Enhancing the E-commerce Delivery tracking experience through Live Tracking.
Ordering products through e-commerce sites such as Flipkart, Amazon, and others have become a routine part of our lives.
The problem from my personal experience:
I purchased a monitor from Flipkart. The stuff shipped on time (Thanks to Flipkart). The following day, it arrived at the warehouse closest to my address.
Now here comes the tricky part.
got a Notification… your Order is out for delivery and will be delivered on or before 9 pm today.
Finally, I got a call at noon from the delivery agent since he couldn't find my address on the main road. He struggled for another 10 mins to find my address and delivered at 12.15 PM.
Then three questions struck my mind.
- Did others also face the same problem as me?
- If yes. How can I remove customers' anticipation for their orders?
- How can I help delivery agents to get the user address more efficiently?
Solution:
I have introduced a feature of Live delivery tracking that lets us know the exact delivery time and help the delivery agent find the route of the delivery address.
But how did I do that… ok! let's start with some investigation 🕵️♀️
Research
I started my solution process by researching the problem from other users. I have divided my entire research process into two stages.
- Customer research
- Delivery agent research
🤔 Why do research with a delivery boy? How can it be related to experience enhancement?
Answer: The Live tracking experience we will embed is entirely related to the delivery agent’s application. So to understand their existing delivery pattern is a must. Also, to understand their pain points while delivering a package.
Customer Research -
I have talked to my friends and family members to know whether they have experienced the same as me. I have interviewed five people.
Key findings from the Customer research:
- They felt the same experience as mine if the product was so important to them.
- They have called the delivery agent to know when the order will be delivered.
Delivery Agent research -
I had a friend who had worked as a Delivery agent for Flipkart. So I interviewed him via a call to know his pain points while delivering a package.
Pain points from his experience.
- They will get the package's delivery information like s.no of the box, customer name, address, and phone no. They have to search the address location in google and approach them.
- Sometimes the customers provide an incomplete address, so they have to call them for the correct address.
- The customer will not be available at the delivery location at the time of delivery.
Analysis
I found a customer thinking pattern from my heuristics, customer research, & delivery agent research; I found a customer thinking pattern.
Customers want to know the exact time of their order delivery. Delivery agents want an easier way to deliver the customer order.
I also found that there will be no specified lunchtime for the delivery agents even during the COVID situation.
I created a problem statement by consolidating all my Analyses to have a clear picture of solving the problem.
problem Statement of user's
As a busy person, I want to know the exact time of my order delivery to plan my work accordingly to receive my order.
Problem statement of Delivery Agent.
As a delivery agent, I want to get the exact delivery address to deliver the order without calling the customer for the address. I also want to specify lunchtime and tea breaks to keep me hydrated and healthy.
Solving the problem.
I observed the Swiggy & Zomato apps; order live tracking using the delivery agent's current location.
I tried to look at all the possible scenarios of order tracking in food delivery apps and concluded that this could help us get the exact time of the order delivery.
Since agent health is also the utmost priority to the company, I thought to provide a 1hour lunch break from 1 PM to 2 PM and 10mins for a tea break at 4 PM to solve the agent's lunchtime.
Also, It should be indicated on the customer's screen about his break to avoid additional calls to the agent.
Designing
Before jumping into the designing part, I decided what screens I should redesign to improve the experience.
- On the customer application, the Order tracking page has to be modified.
- The orders page is to be modified on the delivery agents' applications.
What are the New Screens to be added?
- Live tracking page in the customer application.
- Orders page in agents application.
Before using tools like Figma, I used our fundamental drawing tool, pen & paper, to sketch my idea.
Sketching out for the Agent Application
Since I could not get the agent's app, I tried to imagine the existing screen.
After the design of mid-fidelity screens, I translated them into Hi-fi screens.
Prototype of the Hi-fi Agent application.
By creating the prototype, I have shared this imagined prototype with my friend (delivery agent) to test the accuracy and usability of my solution.
After a few minutes, he replied like
“This is what the feature we want. It was a great way to see the exact delivery location as a pin point. This reduces the time we spent on searching the address and calling customer for address.”
He also told me that not every order we deliver at the address. Sometimes, customers choose to leave at neighbours, so we have to provide their neighbour's address.
His feedback gave me confidence that my idea will surely benefit both delivery agents & customers.
Revamping the customer screens
I have made some tweaks by adding & removing some UI elements from the existing order tracking screen.
I have also designed the live tracking page.
I have also designed the screen when the delivery agent has lunch or breaks.
The screen indicates that the agent is on break and mentions the delivery time.
Testing with customer's
Now it's time for testing out my solution with the customers to measure the accuracy.
I have shown my prototype to the same person I interviewed during my research.
My observations from the testing.
- They quickly related the solution with Swiggy & Zomato, which has an excellent live tracking feature.
- They first clicked on track your delivery CTA to know their package's current location.
This feature provides live tracking and increases the customer experience of the brand.
My learnings as a UX designer
- working on an app feature with a vast customer base is a challenging aspect and filled with a lot of responsibility.
- A keen observation of the existing apps enlightened me with a new solving capability.
- Usability Testing and User testing are essential for quick validation of the ideas.
Great you have made it to the end of the story. I hope you liked it.
For Your Info — This is completely a conceptual design story originated from my personal experience. I’m not associated with any of the brands mentioned in the story in any means.
Thanks for your time.
Happy Designing ✏️
