Assignment

Project Design Document

Project: Mobile application to find the cheapest and best delivery and postal service

 

Problem Statements

In this modern age of technology, Mobile apps have made daily life a lot more convenient. The different mobile apps available in the market help people in their daily lives such as finding restaurants, finding tourist destinations, buildings, buying games, etc Similarly, with different online postal services, it is easier than ever to deliver parcels to our family, relatives, friends and acquaintances. However, since many of the postal services have their own websites and some do not have a website, it is difficult to compare the prices and find the best price. Therefore, this application that I am making will provide all the information of the postal services comparing their prices, their location, their reviews and booking appointments for the ease of the users.

Audience

User Research

Research Plan

My plan is to interview the people in the community or use social media to ask what type of postal service they use, how much they pay based on the product, problems of deciding which postal service to use, how they compare the different postal services, asking for their recommendations so as to find the best and cheapest delivery and postal service through the app.

 

Questions (objectives)

The main objective of the app is to locate all the postal services in the area, show all the necessary information about the services like time taken to deliver the parcels, and compare the cost to deliver the parcel based on the type, location, size and the weight of product that needs to be delivered. After downloading the app, the users will see all the available information about the type of postal services, the shipping cost, time taken to deliver, and price based on the size of parcel to be delivered. The app also shows the reviews left by other customers to make it easier for the user to decide which postal service they would like to use based on their preferences. This app also shows the statistics where the busy hours and quiet hours are displayed to save time of the user by not waiting in the queue. By having the information of all the postal services, the users can get the best price, while also being efficient by not needing to go to every postal service building to compare the prices.  

Hypothesis

On the internet, it is really time consuming to go to each site of different postal service and compare the prices based on the parcel. The customers(people) might not know the cheap prices on the parcel they want to receive or deliver and end up paying more than they would normally due to being less knowledgeable. The customers always want to get the best prices and save money where they can and get their parcels delivered as soon as possible. The customers may have a bad time with the postal services and may want to leave feedback on the positive and negative experience. So, these people would always end up using the same postal service.

Methods

By interviewing the people and asking these few questions on social media, I will be able to make the app tailored to the ease and preference of the users. Below is the list of questions asked and their response to these questions.

	Q1. What postal service do you use the most?	Q2. Have you used any other postal service?	Q3. Is the cost affordable?	Q4. Do you compare the prices with other postal services?	Q5. How was your experience in this place?
Persona 1	Australian Post	Yes	No	No	Negative
Persona 2	Pack and Send	No	Yes	No	Positive
Persona 3	UPS	Yes	No	Yes	Negative
Persona 4	FedEx	No	No	No	Positive
Persona 5	Australian Post	No	Yes	Yes	Positive
Persona 6	DHL	No	Yes	Yes	Positive

 

Results (synthesis)

After conducting the research, I found that most of the people do not compare the prices and use the same postal services due to various reasons but most commonly being time consuming to browse the various websites, their lack of review and not being convenient to access all the information of the postal services due to the functionality of some of the websites. Also, a lot of the users find it hard to book an appointment due to some of the postal services not having a functional website. These problems can be solved by the app by displaying all necessary information of different postal services in a single app, making it easier to compare the prices and booking the appointment since the app shows the quiet and busy times of the postal services which allows users to book an appointment at their preferred time.  

Notes

After conducting my interview and hearing their opinions on social media, this application will help the users to decide the best and cheap postal services based on type, size, weight of the package to be delivered. It will display the necessary information about all the postal services making it easier for the users to compare the prices and time taken to deliver their parcels saving time and money.

Personas

 

MVP and UX Prototype

User Stories

 trello:https://trello.com/b/UHzh1sjG/user-stories

S.N	User Stories	Priority
1	As a 37 year old businessman, I want an app that creates an account with my details like email and password for easier login.	High
2	As a 45 year old office worker, I want an app that can show me the cheapest or quickest postal service by entering the size and weight of the package.	High
3	As a 33 year old teacher, I want an app that can show me the statistics of the busy and quiet times of the postal service offices.	High
4	As a 28 year old accountant, I want an app that can show me details like the location of the postal offices.	High
5	As a 30 year old trader, I want an app to compare prices for shipping for various locations.	High
6	As a 22 year old international student, I want an app that can compare prices for collection and drop off services.	Medium
7	As a 38 year old female, I want an app that can help me check retail hours of postal offices.	Medium
8	As a 55 year old female, I want the app to let me view zip codes of the post office.	Medium
9	As a 25 year gamer, I want the app to have a night mode to view it in a dark room.	Low
10	As a 60 year old male, I want the app to have a FAQs page to find answers to frequently asked questions.	Low

MVP Documentation

UX Flow Chart

Wireframe

The above picture shows the wireframe of the postal application. The user clicks on the application, the new users will be required to make an account. After the new account is created users can directly log in and they will be directed to the homepage. The homepage consists of five feature icons with different functions for each icons.

Paper Prototype

The first page of the application. Users can create accounts when using the application for the first time. 

The page shown by the application. Users can login with email and password if they are an existing user which will direct them to homepage. Remember me button is available so that users don't have to login every time they use the application.

This is the homepage of the application. After logging in, the user is directed to the homepage. Here, the user can select the icon to be directed to their desired pages. The home page acts as a menu option where users can go to their desired pages by clicking on the name or icon.

This is the detail section where users can see the retail hours, busy and quiet hours for different postal service offices so that they can book an appointment at their preferred time. 

This is the price section where users can enter the size and weight of the parcel they want to deliver and when they click on the get quote button, the prices from different postal services are displayed which helps the user check for the best and cheapest price.

This the FAQ page or frequently asked questions page where users can search for answers to popular questions so that they do not have to waste time emailing and calling the post office. 

This is the location section where user can view the locations of the postal service offices, When the user clicks on the link below the postal office then they are directed to google maps for easy navigation.

This is the zip code page where users can view the full address, along with their zip code which can be helpful when sending parcels to their preferred location.  

Sprint 3: User feedback and build a functional prototype

Now you’ve designed your application you’re ready to get some feedback on it with user testing. Draw up a test plan and take your prototype out for some testing. This works best in pairs so find a classmate and test with them. You should talk to the user while your classmate takes notes. Using your testing feedback recommend changes to your application. Now build your prototype including your top recommendations.

Artifacts:

User testing table: 10 marks

Print out test sheets for your user testing plan. Take a photo of your completed test sheets and attach them to your document. If your test sheets are difficult to read make sure to type out anything that is unclear.

Prototype: 30 marks

Build your application as a web app. If there is too much to build you may need to reduce your MVP further. This will need to be more than just a mobile web site and should include functional interactivity. If any core functionality is too complicated to build in the available time try and “fudge” it with dummy functionality that feels the same. You will need to include a link to your git repository and hosted application on github pages.

Make sure your code conforms with our best practices and outline any external libraries you use in your github README.md file.

2