In November 2018 Wheels launched FleetView™ Mobile, the industry’s first native app for fleet managers. Just eight months later, the application was awarded a gold Stevie® award by the 2019 American Business Awards.
To mark the win, I’d like to share some details about how the application was created.
It Started With Drivers: Fleet Driver UX Testing
Our first foray into native mobile apps was with Wheels Mobile Assistant, a powerful driver productivity tool established to eliminate fleet interruptions by keeping drivers on the road. Like all Wheels’ innovations, extensive research and user experience testing went into building it and returned valuable insights on fleet’s use of mobile technology.
While creating a mobile application for FleetView was always part of our roadmap, customers asked for a quicker release after seeing the functionality of the driver-centric application.. As designed, FleetView is a comprehensive tool for fleet managers. However, we wanted to streamline its features for the mobile user and optimize for the functionality fleet managers needed while working on the go.
Guided By Fleet Manager Feedback
To begin, we dug deep into client feedback and conducted fleet manager interviews to gauge users’ interest in certain aspects of FleetView. Armed with this information, we built out a series of use cases. Wheels learned that whether on the road or in a meeting, there were specific tasks fleet managers needed to perform quickly. For example, if a client was in a parking lot and noticed a damaged fleet vehicle, it was natural to look up the vehicle and contact the driver immediately to obtain more details.
From research and discussions with fleet managers, we knew that searching for vehicles and drivers is one of the most commonly used functions. As a result, we added a search and connect feature, where a client could quickly look up a vehicle in the system and call a driver without leaving the app. Other key features established due to client feedback include the ability to approve a maintenance repair and see alerts related to important fleet program compliance activity.
Wheels Mobile Assistant App Launch and Continuous Improvement
Factoring in insights from our internal subject-matter experts and external clients, we launched a beta version of the app just three months after beginning development. The more than a dozen of fleet professionals on the client beta team helped with minor adjustments to improve the overall user experience. For example, insight from testing perfected navigation and added push notifications and additional language options. By moving quickly to gather insight from beta users, we finalized the app within two months and released it in both the Apple and Android app stores.
As always, we continue to gather client feedback and prioritize those requests to increase the functionality of the application. We’re aiming to implement contact cards to directly connect to the client’s account team, and incorporating additional details on both vehicles and drivers. We’re also adding the ability to make inquiries through the app, such as requesting a duplicate vehicle registration.
Your feedback and insights have helped us make FleetView what it is today. Please continue to share your thoughts at [email protected].