UX/UI Design

Project Scope

The goal of this project was to take an existing company and create an app for the entrepreneurial side of their business. The app needed to be created for the workers of that company, to help them work more efficiently or handle specific business operations.

Aladdin’s current system of recording orders, gathering data, and making sales is outdated and problematic for the service technicians. The program Aladdin employees use is very similar to an excel sheet, and can get very complicated very easily. All information regarding price per square foot must be calculated manually, causing margin of error to be high. Aladdin needs something that can consolidate all of the different programs and services they use into one application.

Brand Design

Who is Aladdin Cleaning and Restoration?

For over 50 years, Aladdin Carpet Cleaning and Restoration has been providing carpet cleaning services, oriental rug cleaning services, and more across the San Antonio-Texas area. Aladdin’s Service Technicians work with clients and dry-cleaning stores to provide the best services available.

Logo & Branding

Aladdin's current branding is primarily red, black, and white in color, and other than the logo, I didn’t change anything about the current branding. For the app, I stuck to an industrial design that would still work with Aladdin’s current branding and be able to be quickly read by service technicians.

The current logo (left) is a little outdated looking, so I made it look more modern by getting rid of the body of the genie and choosing new type. The font Leckerli One is an appealing type that is more open and amicable. I contrasted this with the secondary type Bebas Neue Rounded in regular, to still give the brand an industrial feel.

Process

Why does Aladdin Cleaning and Restoration need an App?

After interviewing a branch manager at Aladdin, it was clear the company needed a solution that could combine all of their tools and services. The service technicians needed a product that could show their work schedules, allow instant messaging, list their services and allow customers to schedule with them, a directory to cross-reference vendor information, and allow the service technicians to carry out transactions. All of these functions are currently being performed by various different programs or calculated manually through spreadsheets, and by creating a mobile app, service technicians can have one app to handle their workload.

In order to determine how to prioritize what the users needed, I created an empathy map and a prioritization grid based on the information from the branch manager. Lo-fi wireframes were used to determine how users would navigate the app through explorative user testing, and a hi-fi prototype was made for final user testing.

Lo-fi Wireframes for Messages & Contacts

UX/UI

Final Product

The Aladdin Cleaning and Restoration app is clean and simple to use, and holds all of the necessary information and functions for day-to-day operations. The mobile app allows the service technicians to view their schedules and instant message between customers and co-workers. The app allows the service technicians to quickly set up appointments with customers and conduct on-the-spot transactions. The app also includes all of the service information to present to customers, as well as a directory to cross-reference customer transactions at other vendors.

In Work Orders, service technicians can view the orders they have for that day. By pressing an order, they can view the details and customer information for that particular order.

Instant messaging within the app helps keep client contact information separate from the service technician’s personal contacts saved in their phone. It also is a way to keep track of all messaging between employees and clients.

After speaking with a branch manager at Aladdin, the directory seems to be the biggest consumer of time for service technicians. Currently, it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to cross reference client information in their database with client information in other vendor’s databases. For the app, I made the directory simple enough to search for the client or vendor and pull up their information. The directory contains the client’s contact information, order history, and history of other vendors used. Service technicians can also pull up the contact information of other coworkers and see their current schedule.

Through the services feature, service technicians can show clients the list of services they offer as well as calculate the estimated cost, place orders, and carry out transactions.

Cash n’ Carry is a service where clients can drop off and pick up their order at an Aladdin location or vendor. Currently, service technicians use a service called Square to complete transactions for Cash n’ Carry orders. The app allows service technicians to complete all transactions in one mobile application.

The profile allows the service technician to view their weekly work schedule, as well as their past scheduled shifts.

Assets

Banner photo courtesy of Trang Nguyen on Unsplash