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I’m interested in working on hard design problems in emerging product spaces that have the potential for broad, positive impact. I love what I do, so I'm constantly seeking opportunities to learn something new. Check out some of my recent work below.
DroneDeploy is a cloud software platform that enables users to plan drone flights, capture imagery, process maps & 3D models, and analyze data. The platform serves customers across a wide range of industries, including agriculture, construction, drone services, and inspection mining.
The ability to interact with something remotely presents many interesting design challenges. Great solutions give users a sense of control and freedom to fully leverage a new technology.
The existing DroneDeploy application has been thoughtfully designed and executed across multiple platforms and devices, but there is still room for improvement. Below is a case study offering potential solutions to address some of the current usability issues, as well as ideas to enhance the multi-device experience.
Disclaimer: I do not work for, nor am I affiliated with DroneDeploy. This case study was done as an educational experience to improve my skills.
DroneDeploy is designed for commercial area mapping, imaging, and data analysis. The product space includes several companies with varying capabilities; some applications provide pre-defined flight templates for convenience while others allow for greater path control and waypoint-specific behaviors (change in altitude or camera angle). Enterprise-level applications even provide fleet management capabilities (schedule, assign, and dispatch drones). Additionally, there are tools that can pull up flight conditions, discover potential obstructions, and notify users about nearby airspace restrictions.
I researched and tested several competitors' applications to better understand the product space. The chart below summarizes my findings.
Competitor analysis chart
The research uncovered DroneDeploy's key differentiators and provided clarity on what kind of problems the platform is trying to solve. For instance, DroneDeploy does not position itself as a fleet management or cinematography application (with advanced path and camera control). The platform does not claim to be an all-in-one product, but instead connects to a growing list of third party applications to extend its capabilities. Establishing the product positioning in this manner helps to guide feature tradeoffs and inform design decisions.
It's also important to note that advertised capabilities can differ from how features are implemented, meaning a product with a long list of features may actually offer a subpar user experience. Based on customer reviews, DroneDeploy stands out among its competitors for its ease of use, accurate data processing, and attentive customer service.
To guide my design decisions, I compiled a list of needs described by users in DroneDeploy's case studies on aerial mapping in agriculture. The resulting provisional persona is purely based off of my interpretation and should be validated with additional user research.
Provisional persona based on existing case studies
DroneDeploy released a new design in March 2017 with the following goals:
Current design (released in March 2017)
While the new design attempts to bridge all devices, the optimal viewing experience appears to be on tablet and desktop screens. A number of features are more difficult to use on smaller screen sizes. I read through customer reviews for both the iOS and Android apps to gain more insight on these issues. The top pain points and underlying user needs are:
Control
The side panel covers the map viewing area on mobile devices, meaning users have to switch back forth between the two to see how settings like flight direction and laps affect the flight plan. Because information is scattered across different views, it's also difficult to understand how adjusting settings and editing the flight plan affect key metrics (flight duration, map area, resolution, etc.).
Safety
Several users expressed interest in having the ability to quickly abort a flight if necessary. Safety is an understandable concern because drones are expensive, technology can be finicky, and flight conditions are often volatile.
Reliability
Customers (particularly those using the Android app) are frustrated by the occasional failure to launch their drones and/or take photos; by app crashes in mid-flight; and by incorrect syncing between the device and web.
Design can help to alleviate these pain points. Certain issues however, like app instability and crashes, warrant further investigation beyond the scope of design.
If DroneDeploy's goal is to have a seamless multi-device experience, with emphasis on “having all your data in your pocket”, the mobile user experience could be further improved. Consistency across devices helps to reduce the learning curve to use an application, but should not be at the expense of the user experience at certain screen sizes.
I made decisions based on the following guidelines for the user experience:
Users are trying to accomplish three main tasks with DroneDeploy: plan flights, capture images, and analyze data. I brainstormed ways to provide the optimal experience for each task at different screen sizes while maintaining a cohesive and consistent design system.
Although I didn't make significant changes to the existing user flow, I tried to consider the entire experience that users go through—including the steps before or after they use the application:
I opted for a mobile-first design approach because the constraints of a small screen help to clarify feature priority and visual hierarchy. For instance, what information and functions need to be accessible in one screen without scrolling or expanding a panel? Different configurations can work, but I chose to limit the amount of variation in the design pattern to reduce cognitive load (i.e., settings and other key functions are always at the bottom of the screen for mobile devices, alerts and flight metrics are at the top).
From there, I extended the design pattern to larger screens.
Sketches, wireframes and multi-device design pattern
The following ideas address the underlying needs behind customer pain points, expand upon the latest design goals, and are based on common usability heuristics. An interactive prototype can be downloaded here (can only be viewed on iOS devices and requires a free download of the Flinto viewer app). Note that not everything is clickable.
DroneDeploy's home screen is a dashboard with a list of a user's maps and flight plans. To help manage scenarios where this list becomes very long, I added bulk editing options. I also added a map/list toggle so that users can quickly identify a site by visual memory instead of having to recall the map name. Since users may repeatedly map a number of sites within the same general location, maps that are close in proximity are grouped together with a count displayed next to the location pin.
Map/list toggle and bulk editing options
Dashboard design for desktop
To plan a successful flight, users need to understand how to configure different settings with respect to their drone's capabilities. It can be a challenging process for both newcomers and experienced drone pilots to get the best map images for different situations.
The existing DroneDeploy flight planning experience on mobile poses some issues for "recognition over recall" (one of the ten usability heuristics outlined by Jakob Nielson). Key functions and settings that require a visual check of the map can only be adjusted with the side panel expanded, thus covering the map.
I adjusted the layout to preserve the map view so that users can see how changes to the flight plan and settings affect key metrics (flight duration, acres covered, etc.). Alerts can also notify users about nearby obstructions or if a flight requires multiple battery swaps or extends beyond drone range limits. Immediate and appropriate feedback in this manner enables users to gain confidence in planning flights.
Finally, I created new modals that contain information to help users understand different functions and settings.
User flow for first-time users
Planning flights on desktop with the most relevant settings in one view
When users are ready to start a flight, they need to feel certain about what each action will do and have easy access to all relevant information about the flight progress. I redesigned the flight screens to provide users with more control so that they can quickly respond to changes in flight conditions, drone status, etc.
Flight user flow
Pre-flight safety check on desktop
Completed maps are embedded with several information-rich layers. Users need to quickly and easily access this information, especially while on the go. A clearly structured mobile layout is thus key for users to fully leverage map data.
As with other tasks, certain functions need a visual check of the map. I redesigned the layout so that users can see both a view of the map and an information panel (that can be swiped up to reveal additional functions/settings).
Three distinct panels allow users to access different layers of map information
Map details on desktop with information organized in a clear structure
Drones are pushing the boundaries of what's possible—from commercial applications to creative experiments in cinematography and choreographed performances. Over the past few years, drones have become more accessible and easier to operate. Bulky radio controllers are now replaced by sleek web/mobile applications and even pens.
Interfaces need to adapt to new applications and new contexts. Drone deployment and mapping services take on especially difficult problems: handling many steps across multiple devices and platforms.
This redesign gave me a chance to address a few of those hard problems. It was especially rewarding to learn about the mechanics of flight and best practices for mapping. Next steps would be to validate the designs with user testing. Does the design pattern allow users to better understand how to use the platform? Are there other things that could help build a user's confidence in planning flights and capturing images? The responses to these questions could have more general implications for the design of interactions with objects remotely through multi-device applications.
© 2017 Uyen Phan