Role

Product Designer

Team

FrontEnd Developer,
Product manager,

Project manager

Tools

Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Invision, Zeplin

Timeline

8 months until today

2020-2021

Overview

Every year, the IDF holds training days to locate soldiers who are suitable to serve in the elite units. Each unit has a team of examiners whose job is to examine the soldiers in physical and mental missions and to locate the most successful soldiers. The process is done manually, using a notebook and pen. The process is complex and complicated and requires an in-depth analysis of the grades and comments written by the examiners. As part of streamlining the process, the IDF is moving from notebook to the phone screen.

Problems and challenges

Multiple data sheets - the formation is divided into teams of 25-30 soldiers, in each team 3-4 examiners whose job is to examine the behavior of the soldiers and their performance in the various missions. Each examiner maintains a notebook in which he writes notes, scores and ratings.
Multiplicity of operations - the exercises are physical, performed in the field, timed, day and night, accompanied by measuring aids, and require the attention of many soldiers. It is difficult to follow and at the same time write in the notebook.
The process of data analysis is very complex, since everything is done manually it is difficult to draw conclusions and summarize the data.
A digital tool is needed, easy to operate, available, and synchronized for all examiners so that data and estimates will arrive in real time, and that the data analysis will be performed automatically.

Solution

Creating an app that will be used by the examiners as the only tool in the formations.
Managing several processes simultaneously, for example: writing notes during an assignment, monitoring the formation schedule, status of soldiers at any given moment, and creating communication in times of distress with all teams.
The application should be easy to operate at the level of the user experience under special conditions: running, traffic, day / night, and outside.

Quantitative rating

After the examiner writes a comment, by clicking on the hashtag icon (#) he moves to the quantitative rating screen where he scales various values according to the IDF spirit. By marking the checkbox he can select the values relevant to that note.

Scenario of station evaluation and summary

The following scenario describes an action usually performed by two different examiners: the first examiner measures the arrival arrangements at the station, and the second examiner writes comments about the soldiers as part of their behavior at the station. At the end of the scenario, the station’s summary and the ranking of the soldiers at the current station are described.

Formation notebook screen

On the screen of the notebook there are all the stations of the formation, arranged in advance according to the schedule that the commander of the formation forms. By clicking on the station tab the tester will move to the station screen.

Station menu

Apart from the tab bar that serves as the app menu, there is another menu - the station menu.
Because the tester uses the station menu only once at most during the station, I chose to display it as a drawer that opens by clicking on the appropriate icon in the header. I didn’t want to waste valuable space on the station screen and avoid unnecessary “visual noises”.

Quick editing on the go

Editing the soldier’s record in the order-of-arrival table is a very important function in the scenario. This is because the soldiers’ registration is done while the stopwatch is running and there may be errors in entering the soldier’s number. Therefore, it was necessary to solve the act of editing the soldier’s number or switching between the positions of two soldiers in a quick and simple way that would happen while the station continued to operate.

Soldier editing

Replacing a soldier with a soldier

Notes

In this area of the station, the examiner is impressed by the different behaviors of the soldiers during the station and documents them. Here, the examiner will select the soldier or soldiers relevant to the comment. Another option is the “general” button that can be used to write a general and non-specific comment.

Station Summary Screen

This screen displays a dashboard of the soldier’s performance at the station. With the help of the buttons above the examiner could choose a particular soldier or a summary of all the soldiers at the station. At the end of the summary, the examiner ranks the soldier by his performance. At the end of the formation, the app summarizes all the ratings in all the stations and gives a broad picture regarding the soldier’s suitability for the unit.