ABOUT THE PROJECT:
This product was an Idea that was brought forth after receiving feedback that in the field that landscape contractors have to take time to calculate how much product is needed for a project. The process of calculating how much product needs to be purchased can be cumbersome and confusing in some cases which can make projects hard to quote for contractors, and ultimately waste time. At Unilock we decided to create a product calculator that can provide a solution to this problem with accurate numbers that can make this process more efficient.
PROJECT GOALS
Develop a product that takes the cumbersome process of calculating product quantities easy and efficient.
Make a product that can generate accurate
results quickly by entering project specifics
and measurements.
Make the user interface design of the
product easy to understand, so it can be used as a tool for contractors on job sites.
Research
Primary Research
Research Method - User Interviews
A series of user interviews where conducted with 10 real landscape contractors asking various questions around the product quantity calculation process for landscape projects. The questions asked specifically touched on how contractors make these calculations and how accurate these calculations need to be in order to provide an accurate quote for clients.
What is the most important number to know when calculating Product Quantities
Units per bundle
What do most Contractors currently use to Calculate Product Quantities
Calculators
Average Amount of time taken to Calculate Product amounts needed for projects
25 - 30 minutes
Results & Key Takeaways
8 out of 10 contractors said that calculating product quantities for projects is difficult and hard to be accurate with.
9 out of 10 contractors said that most of the time they purchase to much or too little product to use
10 out of 10 contractors said that the amount of product purchased directly effects the overall quote amount for the project.
4 out of 10 contractors said that they can accurately calculate product quantities by using a normal calculator
Pain Points
Contractors cannot accurately calculate how much product
is needed for a projectInaccurate calculations directly effect quoting projects which effects
pricing for clientsThe only way to calculate projects is by using a normal calculator which
is not in linear featNot knowing how much product is needed slows down the productivity
of the project completion
User Needs
Landscape contractors need a way to accurately calculate how much
product is needed to complete a projectThey need some sort of tool that can easily generate accurate amounts of calculations.
They need a single source of truth to follow when building the product cost into the project quote.
THE PROBLEM
''Sometimes the hardest part of the project is figuring out how much product we need to order. There is no real way for us to accurately calculate that based on our measurements."
High Level User Flow
In-depth User Flow
Low Fidelity Paper Sketches
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Mock Ups
A/B Testing
After conducting a series of A/B tests we found a number of different things about the products current
design that needed to be changed and iterated on
Full Bundles Only Toggle
One main addition that was added was the “Full Bundles Only” tab in the calculation results screen. We found that showing full bundles only as well as partial bundles in a separate view gives a even number of bundles to the results which helps contractors properly build the cost of product into the budget evenly with out having to do any complex equations.
Packaging Information
After receiving more feedback on this screen, we realized that adding specific packaging information to this final results page would be beneficial to both the contractor and dealer. Both parties will know what to expect in regards to how to package the product and how the product will be delivered to the job site.
Drop Down Menu Icon
After receiving feedback that this screen looks to cluttered, we decided to add a drop down menu icon to help de clutter the screen.
Usability Testing
RESULTS
After conducting a series of Usability tests based on goals set by our team, and other tasks we found very good results. We also times each task, having a cut off time of 14 minutes. We found that the calculator is 3 times faster for calculating product quantity results compared to going through the process manually.
Tasks:
1. The user must find the calculation results of a project containing two or more project items
2. The user must remove a product from the calculation and add
another one to replace it.
3. The user must edit measurements after they have been added into the calculation
