UX Field Notes: Truckers in the Wild
It’s winter in Seattle, which means it’s time to wear Gortex when I go out to do fieldwork.
You see, most truckers won’t make time to come to our office in downtown Seattle for an interview or a usability test. Like they say, “If the wheels don’t spin, money doesn’t come in.” To get the first-hand insights that fuel a user-centered design approach, I need to go to them.
Sounds easy right? After all, doing fieldwork is a common practice in UX. But meeting up with truckers has proved to be more challenging than I expected. This is a hidden blessing though. The challenges help uncover important aspects of the trucker’s story.
When & Where
One of the many things I didn’t know about trucking until I worked at Convoy is that most truckers don’t know where they are going to be the day after tomorrow. They line their work up in shockingly short order, often last minute. Which makes planning a meet-up short order, and often last minute. Once they commit to a job, I know exactly where they will be for a brief period. Since time spent at the loading docks is typically idle for truckers, it’s a good time to talk, making it worthwhile for me to drop everything to join them.
Weather Conditions
I’m going to the wild so, not surprisingly, the weather can be a factor. In the middle of summer, it can be 95º up here in Cascadia. I’ll be dripping with sweat while truckers are enjoying the AC inside their truck. Nobody wants to stand in the hot sun for too long. Planning for the morning, when the temps are still cool, or finding facilities that load on the north side of the building, where it stays shaded, can make things more conducive to conversation.
In winter, when it’s 40º and raining and I’ve been outside for a couple of hours, the cold sets in. Everything gets trickier when it’s wet. Taking notes on wet paper, using wet screens, or recording audio in the wind can throw a wrench into things. Truckers don’t want to get soaked before they start driving, so they might be talking to me from their cab. That is 8–10 feet up, which makes it impossible for me to see them use their device or my prototype.
An office is more comfortable, and facilitating tests in a controlled environment is easier, but being in the elements reflects what truckers go through on any given day. Imagine having to deal with appointment issues on a sweltering blacktop, or chaining up in a snowy pullout. The weather can add a layer of stress that I might not consider when testing features from the comfort of a desk.
Interruptions
A trucker’s first order of business at the docks is getting loaded or unloaded, and then preparing for what might be a long drive. If they need to talk to the facility employees, fiddle with their rig, or simply text their wife — those things are all a higher priority than talking with me.
Phone calls. These folks are on the phone a lot! They will probably receive at least one call during our conversation, and yes, they’re going to take it. I’m cool with that because it’s an opportunity to hear how they interact with their dispatcher, other brokers, or even our Ops Team. It might lead to an unexpected insight.
Technical glitches. There probably won’t be any wifi, so make sure the hotspot works, my batteries are charged, and that there is room on the memory card. I’ve had all of these things fail at some point.
Language
English is a second language for many truckers, so conversations don’t always flow easily between us. Some lines of questioning just don’t land. There’s an awkward moment when I realize that we’re just not on the same page. Experiencing first hand how easily miscommunication can happen is a valuable insight — reinforcing how my design decisions ease or exacerbate truckers’ ability to do their job.
Conclusion
Yes, observing truckers in the wild is a challenge. It’s unpredictable and can be uncomfortable. Sometimes it feels like a comedy of errors that didn’t yield anything at all. But I’ve learned that these are not qualities to complain about. The inconveniences that are obstacles to conducting my job, turn out to be important aspects of the trucking experience itself.
