Sprint 4: On the road again

Just as truck drivers are required to take a mandatory rest break after 11 hours behind the wheel, Team Constructive and the rest of our MHCI cohort took advantage of our own mandatory rest stop. After using Spring break to relax, recharge, and fill up the gas tank, we were ready to hit the road and begin Sprint 4. Though only our second to the last sprint, this would be our last stretch of road before heading into preparations for Spring client presentations, the final destination of our Spring semester.

So.. what have we been up to?

Perhaps it comes as no surprise, but we’re still talking to humans! When we last left Sprint 3, our team had been focusing heavily on the role of police in interactions among law enforcement, trucks, and truck drivers. In Sprint 4, we instead shifted the research lens to the ins and outs of the trucking industry and the people who keep it running.

Mission Control: The humans behind the trucks

Over the past two weeks, our team had the opportunity to meet with a variety of individuals on the client side, allowing us to lean into the wealth of information our clients have to offer. We learned about topics ranging from driver training and proactive safety measures to fleet management and the future of Mission Control. While we won’t be unloading the details, the ongoing support we’re receiving and the extensive knowledge base we’re able to tap into with these stakeholders will continue to influence our work and keep our headlights on the road ahead.

Behind the Wheel: The humans on the road

Inspired by the wealth of information gathered during our contextual inquiries with police officers at an active truck inspection site, members of our team ventured out to see firsthand the flurry of activity taking place at a local trucking terminal. We learned about automation limitations, driver/dispatcher roles and responsibilities, and the technology in place to help get drivers and loads safely to their destination.

However, after evaluating our early recruiting efforts, we realized we were lacking participants in a key stakeholder group… the professionals behind the wheel! Truck drivers are at the heart of this industry and hearing their perspective, empathizing with their experiences, and tapping into their vast amount of knowledge is essential to the high level of understanding that our team aims to develop with regards to this complex and dynamic environment.

So, how are we changing lanes? If we can’t bring the drivers to us, we’ll bring ourselves to the drivers! The beauty of remote work (and no class on Fridays!) is that we found the perfect opportunity for our team to spend the day at a local truck stop. With laptops in tow, a stack of flyers in hand, and voice memos ready to record, we’re hoping to snag some time with drivers looking for a respite from the road and a new face to talk to. Whether it’s an informal chat over coffee or an opportunity to set up a more structured interview, we’re hopeful this effort will result in a clearer picture of the view from the driver’s seat.

Truck stop guerrilla research in Oakmont, PA

Mapping our findings

As we’re collecting more information from primary and secondary research, we sense the formation of a pretty complex matrix. The extensive variety in police roles, truck driver roles, other stakeholder groups, and interactions across different entities implies that the possibilities for police-truck communication are endless. However, keeping our limited time frame in mind and reminding ourselves that this is a wicked problem for which we cannot feasibly design a comprehensive solution, we started brainstorming strategies to narrow our focus. Currently, our strategy is to determine the priority levels of different needs based on factors such as how often it’s mentioned by police or truck drivers, how much importance they attribute a process, which interaction types seem more likely to generate friction and add to trucks’ halted time, etc. The visual map and table below is our initial step in consolidating our findings:

Mapping the environment in our team space

Instead of distributing equal attention towards all the information we collect, we aim to identify a hot spot, where we can identify a majority in the type of interaction taking place. Once we have a design in place, we can work outward testing against edge cases as we ‘try to break’ our designs, iterate as needed, and ultimately end up with a more comprehensive solution.

Testing with real users

As we wrap up Sprint 4, we aim to collaborate with real users and fortunately, we have law enforcement located right outside our back door! (However be warned that if you find yourself too close to our project room, we may rope you in to test too!) With our trusty mascot in hand, we plan to bit only test the effectiveness of our updated pretotype, but to use it as a tool to facilitate discussion, brainstorming, and collaboration around potential solutions to explore.

Model truck used for pretotyping

In addition to our pretotype, we’re working to develop a series of storyboards to present to our users through speed dating sessions. With ideas ranging from simplistic to outlandish, we want to invoke reactions and validate ideas. Here’s a sneak peek of what we have lined up.

FIgma storyboard activity preview

So turn up the music, keep your eye on the road, and stay tuned for Sprint 5 to hear how the next segment of our journey goes…