mix and shoot
I was given the opportunity to design a mobile scheduling and communication application for a company called Mix and Shoot. Mix and Shoot is a beverage service caterer that contracts bartenders and servers for events like weddings and concerts. I’ve also bartended for Evan Davis, the owner of Mix and Shoot for over three years. Cheers!
employee prototype
admin prototype
Employees can easily view their schedules by tabbing through their day, week and monthly calendars
Shift trading is simple and done directly through the calendars. Employees get clear visibility into who is working that day.
roles
UX Researcher, UXI Designer, Bartender ツ
problem
Evan exclusively uses Slack to communicate with his employees. That includes scheduling information. This process leaves much to be desired. Employees need visibility into what events are happening, an easy way to handle scheduling, and a way to talk amongst each other. Evan just needs a way to manage that.
audience
‣ Bartenders & servers of Mix and Shoot
‣ Owner, Evan Davis
solution
A mobile application that provides the following features:
‣ Scheduling
‣ Chat and DM
‣ Shift Trade
‣ Event Viewing
‣ Admin features:
‣ Employee Management
‣ Event Management
‣ Shift Assignment
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Were interested in seeing team chat, direct messaging, shift trading, and the ability to request off of work
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Said they would like to know who is working each event
A look into age range of employees
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Said they would prefer a weekly calendar for scheduling. 20% said monthly. 30% wanted daily, weekly and monthly options. I went with a default weekly view with the options to view by Day or Month
In order to move off of Slack, it is clear that employees want Chat and Direct Messaging options. Additionally, shift trading and requests off are also must haves for this solution. I also included a view into who is working each event as 90% of respondents said they would like to see this feature.
Justin Taylor
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30 . Father . Weekend Warrior
NEEDS
- visibility into events and open shifts
- easy way to browse his schedule
- form of communication with coworkers
WANTS
- ability to pick up coworkers shifts on the fly
- easier opportunities to give some of his shifts away
- concise and clear information into what events are happening within Mix and Shoot
Evan Davis
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38. Owner of Mix and Shoot. Retired Cop turned Mixologist.
NEEDS
- staff to be informed of when/where they need to be
- better communication of scheduling
- flexibility with events and staff
WANTS
- easy transition off Slack
- integrated admin view to manage events, employees and shift assignments
- clean and intuitive ui
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‣ As an employee I want to view all Mix and Shoot events so that I can see what is going on with the business
‣ As an employee I want to be able to trade my shifts so that I can have flexible scheduling
‣ As an employee I want to view my schedule so that I can see when I work
‣ As an employee I want to be able to modify my availability so that I don’t get assigned to shifts I can’t work
‣ As an administrator I want to be able to manage employees so that I can add or remove them as necessary
‣ As an administrator I want to be able to create or delete events so that I can assign them to employees
The idea for pay out became out of scope and not a direction the client wanted to commit to
Crazy 8's to ideate how the employee home page should look. I ended up going with the default weekly calendar.
Employee View
Employees can easily view their schedules by tabbing through their day, week and monthly calendars
Shift trading is simple and done directly through the calendars. Employees get clear visibility into who is working that day.
Employees can also view all events going on within the company, chat and DM, and modify their recurring availability. (request off not shown)
Admin View
Evan is always out and about doing business away from a desktop which is why I went with a pocket admin version for this project. Event creation can be done on the fly when he is out and about coordinating new events.
Employee management like adding/deleing/viewing all employees and their respective schedules is easy
Event and employee request management can be done in app. Shift assignments can be made on the fly
Admin Usability Tasks:
‣ Can you add a new employee into the system?
‣ Can you remove an employee from the system?
‣ There is an unassigned shift on Saturday, can you assign it to someone?
‣ You have a new contract for a wedding. Can you add it into the calendar?
‣ Can you send a reminder message to the entire team?
‣ Can you delete an event you have previously created?
‣ You have 2 new requests from employees for time off. Can you approve them?
Employee Usability Tasks:
‣ Can you find your schedule for the week?
‣ Try to give away your Wednesday the 1st shift
‣ Can you find where to indicate which days you can work?
‣ Can you find a list of all events?
‣ Can you start a direct message with a coworker?
‣ Can you try to ask off for a few days in August?
This app was a lot of fun to make and I think it has potential to really improve employee morale around the business. When employees are in the loop and can easily find their schedules, it takes the stress off of them. For Evan, this will greatly impact how he spends his time improving his business. With less time spent fighting scheduling issues, he can focus on new contracts and event planning. For the future, I would like to consider the scale of Mix and Shoot. As the company grows, there is potential for multiple admin users and a much larger roster of employees. I would also like to add a feature to modify events after they have been created.
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