FordPass App- New App Screenshots

[macchiaz-o]

Alright, so I worked on it some more today with assistance from @macchiaz-o . There is a new link for the app, feel free to click around. Here is the first screen you'll see when opening the app.

Please keep the feedback coming.

Looks nice! I'd push for a lot more changes, which I'll detail here, but these are all just my opinion versus yours so it's kinda ??‍ at this point.

Personally, I'd still push for further simplification of this screen. More whitespace around the buttons, less details.

The "BT-Logo Bluetooth Connected (i)" could be replaced with just a digital key icon indicator (e.g. just the Bluetooth logo and a small key, with various colors/states to represent connectivity states).

If I want to see more details, I'm okay with digging a step deeper into the app. So I'd drop the labels under the row of buttons that includes windows up/down. I can tell their purpose from their icons.

I'd drop the 77%, the words Charge level, the odometer, and the last updated (especially when last updated is within the last few minutes).

I'd also drop the View Chargers option (it should be in the map tab already). I'd even remove the distance to empty... It's an extra detail that adds to my anxiety whereas the 5-segment battery chart is more than enough for my "first glance" of status plus DTE is a super rough estimation.

I'd also remove roadside assistance since it would already be in the Guidance/Assistance tab (the second tab). And I'd get rid of the top row of tabs. The icons along the bottom are the main tabs. Having the row of sub-tabs at the top makes it look crowded and confusing to me. I can get to charging info by touching the charging status indicator.

You and I discussed this privately, but I think you prefer more tabs and no scrolling, while I would prefer just the three or four main "tabs" shown at the bottom.

I want to see only the most important and most frequently accessed functions up top, and then I'd scroll to see lesser needed items. Those items can be categorized and put into titled sub-headers like Charging, Maintenance Records, and so on. Each of those areas can be kept brief and have options that jump into more detailed screens when appropriate.

 

[Deleted member 3663]

The "BT-Logo Bluetooth Connected (i)" could be replaced with just a digital key icon indicator (e.g. just the Bluetooth logo and a small key, with various colors/states to represent connectivity states).

If I want to see more details, I'm okay with digging a step deeper into the app. So I'd drop the labels under the row of buttons that includes windows up/down. I can tell their purpose from their icons.

I'd drop the 77%, the words Charge level, the odometer, and the last updated (especially when last updated is within the last few minutes).

I'd also drop the View Chargers option (it should be in the map tab already). I'd even remove the distance to empty... It's an extra detail that adds to my anxiety whereas the 5-segment battery chart is more than enough for my "first glance" of status plus DTE is a super rough estimation.

I'd also remove roadside assistance since it would already be in the Guidance/Assistance tab (the second tab). And I'd get rid of the top row of tabs. The icons along the bottom are the main tabs. Having the row of sub-tabs at the top makes it look crowded and confusing to me. I can get to charging info by touching the charging status indicator.

You and I discussed this privately, but I think you prefer more tabs and no scrolling, while I would prefer just the three or four main "tabs" shown at the bottom.

I want to see only the most important and most frequently accessed functions up top, and then I'd scroll to see lesser needed items. Those items can be categorized and put into titled sub-headers like Charging, Maintenance Records, and so on. Each of those areas can be kept brief and have options that jump into more detailed screens when appropriate.

For the buttons & removing words, yeah I agree, I just didn't have any buttons to replace them. Same for bluetooth. I'll look into that. . That whole portion is a screenshot, so I'll need to get or make icons for it.

I'll drop the view chargers.

For the distance to empty and percent charge, I'd be ok with dropping them too, but it just looks weird having nothing there but a 5-seg battery icon (I'll send you a screenshot).

If I drop the tabs on this screen, there needs to be a way to get to all the different sections that Ford currently has under charging (Manage charging, Charging Network, Charge Times, Charge Logs). Any suggestions? In the current app, Ford has pseudo tab sections if you scroll down and for me, it is a cluster**f because not only do you have to scroll down, but you have to scroll right to get to some, and then when you do, it is confusing about where you actually are.

Hey, thanks for all the time you have spending with me on this!

 

[macchiaz-o]

For the distance to empty and percent charge, I'd be ok with dropping them too, but it just looks weird having nothing there but a 5-seg battery icon

Yeah I'm sure it'll look incomplete and too empty... But I think that's a good place to start from. I'm not a UI designer or anything like that, but I would imagine that the good ones start by drawing out various pieces and parts on different materials and then sliding them around on a table or whiteboard to get through that ideation process. It's a lot easier to start from a space that's mostly empty rather than one that's over crowded.

Check out how empty these Nest and ecobee home screens are, yet there's quite a few functions hidden away in these apps. I like these designs. They feel approachable and usable.

Hey, thanks for all the time you have spending with me on this!

This was fun, but I can't keep at it much longer. The backlog in my other life is weighing heavily right now.

 

[Deleted member 3663]

I'd agree that's where style comes in, and it's hard to please everyone. For instance, I use SmartThings, and the complexity I have built into my house, Nest wouldn't work... 12 window sensors, 4 door sensors, 3 connected door locks, multiple motion sensors, glass break, cams, all appliances connected, multiple connected power outlets, 10+ connected switches, and tons of connected light bulbs, plus my thermostat... and I'm sure I'm forgetting some other connected stuff. I have custom code written for many things, which SmartThings supports... so something like Nest would never work for me. So an app is always a fine line about having too much and too little.

But I think we are getting closer to a good landing page on the Ford app... I actually was thinking I might have a better work around for the tabs, so I'll play with that at some point.

And dang, it's 110??

 

[macchiaz-o]

I'd agree that's where style comes in, and it's hard to please everyone. For instance, I use SmartThings, and the complexity I have built into my house, Nest wouldn't work... 12 window sensors, 4 door sensors, 3 connected door locks, multiple motion sensors, glass break, cams, all appliances connected, multiple connected power outlets, 10+ connected switches, and tons of connected light bulbs, plus my thermostat... and I'm sure I'm forgetting some other connected stuff. I have custom code written for many things, which SmartThings supports... so something like Nest would never work for me. So an app is always a fine line about having too much and too little.

But I think we are getting closer to a good landing page on the Ford app... I actually was thinking I might have a better work around for the tabs, so I'll play with that at some point.

And dang, it's 110??

The Google Home app is I think where Google wants users to go to manage a whole suite of "smart" devices. I don't love it. It looks really busy, especially as more and more devices are added. But, it does categorize them by room and you scroll up/down to switch from room to room. Similar to your mock up, there is a title at the top of the page to switch between homes.

I also have the Wyze and Hedge apps. I think those ones do the layout better. They're less cluttered and organized by type of sensor instead of by room. (cameras, contact sensors, water & leak sensors, motion sensors, etc.)


Yeah about that heat... As the humidity is starting to pick up a little bit, it feels even hotter, unfortunately. We had 50+ mph wind and dust gusting through last night for maybe 20 minutes or so. Not much moister, just enough to sandblast anything parked outside like some post apocalyptic scene from Mad Max. Terrible for allergies.

I need to trim some trees away from the house but I'm dreading being outside.

 

[macchiaz-o]

dust gusting through

2nd night in a row... Check out this Mustang wallpaper tho!

 

[Mirak]

You can free up some space by dropping the redundant Lock and Unlock icons. Use one button for both functions, and change the icon based on the lock status.

I also think “My Vehicle” is a weird name for what is a home screen. I’d probably get rid of the tabs of top and reintroduce the row of icons at the bottom: a house for the home page, a lighting bolt for the charging stuff, a gear for settings, etc. The top level tabs just look too wordy.

 

[Astraea]

You can free up some space by dropping the redundant Lock and Unlock icons. Use one button for both functions, and change the icon based on the lock status.

I also think “My Vehicle” is a weird name for what is a home screen. I’d probably get rid of the tabs of top and reintroduce the row of icons at the bottom: a house for the home page, a lighting bolt for the charging stuff, a gear for settings, etc. The top level tabs just look too wordy.

I disagree about the lock and unlock icons being merged. I'd rather be able to make sure it's actually locked by using the lock icon than just taking the apps word for it that it locked.
I do think there is far to much information being showed for charge level. A simple battery percentage is perfect. Gives an accurate reading so as to not wonder if the battery segment is at the high or low end of each bar. I do however really like seeing the car on the landing page of the app. It's fine and dandy to have the name or nickname of the car there but seeing it and maybe putting the battery percentage right next to it would be a great visual. No need to have more than a glance to see its on the correct vehicle and exactly what's left in the "tank". I think then with the picture of the car there you could double it as the start button. Press and hold the vehicle image and lock and unlock at either corner of the bottom of the cars image. I'm terrible at explaining so I took a screen shot and did some shit drawings to kinda show what I mean.

 

[Mirak]

I disagree about the lock and unlock icons being merged. I'd rather be able to make sure it's actually locked by using the lock icon than just taking the apps word for it that it locked.

You’re taking the app’s word for it regardless, right? I mean, you’re either near the car to see it lock, or you’re not. If you are relying on the app, you are relying on the app, regardless of whether there is one icon or two.

 

[macchiaz-o]

You’re taking the app’s word for it regardless, right? I mean, you’re either near the car to see it lock, or you’re not. If you are relying on the app, you are relying on the app, regardless of whether there is one icon or two.

I like the separate lock and unlock actions, too. I want the vehicle locked, or I want it unlocked.

If the lock and unlock buttons were combined into a single button, now there is user confusion about what it means. Does the open padlock mean the vehicle IS unlocked, or that the button DOES the unlock? This alone is a great reason to keep them separate.

It would be nice for FordPass to display the current lock state if they are able to determine it with high enough confidence and timeliness (and display with great clarity), but that to me is a separate thing from my desire to lock or unlock the vehicle.

Also, vehicles have several locks and allow for mixed states, e.g. only the driver door is unlocked. The current FordPass action doesn't distinguish individual locks, so this may be the other (less significant IMO) reason for not indicating current lock status.

 

[Deleted member 3663]

The lock and unlock buttons and the window down and window up buttons are NON-STANDARD, A user has no clue as to whether the car is locked or not, or whether the car's windows are down or not. If Ford were consistent, they should have a button to start the car and right next to it a button to stop the car. But they don't. When you start the car, the START button changes to a STOP button.

I combined the lock/unlock, and the window down/up, adding visual cues, just like the START button. This makes the buttons consistent and all STANDARD. Go to the interactive mock-up and click on those buttons to see how it works.

Here are some screenshots.

 

[Deleted member 3663]

You can free up some space by dropping the redundant Lock and Unlock icons. Use one button for both functions, and change the icon based on the lock status.

Done! And it works beautifully, while freeing up more space

 

[agoldman]

This just highlights the lack of creative thinking of the Ford people tasked with the app.

 

[Deleted member 3663]

I also think “My Vehicle” is a weird name for what is a home screen. I’d probably get rid of the tabs of top and reintroduce the row of icons at the bottom: a house for the home page, a lighting bolt for the charging stuff, a gear for settings, etc. The top level tabs just look too wordy.

We've been going around on that, and I'm trying to figure out a way to remove those, but make it easy to find stuff. Keep in mind, there are other users besides Mach-E users, and it has to work for all Ford cars that are connected (and not connected anymore like my 2015 truck). When I think about my vehicle (specifically, Mach-E), I want the first thing to show is the controls for the car. If I need the user manual, or some other things, those fit nicely into a glove box, and if I were in my car, I'd probably reach for it. Charging is specific to EVs and hybrids, but is also part of something you'd expect to be part of a the vehicle section. If the tabs are removed, then a user would need to search for that stuff, where the tabs (as ugly as they are and no disagreement there) makes it easy to find.

So I'm still trying to find a solution to remove the tabs but keep the functionality (easy to find stuff).

 

[Mirak]

This just highlights the lack of creative thinking of the Ford people tasked with the app.

Not meant as a put down to Ford, but @maxmach ‘s interface looks better and seems more intuitive, and he did it in a couple of days. I’m impressed.

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