Transforming Goettl’s outdated desktop tool into a seamless dual-experience mobile app—empowering employees with an optimized platform on the go.

I owned the full end-to-end research and design of the 8-week Daily Strategic Compass initiative as the Lead Product Designer representing Oxy, a design agency. A 0-to-1 design, I replaced an aging, obsolete desktop interface with a powerful mobile app that enables technicians the ability to track their performance and field managers to oversee their teams.

I uncovered staff needs, designed intuitive mobile-first workflows from the ground up to replace legacy desktop processes, and delivered an MVP that streamlined task management, performance tracking, and team oversight.

Before

Technician Experience

Background

Goettl is a regional HVAC company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Established in 1939, it specializes in providing a full range of services for AC and heating equipment, including repair, maintenance, and diagnostics.

The company has over 900 field managers and technicians working in branches dispersed around the West Coast and South Central regions of the United States.

With its large base of skilled trade workers, Goettl relies heavily on the reliability and performance of its field staff in order to sustain growth.

However, like many companies in this industry, Goettl was still relying on antiquated software and platforms, and did not have dedicated in-house IT professionals to introduce digital improvements.

My design agency, Oxy, was contracted to address these issues. The Agile team consisted of the following:

Project Structure

This 2-month initiative focused on developing a mobile-first MVP for Goettl’s field technicians and managers—a solution built from the ground up with no existing mobile reference.

With limited knowledge of Goettl’s staff workflows or key data needs, my research centered on interviews, surveys, and comparative analyses of sales and metrics-driven mobile applications.

The project was highly collaborative and iterative. Research insights were quickly shared in Agile working sessions, while wireframes underwent rapid cycles of ideation, critique, and finalization to ensure an effective design.

User Research

Goal

Understand and discover the main tasks that techs and managers need to complete, what types of info they rely on, and any challenges they currently face

Given the relatively short timeline, I immediately set to work on uncovering the needs of our users.

Research

Gathering qualitative insights into the needs of Goettl’s field employees

A considerable hurdle I had to overcome was the fact that I was not given access to Goettl’s desktop interface. Due to company policies, our team was not permitted to view or use the tool. Therefore, I had to build a foundation of user requirements for the mobile app from the ground-up.

Goettl’s field-based work environment meant limited direct access to users. To maximize our interactions, I curated a survey to uncover their needs, goals, and pain points.

With the help of my Product Manager, Steven, who served as our primary liaison with Goettl, we recruited 6 technicians and 5 field managers to participate in our research study.

After collecting this information, I performed an affinity map exercise to funnel the wide-ranging responses from my users into digestible themes.

I synthesized the results from the surveys and interviews and discovered the following insights from Goettl’s field techs and managers.

Additionally, our users responded that the most important metrics they used on a day-to-day basis were:

• T/O Rate

• MFO Rate

• DFO Rate

• 2D Usage

• Compliance Rate

Analyzing the industry landscape for design inspiration

To conceptualize the information architecture and visual design of Goettl’s mobile app, I needed a strong reference point. Given Goettl’s needs, I identified a natural alignment with sales-oriented apps and CRMs.

I researched platforms like HighSpot, Outreach, and Salesforce, analyzing typography, visual cues, and layout patterns to inform my design approach.

Through comparative analysis, I identified key trends in information display, accessibility, and breakdown. These insights shaped the following information architecture and design decisions:

• Home dashboard with a metrics overview

• Filters to toggle between macro and micro data views

• Gamification elements to boost motivation and rankings

• Notifications & reminders for key updates

• Visual performance indicators to track progress

Throughout this process, my Product Manager Steven and Creative Director Anthony were in lockstep with the information I had synthesized. After a quick discussion, I informed them I was ready to begin creating design concepts.

Design

Constructing user flows to conceptualize potential designs

To structure my approach, I began by creating user flows to define UI behavior and essential functionalities.

With no access to the previous desktop DSC, I relied on insights from technicians and managers to map out key workflows. For the MVP, our team collaborated with Goettl to prioritize two critical flows: Manager Feedback and Technician Call Review.

Tech User Flows

• Reviewing previous calls

• Viewing performance data

Sketching & performing quick concept value tests

The user flows I created were carefully vetted and reviewed by Steven and Anthony. After securing their greenlight, I moved quickly to start putting pen to paper.

To determine which design best resonated with Goettl’s field employees, I conducted concept value testing using two low-fidelity wireframe prototypes.

• Model A – A grid-style layout, prioritizing simplicity.

• Model B – A visually driven approach inspired by comparative analyses, incorporating metrics and gamification elements.

This test helped assess which design direction aligned best with user needs.

Technician Experience Redesigns

I collaborated with Steven to share the initial landing page wireframes with 4 technicians and 5 managers.

The response was clear—employees overwhelmingly favored Model B over Model A.

Using Model B as my foundation, I began wireframing the Home Page Experience for both technicians and managers. My approach focused on establishing a strong starting point for each user type before developing their specific workflows.

Next, I designed screens for role-specific tasks essential to technicians and managers. For the MVP, we prioritized two key workflows: Call Review for Technicians and Feedback Issuance for Managers.

For techs, to enhance motivation and engagement, I integrated technician feedback by designing a review sequence that prompts them to reflect on their client calls.

Throughout the design phase, I collaborated closely with Steven, Anthony, and the Agile team, incorporating their insights while maintaining an efficient two-week turnaround.

With the Home Page Experience and user-specific task flows completed, the team approved the designs and proceeded with usability testing.

At this stage, we encountered a predictable yet challenging obstacle.

Usability testing

Lack of available Goettl employees for dedicated testing

At this stage, we had hoped to recruit a pool of technicians and managers for usability testing, similar to our research phase. However, after updating Goettl on our progress, it became clear that a comprehensive usability test wasn’t feasible on their end.

With time constraints limiting our options, we couldn’t afford to wait for participants. Anticipating this challenge, I proposed a modified guerilla testing approach as a scrappy yet effective workaround:

Modified Guerilla Testing (1 week)

Objective

To evaluate the dual-experience mobile DSC prototype UI and its features.

Method

• Send out prototype to Goettl’s techs and managers in a mass communique requesting any available participants to use it

• Users will send back any critique or thoughts on a rolling basis via any communication channel, including messages, email, phone call, and video chat

Technician Tasks

• Complete the action of reviewing a Call.

  • How was your experience completing this task?

  • What are some things that can be improved?

• Now, find and where you would open your DSC dashboard. Sift through Goals, Home, Messages, and Notifications.

  • What do you see here?

  • What is your opinion of the information laid out here?

  • What parts of this would you use most often?

• Locate where you would access your performance rankings against other techs.

  • How was your experience completing this task?

  • What are some things that can be improved?

• Find a way to view your performance metrics over the last month.

  • How was your experience completing this task?

  • What are some things that can be improved?

• What are your thoughts overall on this prototype?

  • What, if anything, is missing from this?

The Review Call flow proved to be a valuable tool for technicians, allowing them to easily reflect on past work. Usability feedback was minimal, affirming its effectiveness, with only a few refinements made to enhance clarity and usability.

Manager Experience Redesigns

Manager Experience

Additionally, Steven had been working with Goettl for months prior to the project launching and had general knowledge of user needs, so in the case of limited user responses, he would step in to provide feedback.

Gathering test results for actionable hi-fi redesigns

My guerilla testing yielded four participants—two technicians and two managers. Despite the small sample size, overall sentiment was positive, with users valuing the mobile-first approach and core functionalities.

However, feedback also revealed key usability challenges. Using these insights, I refined the prototype to enhance usability, ensuring the design evolved to meet real user needs.

Usability testing results for the technician designs surfaced fewer critical issues, indicating that the existing design largely met user needs. While feedback was lighter compared to the Manager Experience, I focused on refining key design elements and making small but meaningful improvements to enhance usability and efficiency.

Testing revealed that the Manager Home Page overemphasized qualitative feedback while underrepresenting key performance metrics like Warranty, Demand, and Maintenance. My initial design focused on manager-technician relationships, highlighting feedback and employee wellness insights, but usability testing showed that managers prioritized performance data over this approach.

Compared to the Technician Experience, the Manager Experience required significantly more redesigns, as testing uncovered greater opportunities for improvement. In response, I redesigned the Home Page to prioritize critical metrics while still allowing managers to provide feedback when needed.

In my initial design, I introduced a left-right swiping interaction for managers to review technician performance—left for corrective feedback, right for kudos—followed by a modal with management actions. However, usability testing revealed that managers found this interaction unintuitive and confusing. They also disliked swiping up to access the 'Create New Feedback' modal on the home page.

To improve usability, I redesigned the experience with a more structured workflow. Instead of swiping, managers now access a dedicated 'Feedback Log' in the bottom navigation, where technicians are clearly categorized by high and low performance. Within a technician’s profile, the swiping gesture was replaced with a Floating Action Button (FAB), opening an Action Sheet that consolidates all key management actions—including feedback, training scheduling, and call volume adjustments.

Prototype finalization & design overview

Technician Experience

Home Page

Reflections

Next steps

With the MVP successfully designed, the next steps focus on validating usability and preparing for client adoption:

Conduct a Comprehensive Usability Test

• Since initial testing was limited, a full-scale usability study of the high-fidelity prototype will ensure the design meets real-world technician and manager needs

• Gather feedback to refine interaction flows, performance tracking, and management tools before implementation

Prepare the MVP for Client Demo & Contract Negotiations

• Finalize the prototype for a formal presentation to Goettl stakeholders

• Highlight key improvements, efficiency gains, and business value to support contract discussions and secure buy-in

Establish Outcome Metrics for MVP Success

• To fully demonstrate the MVP’s impact over the legacy DSC desktop version, tracking key performance metrics (e.g., task efficiency, adoption rate, user satisfaction) is essential. Quantifying these improvements will provide valuable insights for future iterations, validate the effectiveness of the mobile solution, and help drive stakeholder confidence in long-term adoption

By focusing on comprehensive testing and strategic client alignment, these steps will ensure a seamless transition from prototype to implementation, setting the foundation for long-term success

Outcomes

With the redesigns implemented, I created an interactive prototype in preparation to work with our engineer Colin. I also shared the results with Anthony and Steven to prepare for next steps with Goettl.

MVP handoff preparation

Technician Needs:

• Performance tracking for key metrics.

• A service log to record reports of completed work.

• Stronger motivation and connection to their work.

• A way to compare performance with peers.

Design Solution:

A gamified dashboard that enables technicians to track performance metrics, manage service reports, and monitor goals in real time. Gamification elements keep them motivated in the field, fostering competition and continuous improvement.

Prototype Link

After completing my research and design work, my focus shifted towards preparing the MVP for our Goettl clients.

Our team is currently wholly focused with developing strategies for contract negotiations with Goettl, and to aid in this end, I led demo sessions to highlight the functionalities of the Technician and Manager Experience. Additionally, I ensured that my process was well-documented and organized to facilitate working sessions with Colin.

Prototype Demonstrations