GOAL #2
Enhance schedule management with an "Action" button on the weekly schedule page
To improve schedule management, an "Action" button will be added to the weekly schedule page. This button will be located on the current schedule day and will allow users to quickly access schedule details, check the shift status, and make any necessary changes.
GOAL #3
Streamline mobile scheduling with "In" and "Out" punch functionality
To streamline the mobile scheduling process, a new feature will be added to the schedule details page. This feature will allow users to easily punch "In" or "Out" for their shifts, meal breaks, and other scheduled activities directly from their mobile devices.
GOAL #4
Enhance shift visibility with a Google Location Map
To provide security guards with greater visibility and information about their scheduled shifts, a Google Location Map will be added to the application. This feature will allow guards to quickly and easily view the location of their assigned shifts, helping them to better plan their routes and travel times.
Ideate
Lo-Fi Sketches and Prototypes
Dashboard
Weekly Schedule
Schedule Details
Location Map
Prototypes
Handoff To Development
#1 Add My Schedule Button
My Schedule button will match the other buttons on the dashboard. Liked to the
"MY Schedule" page.
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Icon will be provided and attached to the project.
Colors:
#009ab9
#007e97
Fonts:
Raleway 14pt #000000
#2 Action Button
Add an action button to the current day. Linked to the "Schedule" page
#3 Time Clock Area
Add Time Clock area with new icon. Linked to the "Schedule" page. Icon will be provided and attached to the project.
Colors:
#ff8600
#009ab9
Fonts:
Raleway 14pt Bold #000000
Raleway 12pt #009ab9
Raleway 8pt #009ab9
Raleway 8pt #000000
#4 New Punch Area
New punch area icons are added. "Punches" will add the current time to the "In" or "Out" fields. Icons will be provided and attached to the project.
#5 Add Map Icon Button
New map icon is added to the top right of the page. Linked to current locations map. Icon will be provided and attached to the project.
Colors:
#009ab9
#007e97
Fonts:
Raleway 18pt Bold #009ab9
Raleway 12pt #009ab9
Raleway 8pt #009ab9
Raleway 8pt #000000
#6 Google Location Map
Google Location Map page is added to the application. Icon will be provided and attached to the project.
Colors:
#009ab9
Fonts:
Raleway 12pt #009ab9
Design QA (Quality Assurance)
Design QA ensures that the design and features are moving in the right direction, any discrepancies are caught early on, and communication with Engineers is effective. This process will lead to higher quality work and ultimately a better user experience.
Design QA Plan
Checkpoint on progress - Weekly 30 minute demo with the Engineers
To ensure that the design and features are moving in the right direction, weekly meetings with the Engineers are conducted. The Engineers demo their work, and we evaluate the design and progress. We provide feedback on any discrepancies, and the Engineers will have the opportunity to make adjustments early on.
Access to a live demo/staging environment
This gives us the ability to take screen shots and compare them to the design screens. If there are any discrepancies, we work with the Engineers to fix them. This ensures the quality of work is continually improving by highlighting areas that need improvement.
Communicating with Engineers.
We have established a clear communication process using Figma, Adobe XD and Jira to communicate updates and changes. We communicate regularly and make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Final Thoughts
Success with a few hiccups
The new mobile application features project was a success. We started by conducting user research to identify key pain points and areas of improvement. From there, we iteratively designed and tested prototypes to ensure that our new designs would be intuitive and user-friendly.
The end result was a beautiful and functional app that significantly improved user satisfaction and engagement.
However, we did encounter a few problems along the way, including difficulties in integrating new features with existing code, and disagreements between the product management and development teams regarding implementation details.
Despite these challenges, we were able to collaborate effectively to deliver a high-quality product that met the needs of our users.