Jodie Barr | Product Designer

Redesigning a field service app

iVueit connects businesses with gig workers for on-site verification tasks. I joined as the sole designer to rebuild the core experience from scratch.

Role

Sole Designer

Platform

iOS

Type

Full Redesign • Contract

Map View

Survey View

The Challenge

The brief was a full app redesign. In actuality, the real challenge was nuanced. What is the best way to redesign an app with evolving requirements or without an established process? During this redesign I discovered ways to navigate and gel various directions in a way that ultimately satisfies user needs and business requirements.

"My job became as much about creating alignment as creating design."

No design team

First and only Product Designer in org

Evolving requirements

Requirements often shifted or changed

Many stakeholders

Many stakeholders and opinions

I had to simultaneously:

• Draw the line between experiences that were being isolated

• Define and advocate for user intentions

• Build trust with stakeholders who are adjusting to working with a Product Designer

• Ship working in fast paced environment with moving targets and priorities

My Approach

Without requirements or a design system, I needed another way to build alignment. I leveraged competitor analysis by researching how comparable apps solved the same problems our users already knew how to navigate. This gave stakeholders something concrete to react to, shifting the conversation from 'I don't like this' to 'this is what matches how users think".

To manage the expectation of producing screens weekly while still advocating for better decisions, I developed a 3 option presentation style to reduce swirl and time lost trying to reach alignment on key screens.

Their Proposal

what stakeholders wanted

My Recommendation

my proposal, backed by competitor analysis, UX rationale, and best practices

Middle Ground

a version that met business needs while preserving the most important design decisions

This gave stakeholders tangible solutions to react to. This process produced better feedback and reasoning. It also helped shift the focus toward user flows rather than isolated screens which was how stakeholders initially approached the redesign. Once other options were presented the question of "What comes before and after?" were immediately clear.

Throughout this experience I found ways to blend and tailor the design process to fit within the constraints given.

Navigating the Constraints

Bridging the Gap on UX Standards

Every screen required groundwork, establishing baseline UX principles became an active part of the process. Designing for user mental models, applying color theory, standardizing iconography were seen as creative preferences, this thinking is high stakes. I made it a priority with every design decision, explaining the rationale in terms of user behavior rather than design opinion.

Making the Invisible Visible

One of the most important things I did in this process was surface the downstream cost of short-term decisions. I didn't want constraints to limit the product's ability to evolve later on. Whether it was a rigid layout, a one-off pattern, questionable architecture or incorrect pattern usage, I flagged it. Not to be difficult, but as to build awareness. I made sure to highlight the future cost of the decision so that our team was making informed decisions.

Advocating for Evolution, no Just Execution

The default mindset was "this is how we do it and it works." I noted that "what works" is a starting point, not the end goal. The challenge was making current friction and poor UX visible to a team who had never seen their app through a user's eyes. Doing this without user research was a challenge, I helped to bridge the gap through competitor analysis and sharing best practices and the psychology behind certain pattern.

Understanding the User and Missed Opportunity

The app's primary user leaned older, I believe this may have been a symptom of lack of modern usability conventions. I saw this as a business opportunity. A more accessible and intuitive experience would be positive for existing users and also expand the market to younger users. I brought this framing into conversations to connect UX decisions to business outcomes.