Simplifying the service request experience for the City of San José

San José 311 is a service request system by the City of San Jose. The application allows you to submit, track and explore a variety of city service requests.

San José 311 Junk Pickup ReDesign

Background

What is SJ311? San José 311 is a service request system by the City of San Jose. The application allows you to submit, track and explore a variety of city service requests.

Currently, the SJ311 platform has 8 different service request categories: Abandoned Vehicles, Graffiti, Illegal Dumping, Pothole, Streetlight Outage, Illegal Fireworks, Community Wi-Fi, and Other Issues. With the City’s priority to highlight the needs of its residents, comes a cultural shift towards accountability in the quality of city service delivery.

The "Junk Pickup" subcategory service allows residents to request city employees to collect unwanted furniture, electronics, and other junk from a specified address.

The current junk pickup item selection interface presents several notable pain points in terms of the user interface and experience. The current interface encourages users to select from a list of suggested items, featuring numerical input steppers on the right side. If the user prefers not to choose from the suggested items, they can utilize a user input box for searching.

• Firstly, it overwhelms users with an excessive number of suggested item input steppers, leading to information overload and requiring excessive scrolling on mobile devices.

• If a user's desired item isn't on the provided list, it results in a cumbersome "N/A" designation, necessitating additional steps as the city must subsequently engage with the resident to identify the item—a clear hassle in the user journey.

• Once a user adds an item to their "shopping cart," there is a lack of a visual indicator confirming that the action was successful, causing potential confusion in the interaction. Addressing these issues was imperative for a more streamlined and user-friendly interface.

My role on this project was to ideate and implement an improved UI interface that was both more appealing and intuitive for residents to use while filling out this junk pickup request.

Using the mobile-first design approach, I prioritized building solutions for mobile devices first, then adjusting for desktop usage. Since mobile devices generate most website traffic, I wanted to provide the best user experience for this massive audience segment.

I first went about eliminating the item selection input entirely, and instead ideated a user input box UI element. The thought process behind this decision was simple; Residents use this service request with the items they need removed already in mind, negating the need for a suggested items list. One of the few advantages of the input steppers is the coincidental possibility that their item happens to be among the first two items listed.

I decided to take the chance and get rid of it.

In an effort to enhance the user experience and improve the SJ311 Junk Pickup Interface, a comprehensive preference and usability testing study was conducted. The study aimed to gather valuable insights from 20 participants, divided into two buckets: 10 participants interacted with the current interface (Bucket 1), while the other 10 engaged with the proposed design (Bucket 2). After providing feedback for the first bucket, participants reviewed the other bucket. The testing process included a prototype demonstration, user feedback collection through a Zoom interview, and a thorough analysis of the gathered data.


Methodology:

• Participants: A total of 20 individuals internally participated, split evenly between the two buckets.

• Prototype Demonstration: Participants were shown both the current interface and the proposed redesign through interactive prototypes presented via Zoom screen share from the participants end.

• Feedback Collection: Zoom screen share was utilized to gather feedback on the user experience, with participants providing insights into their expectations, concerns, insecurities, and navigation issues.

• Data Analysis: Collected feedback was funneled into Excel to facilitate a comprehensive analysis of participant responses.

Findings:

• Identification of Problems: The testing identified several issues with the current interface, highlighting the need for improvement.

• Suggested Design Improvements: Participants were asked for their thoughts on the proposed redesign, and their feedback was used to refine the new design.

  • Information overload with input steppers for current interface

  • “Other” items not intuitive; a hassle to list an item that is not already available.

• Inclusivity: Concerns were raised regarding the inclusivity of the design, emphasizing the importance of accommodating various types and sizes of junk items.

• User-generated Item Descriptions: Participants were prompted to describe items not found in the system, including dimensions and weight, addressing a gap in the current interface.

• Error Handling: Questions arose about how the current interface handles typographical errors when users input items, such as whether it offers autocorrection.

Key Takeaways

The preference and usability testing yielded critical insights into the current and proposed SJ311 Junk Pickup Interfaces. Participants' feedback has been invaluable in refining the proposed design to ensure a more user-friendly and inclusive experience. 90% of participants preferred the proposed Junk Pickup interface.