Team and my role
Lead design for this project
As a Product Designer, I was deeply involved with the team throughout the process, from identifying problems and scoping the work to conducting research and ideation, and executing on visual design while working with engineers to refine the final product.
The team included 4 backend engineers, 2 frontend engineers, 1 QA, 1 product designer, 1 Product Manager from our team, and 2 Product Managers from our customer Lineage Logistics.
Screenshots of the various systems our customers used during appointment creation: emails, spreadsheets, appointment request forms, internal scheduling dashboards, WMS, etc.:
Target audience
There are 2 groups of users: Internal and External
Internal users are people who manage and work at the Facility. External are those who work with the Facility. Quick overview:
Analyzing the Market
There was no solution that would cover all warehouse scheduling needs
I spent some time looking at the current landscape and seeing who our competitors are and what they are offering. A brief overview of the pros and cons of the current solutions in the market:
Scoping minimal viable product
Workflows that would enable us to test our hypotheses
I explored a few original workflows for user stories based on defined users. We tried to pare it down to the most essential workflows for an MVP.
As a Facility Admin, I want to have a place in the system where I can define location attributes relevant to scheduling (hours of operations, appointment length, number of appointment slots available overall in a facility and broken down by customer/direction, etc.
As a Facility CSR, in Turvo app I want to quickly get to the calendar view for each location (facility) so I could perform the necessary actions.
As a Facility CSR, I want to see which slots are available, booked, and reserved for a certain date and time, so that I can manage & change appointments accordingly.
As a Facility CSR Manager, I want to be able to open a new slot from the unavailable slot so that I can create/approve appointments outside of available slots/hours of operations to accommodate urgent appointment requests, escalations, etc.
As a Facility CSR Manager, I want to reduce/remove appointment slots for a certain period of time, so that I can account for decrease in resources (e.g. a dock door that is being repaired).
As a Customer CSR or Carrier Dispatcher (who is not in Turvo) I want to request/change or delete an appointment electronically based on the reference numbers provided to me, so that the amount of time before I get an appointment confirmation is reduced.
From there, we collected the requirements from the stakeholder that would be required to fulfill these workflows.
Tenant Scheduling
Designing for the web app
As a Tenant Turvo Scheduler feature developer, I utilized established design patterns and reusable Turvo components within the app.
I began by configuring appointment scheduling for each location. However, the extensive number of parameters required significant engineering work. For version 1, we decided to define the configuration at the backend, planning to add a self-serve option later.
The Facility Calendar allows CSRs to view open and taken slots, create, and edit appointments. I structured it like a TV guide, with appointments progressing from left to right. Although the current customer has fixed appointment lengths, research showed that other customers might need variable lengths. Additionally, many warehouses assign doors to appointments, each with its own availability. Thus, we designed the calendar to be scalable for future Turvo products while meeting current customer needs.
Design solution for Lineage Facility Calendar
I used the right pane for entering/editing appointment details as the right pane was used across the platform for displaying additional information.
Public Scheduling
Focusing on mobile form patterns
From my research, I found that drivers and carrier dispatchers from the external group of users often use their phones to book appointments. As a result, I began exploring ways to optimize the Public flow for mobile web use.
The first step was the landing page, where users could understand where they had been directed and choose the action they wanted to take (request or change an appointment). Stakeholders wanted the ability to brand this page. In addition to their own logo, we proposed including an image of their warehouse or other brand image.
Since this public flow won't be part of the Turvo application, I had more flexibility to explore new patterns optimized for mobile. I chose a step-by-step, wizard-like approach due to the data input requirements for requesting an appointment. Users cannot proceed to the next step without completing the current one.
Information was divided into logical sections displayed as a sidebar legend, showing users their progress and remaining required information. Input fields were grouped into a centered column, perfectly scaled for mobile view without extra development.
In the first two steps, the user enters facility and existing order information.
In the next steps, the user will select a date and time that suits them, and enter the required personal and company information.
Finally, they will be taken to the Confirmation page with an automatically approved appointment. They will also receive a confirmation email and an appointment reminder.
Feature page
Feature presentation on the corporate website
The final task for this cycle was to design the page for the Turvo Scheduler feature. As I had previously designed other Turvo feature pages on our website, I took on the responsibility of designing the Scheduler page as well. The purpose of this page is to showcase the Turvo Scheduler feature and highlight its major benefits.
On mind
Principles that I highlight for myself
Consistency in patterns and terminology is important to minimize confusion and reduce stress for users during the transition to the new tool
Consider the specific customer who requested the feature, but also keep in mind the overall business needs and scalability for potential future customers
Success metrics
A level of activation and usage
My goal was to create a feature that simplifies, prevents errors, and speeds up the process of requesting appointments. I tracked various metrics for each new Facility that went live, including:
The number of unique carriers that started requesting appointments through the Public flow
The number of appointments created through Turvo
The time it took to book an appointment through Public Scheduling
The reduction in the percentage of emails used to request appointments
The percentage of work Facility CSRs spend on OB scheduling work
The percentage of appointments scheduled through the public link versus emails/calls
Here is one-month data from the first location that went live:
The impact
Turvo Scheduler is one of the most successful Turvo features
Creating and launching the Turvo Scheduler has strengthened our relationship with Lineage Logistics, the world's largest refrigerated warehousing company.
Lineage now uses Turvo Scheduler in 107 of their warehouses and several European facilities. We have also successfully onboarded another large customer, Ryder.
Lineage's VP of Product, reported saving $200,000-$300,000 per facility with Turvo Appointment Scheduling. With 107 facilities live, this translates to an annual savings of $26 million for Lineage alone, a significant achievement.