What goes into designing smartphone applications that truckers truly love

“While designing our application, we would hop into trucks with drivers and show them our designs to get feedback. We observe how they manage their day and based on their suggestions, we design our applications around their own processes to make the applications easy to use,” said Shaikley. 

One of the major things learned through one such interaction was the occurrence of pop-up notifications on applications. When this was introduced to a trucker, he retorted back saying it would not be feasible for drivers to click on pop-ups when they are in the cab, because they have to concentrate on the road. Shaikley explained that though these are not strictly design issues, it is essential to address such elements based on the target audience. 

“When drivers join a fleet, they get a roster of addresses and tons of products to deliver. They have to figure out information in terms of parking restrictions and customer restrictions like time of delivery, which is mostly tribal knowledge. Thus, the ‘how’ of design really comes down to understanding how drivers execute their day and trying to design around it,” said Shaikley. 

For applications to work, designers need to start thinking of it from the perspective of drivers, as the fundamental aim of an application is to improve the productivity and efficiency of a trucker. 

“The technology landscape is rapidly changing, and we’re right in the middle of it. You still see a lot of older software that is very hard to navigate, and you see circumstances where somebody leaves a dispatch office for two weeks, and the operation is turned on its head because people don’t know how to use this technology,” said Shaikley. “People are groomed into positions and about three months is spent learning how to use planning applications just for their fleet. However, I think that the space is changing very rapidly.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the industry’s recent overindulgence in technology might frustrate a percentage of drivers because they feel they are continuously monitored when they are at work, creating unease. Shaikley contended that though this might be a visible problem, it mostly occurs due to poorly implemented technology.  

“For people who’ve worked in the industry for around 15 years or more, they started their career using pen and paper, but are now strapped to so many applications with every move of theirs being monitored and measured. Though this causes discomfort, I’d say it happens due to bad technology,” said Shaikley. “Ultimately, technology is present to reduce a trucker’s burden, and if the experience is easy and seamless, there would be no reason for them to hate it.”