Rethinking Vehicle Inspections

Verizon Connect (Dublin)

Background:

Verizon Connect is a Global Enterprise SaaS business offering a total fleet management platform. The products and services enable small to enterprise customers to run safer, more efficient and compliant fleets. Verizon Connect is a part of Verizon Business Group within Verizon, the American mobile network. 

As part of a wider product strategy, in 2023 we wanted to provide a inspection report solution (Driver Vehicle Inspection reports - DVIR) for our SMB and Principle product, that integrates seamlessly into the existing infrastructure.

The Problem:

Majority of our telematic product solutions are targeted at the administrative and managerial needs within a business. We needed to provide a way for truck drivers to quickly and easily perform these inspections before and after they drive, that ensures the safety and maintenance of the vehicle, and gives confidence to fleet managers that these inspections are being performed.

What was interesting about this project was the impact of the physical environment on how drivers could perform these inspections using a digital medium - we were competing with paper forms.

Traditional paper form for a DVIR

Providing a digital solution for these forms that was intuitive and simple

The Solution:

Basic wireframing for an MVP workshop

Driver satisfaction is imperative for the Transportation industry with a global shortage of drivers and an aging population. Businesses are keen to be able to provide their drivers with a digital solution for better record-keeping, local govt compliance and streamlining of business processes. Drivers want to get going with their day without too much fuss, they are responsible for the upkeep and safety of their vehicle but they don’t want to be taking too much time with unnecessary paperwork. A business today is more likely than ever to listen to driver feedback about how easy or hard it is to use a tool they are required to use.

For the back office we created an administrative solution to enable customers to set up their own inspection templates, review past inspections and manage vehicle maintenance. For drivers, we produced a simple mobile application to enable them to pick the vehicle they are driving, and perform a DVIR, confirming it is safe to drive.

My role:

I led the Driver Experience part of this project, this included:

  • Hiring, training and mentoring contract designers who would be doing the majority of the UI design

  • Research and discovery of customer needs

  • Leading direction of the driver experience as part of a wider mobile strategy

  • Determining information architecture of this feature into our existing product

  • Facilitation of design sprints and CFT workshops

  • Prioritisation of features for product launch (To be launched end of 2024)

I was a subject matter expert in this area, having previously been responsible for the compliance and regulations products, and DVIR being a key piece of functionality in our legacy enterprise product. Also, I had been part of the Enterprise Mobile Strategy based in Christchurch and was keen to be involved on this project.

A challenge of this project was ensuring we launched strong with a product that integrated well with other features of our product that our team was not responsible for. It required persistence in keeping communication channels open, ensuring understanding and motivation for external teams to see value in how what we were creating could evolve.