Port of Amsterdam
Port of Amsterdam: software that needs no manual
From paper inspection rounds in the port area to a real-time platform that later found its way to other ports and municipalities as a SaaS product.
As co-founder of digital agency Apptimize I designed and delivered work-process apps for Port of Amsterdam. The inspection platform changed public space management so thoroughly that we developed it into a SaaS product, now used by other ports, municipalities, contractors and consulting firms. Besides UX and UI, I was responsible for project management, outsourcing development, testing and delivery.
- 4 years
- from internal tool to SaaS product for ports, municipalities and contractors
The problem
The port area of Amsterdam is large, busy and constantly changing. Maintenance staff inspected quays, roads, jetties and buildings following the Dutch CROW standard, but registration happened afterwards at the office. A field worker spent six hours a day outside and then another two hours inside, entering everything into the right systems. Notifications were delayed by hours, reports were manual work and nobody had a real-time view of the state of the public space.
My role
As co-founder of Apptimize and lead UX designer I was responsible for stakeholder management, user research and the UX and UI design for smartphone, tablet and web. On top of that I handled project management, steering development, testing and delivery. End responsibility, from first interview to go-live.
The process
Walking along in the field
I started with the existing processes and systems: stakeholder interviews with everyone touched by the platform, and user interviews and observation with the people outside. That produced personas for field workers, inspectors and managers, each with their own tasks, frustrations and wishes. The user story that summed it all up: as an employee of the Maintenance department, I want to carry out an inspection according to CROW standards in the field, so that we can provide immediate insight into the quality of the port area.
Designing in short cycles with the users themselves
Through brainstorms and design sprints I funneled ideas into user flows per user type and per device: performing an inspection, creating a notification, generating a report. Wireframes became interactive prototypes, prototypes went into the field. Short feedback loops with end users decided every next step, before any development capacity was spent on it.
Designing for gloves and glare
An interface for outdoors has different requirements than an office tool: only the necessary information, large touch targets, comprehensible labels and simple icons. The bar was daily use without explanation, in all weather.
The solution
A platform that lets employees work in real time in the field: performing CROW inspections, creating notifications with photo and location, and reports that generate themselves. Results are immediately visible, so action follows immediately. Office staff watch live and plan maintenance based on data instead of stacks of forms.
Results
The platform became so valuable that we developed it further as the Apptimize Platform, a SaaS product used since then by other ports, municipalities, contractors and consulting firms in and outside the Netherlands. The best proof came from the Head of Maintenance himself: “This is the first software we use that does not require a user manual.”
What I take away
Being with users often, really listening and taking prototypes into the field: that is how the design ends up reflecting the real daily practice. And when the people who work with it every day need no manual, you have solved the complexity problem where it belongs: in the design, not with the user.
What the client says
“This is the first software we have used that does not require a user manual.”