By Amanda Djäknegren
The Aptus key system is a very popular way for landlords to manage access to apartments complexes and other buildings. The tenant is given a physical key, but can also access doors, book laundry and other amenities via the Aptus portal, which can be accessed via an app or website. While the product features are very appreciated, the user interface can be frustrating to use – especially when the user has access to many doors, rooms, or laundry machines. Therefore, a case study was conducted to improve the user interface and create a better experience for the user.
Analysis of the old app
The main issue with this app is that there is no way of getting an overview of the availability of all, or a select few, of the laundry rooms. Instead, if you want to wash your clothes on Saturday, you need to check each laundry room individually to see if there are any times available. The start screen in the old app is scaled back, and for the bookings page, key information such as which laundry room is booked is hidden behind the “more info” button. When booking a new timeslot, the user is first required to choose which laundry room they want to use from a list. A grid with the coming dates indicate if there are any timeslots available during a particular day, but the user has to choose which date they want before seeing which timeslots are actually available for that date. If there are no time slots available, the user has to start over the process.
Key issues to improve:
- Scaled back interface
- Key information about bookings hidden
- No overview of availability of laundry rooms
- Many steps to view availability of laundry room
- No overview of availability of laundry rooms
Redesign of the app
The login screen has the outline of the Aptus key, and a washing machine showing through it, connecting with the brand identity and illustrating what the key can access. Once logged in, the user can see information about their current and past bookings, including which laundry room, pool or room they’ve booked, as well as its location. New timeslots for laundry or other amenities can be booked using the + button placed low on the screen for better reachability. When booking set timeslots, such as those of washing machines, the user is shown a calendar with the current date pre-selected, allowing them to specify date before choosing laundry machine. This provides a better overview of the availability of machines. Filtering options are available to choose building and specific washing machine. By showing one date at a time, the screen is able to fit more available washing machines.
Doors and gates can be easily accessed an through the “Unlock door” tab. The user can set which doors and gates are their favourites which then can be accessed at the top of the list. Both the Unlock door and the bookings tab have the items placed in the middle of the screen to improve reachability. Further items can be viewed by scrolling.
