LiftLabs rapid app design and launch:
Part 1
Crafting a native mobile app to control and track a new, innovative ropeless lift system that seamlessly integrates into time-honored lobster fishing traditions
Part 1 project overview
LiftLabs, an innovative company at the forefront of sustainable fishing practices, has developed a groundbreaking ropeless lift system designed to revolutionize the lobster fishing industry. This ingenious system enables lobster traps to resurface without relying on traditional rope and buoy systems.
Beyond its core function, this technology greatly helps reduce gear loss, bolstering conservation efforts, enhancing equipment tracking, and minimizing the risk to marine animals such as whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Furthermore, the ropeless system assists fishermen in adhering to ever-evolving regulations, shielding them from fines and preserving their fishing licenses.
Learn more about how it works
Project objective
The project's primary aim was to design, develop, and launch an intuitive, simple, and targeted native mobile app that seamlessly integrates with current lobster fishing techniques. The app will also offer precise tracking, deployment, retrieval, and management of the LiftLabs system. To accomplish this successfully, it was also necessary to gain an understanding of the inner workings of the system, lobster fishing practices, and the competition LiftLabs was up against.
Timeline
2 weeks (initial sprint)
Project ongoing
My role
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Product Designer
Collaboration
LiftLabs founder
3 mobile developers
Tools
Figma / FigJam
Jira
Adobe Photoshop
Slack
The process
Discover
Define
Design
Deliver
Next steps
Stakeholder interview
Market research
Competitive analysis
Contextual inquiries
User flows
Comparative analysis
Sketches
Style guide
Custom icons and designs
Hi-Fi wireframes + prototype
Dev handoff materials
Mapping out the project
When coming into this project, LiftLabs had an incredible opportunity to showcase the system to several lobster fishers and potential investors. Hoping to be able to demo the full functionality of the system by that new target deadline, it was crucial to limit the research and app designing to 2 weeks to allow enough time for the app development, testing, and troubleshooting.
Having this deadline meant it was extremely important to map out every move of this sprint to keep on target and meet the release date.
How the system works
Before jumping deep into the discovery phase, it is helpful to understand the basics of how the system works.
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The fisher locates the LiftLabs system (Lift) via a dropped pin on a map
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When nearby the Lift, an acoustic signal is sent from the boat to the Lift attached to the lead trap
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The Lift inflates a buoy, creating enough buoyancy to raise the Lift and lead trap to the surface, attached to the rest of the trawl (a string of traps linked together)
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The fisher puts the Lift into its docking station, where it is reset
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The catch is unloaded, trap by trap
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The Lift is reattached, and the Trawl is pushed back overboard
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A pin is dropped on the map to show the location of the Lift and Trawl
Information gathering
Having limited prior knowledge of lobster fishing and recent advances in ropeless fishing innovation, it was important to explore the key aspects and intricacies of each to hone in on the app's requirements. To do so, the discovery phase was divided into 4 sections of research.
Founder interview
Starting the research phase of this project, it was important to get to know the founder, and uncover any key insights and thoughts he may have for how he envisions the app, the LiftLabs System, and lobster fishers all coexisting seamlessly.
App objectives and criteria were also discussed to better establish app design objectives and criteria.
App objectives and criteria:
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Map easily shows where the LiftLabs System is located
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Add/Remove LiftLabs Systems
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Pin a Lift or Trawl
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Assign unique Lift to lead or end trap of a Trawl
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Quick ability to select and send acoustic commands to individual lifts
Lobster fishing 101
With limited knowledge when it comes to lobster fishing, it was crucial to observe and learn as much as possible since empathizing with the lobster fishers is integral to the success and longevity of this app.
Listening to their stories would play a vital role in creating a solution that genuinely meets their needs and seamlessly integrates with their existing practices. Recognizing that each fisher has their own unique approach was key to ensuring the app's flexibility to accommodate their individual styles.
Lastly, understanding the situation the app would be used in was equally important.
Lobster fishing details to consider for App design:
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How big is the boat/crew?
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Is the Captain also fishing? or just driving the boat?
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What does a typical day, week, month, season look like?
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Will they be wearing gloves?
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How much will the boat be moving?
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Will it be too bright to see the screen clearly?
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What other tasks will be taking place in addition to using the app?
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How much time do they actually have to be running an app while fishing and/or driving the boat?
This was one area that would have been nice to spend a whole week on by itself. This would have helped to better understand the terminology and slang, intricate processes, and multifaceted challenges that lobster fishers encounter in their work. But given the deadline and a solid foundation, it was important to push forward.
Prior research and documentation review
Next, it was valuable to dig into intricacies of the system whichhelped to determine what developers would need to make the system function. This also guided the app's role in controlling, sending, and receiving crucial commands from the backend for the system to operate effectively.
A meeting was also set up to go over the basic idea of the app to determine what sort of handoff was needed once the app was ready to be built.
Additionally, understanding the 'user journey' when fishing with the system helped to better understand how it needs to seamlessly integrate into each fisher's current practices and traditions.
Competitive analysis
Lastly, researching the competition's systems and apps (if they had one) was extremely helpful to see how it was currently being done, what was great, and what could be improved.
It became quickly evident that these systems and apps were extremely complicated and hard to understand. This reemphasized the goal to make the app to be as simple and intuitive as possible.
Setting the minimum viable product
With a solid foundation for the requirements, goals, system intricacies, and competitive landscape, it was crucial to pinpoint the key priorities and criteria for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in this intensive two-week sprint. The following criteria were identified and officially approved.
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App that is simple to figure out and use
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Large buttons & touch-points for use w/ gloves on rough waters
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Quickly add, edit, swap & remove devices
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Easily pin, view, and navigate to deployed devices
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Rapid deployment & retrieval
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Monitoring of battery status
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Usable on both iPhone, Android & iPad
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Seamlessly mesh into variety of fishing practices
Breaking down the user tasks
Needing to move quickly into building the initial prototype, a pivotal initial next step involved mapping out the necessary tasks based on the key priorities and MVP. To achieve this, the tasks were broken down into four distinct scenarios and user flows were developed for each.
This approach helped in better understanding the app's fundamental and most simple form, helping avoid putting efforts into unnecessary design or functionality.
Sketches, mockups, & prototype
Now that the user flows have mapped the simplest form of how the app would work with the LiftLabs System, it was time to start sketching out idea for how the app would look.
In this phase, it was extremely important to not only focus on the key priorities and MVP mapped out earlier, but also to get buy-in from the devs early on so not to start building something that would either not work, or not be buildable in the amount of time allotted.
Key design considerations
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Simple layout
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Quickly switch between map and list view
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Easily view and edit trawl and lift information
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Large buttons / touch points
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Battery status monitoring
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Easily view and edit
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Quickly edit, deploy and retrieve lifts / trawls
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Large buttons / touch points
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Rapid re-deployment after retrieval
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Simple GPS pinning
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Immediate review of pertinent deployment information
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One-off tasks or task done on land placed strategically in the hamburger menu
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Easily swap or edit lift information
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Simplified and flexible design to fit with a variety of fishing styles
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Flexible design, usable on both phone and tablet by placing the cards from the phone design on the far right of the tablet, and allowing the map to always be visible on the left.
Developer handoff
Following the finalization of the prototype, the next significant step involved a thorough walkthrough and explanation of the app with the development team. This also included comprehensive app dev notes covering various aspects of functionality, design, and navigation.
As a last step before demoing the app in Nova Scotia to several lobster fishers and potential investors, several debugging sessions were conducted with tickets created in Jira to fix any issues or bugs.
Next steps
Design cohesive sign-up & log-in pages
Upon joining this project, a basic sign-up and log-in process had already been created, but the design is currently not cohesive with the rest of the app design. Redesigning this aspect is imperative as it serves as users' first point of interaction upon downloading the app. In order to meet users' basic needs and align with contemporary interfaces include, it requires:
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Introducing cohesive and interactive loading and process screens
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Visibility to where the user is in the sign-up process
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The ability to view their hidden password and select "Forgot Password" if they can't get signed in
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Incorporating modern sign-up alternatives such as Gmail, Facebook, or Apple authentication.
Update user interface design
Given the extremely tight deadline for the initial design and launch, there are still a number of opportunities to enhance the current user interface design. These span from cultivating a more cohesive and contemporary visual aesthetic, to continuing to refine the interactions and transitions user experience as they move through the app. Making these updates will set the stage for better feedback while moving into usability testing and on water trials.
Remove the need for scrolling
While the app is in a good usable state, there are a few minor improvements that could be extremely beneficial, particularly in how information is presented.
Refining the way information is displayed, especially on the Trawls and Lifts pages, could eliminate the need for scrolling to see all the information. This would help reduce the amount of interaction required with the device, and let them focus on the more pertinent while on the water.
Explore potential opportunities for AI
A big next push is also to start understanding how to harness the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to help make better-informed decisions about when, where, and how to fish. This strategic move aims to empower users with intelligent insights, enabling them to optimize their approach for higher yields while minimizing the amount of traps, bait, and overall operational overhead. The envisioned outcome is a shift towards a more sustainable, profitable, and environmentally friendly fishing ecosystem.
Final thoughts from part 1
As this part of the project concludes, it important to reflect on the remarkable achievement and collective effort dedicated to designing and developing this app in such a short amount of time. With the foundation set, the focus shifts towards ongoing enhancements and innovation on the initial design.
As the project moves forward, the commitment remains to deliver exceptional and unique solutions that not only enhance the app, but also revolutionize the processes and practices of lobster fishers in the years to come.
