Dronely

Overview

Dronely is a drone delivery mobile application in which users can quickly find, purchase, and have a wide variety of products from numerus businesses delivered via land and air based drones. Users can choose to order from a wide range of categories such as restaurants, grocery stores and supermarkets, pharmacies, clothing stores, etc for swift delivery by drones.

Duration

4 weeks before handoff to development

Role

UX researcher, UX designer, UX writer, Project manager

Goal

Design a drone delivery mobile app that seamlessly incorporates numerus categories including hundreds of establishments from which users can intuitively find, order, and have products delivered to there location via a land or air drone with in minutes.

Step 1: Empathize

In the Empathize step of the design process, the focus was on better understanding the scope and requirements of the Dronely app including the needs users and stakeholders. Extensive research was conducted to gain insights into their expectations, pain points, and motivations when it comes to utilizing the dronely delivery service.

I discovered that users desired a seamless and efficient delivery experience, with a strong emphasis on reliability and safety upon delivery. Additionally, they expressed the need for real-time updates on the delivery status.

Understanding these user perspectives allowed me to develop a deeper sense of empathy and to identify key areas for improvement in order to create a drone delivery app that truly addresses their needs and concerns. Unfortunately, there weren’t any direct competitors to conduct competitor analysis on, however, there are several large traditional food delivery apps who features overlap Dronely to draw from.

Step 2: Define

In the define step of Dronely’s design process, I synthesized the data and insights gathered from the empathize step to establish a thorough understanding of the users’ needs and pain points. During this process I created the sitemap which defined the structure and identified the key pages of the app. I then created the user flows that identify key features and functionalities that shaped the foundation of the Dronely app including the primary actions users would take when utilizing it.

Sitemap

Location User Flow

Search User Flow

Cart User Flow

Order User Flow

Step 3: Conceptualize

The third step in the design process was to start conceptualizing the overall functionality of the Dronely app based on the results of the define phase. Drawing form the sitemap, userflows, and overall user requirements of the app, I developed the wireframes seen below.

Wireframes

Step 4: Prototype

One the wireframes were completed, it was time to move on to the fourth step in the design process which was to start prototyping.

Lo-Fi Prototype

I began with the low fidelity prototypes by first added text and icons. I then started to add minimalistic design elements to start to further define not just the functionally, but also the preliminary aesthetics of the Dronely app. Further iterating and testing resulted in the lo-fi prototype seen below.

Hi-Fi Prototype

Once the lo-fi prototype was tested and completed, I then moved on with developing the high fidelity prototype. At this phase of the design process, I focused mainly on the aesthetics of the app but also made sure to improve the core functionality and overall user experience.

Figma Interactive Hi-Fi Prototype

View Figma Prototype

Step 5: Test and Iterate

The final step of the design process for the Dronely app was to continually test and iterate on its hi-fi prototype. Usability tests were conducted and the feedback received was taken into account when iterating. Any remaining user pain points or concerns where addressed to ensure that the UX experience of the Dronely app was optimal and pleasant as well as visually appealing.

Final Thoughts

The overall process of ideating and designing the Dronely delivery app was pleasant and insightful. I learned that it is important to focus on the set of features that can deliver the highest value to users first. I also learned that large design challenges such as this require smaller steps that are carefully thought-out and executed to create a good UX experience.

Moreover, in terms of both functionality and visual design, being open to letting ideas go for new ones to arise was also key for this project. I found the define step of the design process for this app to be the most important as aspects such as the sitemap, user flows, and user journey maps greatly helped in ideating the foundation to develop it into the final product.