Returning to this project before hand-in, one of the things I regret not getting to explore was the app side of the product which would allow you to book the rides. I decided to set myself a bit of a challenge by giving myself an hour to just wireframe what the app would look like and the user flow. To do this, I decided to use Whimsical, which is a tool similar to Miro, but has some create wire-framing capabilities. I had a brief play with the software before starting to get familiar, but this quick exercise of wire-framing the app would allow me to learn the tool for the future.
I was really pleased with what I was able to produce in Whimsical within a short time. The restrictive nature of Whimsical allows you to focus much more on the user flow without the visual which is great for wire framing.
The first 3 screens are a simple login flow, with the only unique thing being that users will select between personal or business users from the start.
The next three are base three screens for the app, with just home as a landing screen, trips where you can track and book your trips, and an account page for settings and other setup.
After wire-framing the base three screens, I decided to wireframe a user flow of booking a ride. This started by entering where you wanted to go on the trips screen. I made sure to keep to one focus for each screen, so I wasn’t overwhelming the user with loads of boxes to fill in, and gave confirmation screens after each entry field to improve user trust.
An important feature of this app was the focus on being able to book off of your wanted arrival time rather than departure time. This service is intended to be used by professional travelling for business, so knowing when you’re going to arrive is really important for making sure you’re on time.
Another idea I had was to have the payment section either payable now, or you can send the payment to your boss for him to pay. This way the company card doesn’t have to be passed around, and the employee doesn’t have to expense the costs. Once the boss had paid for the trip, the user would get a notification, so there wouldn’t have to be emailing back and forth between the boss and employee to make sure it was paid.
Overall I was impressed with Whimsical as a tool for wireframing, as it allowed me to show my ideas about how the app component should operate without having to fulling prototype it. I actually really enjoyed the restrictions it gave me and allowed me to focus on quickly getting my ideas into the wireframe rather than obsessing over visuals. I’m glad I was able to show how the app component would at least work, even if it is just wireframes, and I’m pleased I now have a good grasp on a new piece of software for the future.