ADVENTURES IN THE FIELD

Guns, car chases and usability testing, deep in the heart of Texas

“Do you like crawfish?” he asked as I step inside the tow truck that was picking me up from the Dallas Airport. He is the owner of a startup / towing company that I’m designing an interface for. I am the product designer doing the UX research, design, and usability testing of the prototype…and I don’t know what I just got myself into.

The project was based around a new tool that would reduce tasks that used to take an hour down to 5 minutes. The interface we were testing was a tablet application that the driver would have to be able to easily see & reference under a variety of conditions. Little did I know, my host (let’s call him Boss Hogg) would take me on the wildest usability test you’ve never heard of.

SERVICES

• UX Research
• Competitive Analysis
• Wireframes
• UI Design
• Prototype
• Design System

THE MEET-UP

First things first, and especially since I’d never had the pleasure before, Boss Hogg and I stopped to eat what I recall to be a mountain of crawfish. I cracked as many open as I could handle and we were off to meet the rest of the tow crew and lay out the game plan for the night. The meetup was in a dark empty lot on the southern outskirts of town with the Dallas skyline in the distance. It was one of those “meet out in front of your trucks with the headlights shining through the fog” type meetings that really makes you wonder how you got yourself into this situation.

We hopped in the trucks and began the hunt for the bandits who illegally parked. By the way, these aren’t just any trucks. I had a perception that tow trucks were slower workhorse-type trucks before learning about the industry. Not these bad boys. These were nimble Nascar-like V8 racing trucks with tow equipment on the back. They could sneak up & grab a car and be miles down the road in no time flat.

I must say, it was kind of exciting after a few quick parking violation snatches. Boss Hogg had some seriously skilled precision, backing into awkwardly tight spaces, grabbing a car, and hauling it out of there like a speed demon from hell.

THE HONEY-HOLE

About 1:30 am, Boss Hogg decides to check out one of his favorite “Honey Holes.” Sure enough, there’s a number of violators illegally parked in a grass lot across from some shady apartments. Boss Hogg calls in the crew to pick off as many as possible. The first two grab cars and speed out of there. Boss Hogg does a Fast & Furious reverse move into the lot, grabs a car, and kicks the truck in high gear…but we’re spinning in the mud and there are some not-so-happy figures running out of the apartments. As we finally get traction and hit the pavement, some guy jumps into the middle of the road from out of nowhere and points his gun in the air. Boss Hogg swerves left around him and the guy slams his gun against my passenger window as we pass by. That reminds me, I need to make a note to consider gun-wielding maniacs as a distraction in the next usability test.

We hit the main road and Boss Hogg floors the gas pedal. We’re twisting and turning at a good 70mph down a winding multi-lane avenue with a car in tow that is fish-tailing around corners with us. As we finally make it to a safe lot, Boss Hogg drops the car and we move on to the next perpetrator.

THE CAR CHASE

Next up (2:30am), another honey hole except this time its in front of a balcony full of people partying. Boss Hogg doesn’t care about you! He’s going to get your car no matter what and you can watch! The tow crew each grab a car and we take off, except this time 6 partying bandits all come down from an apartment, hop in an old Ford Explorer and chase us!

So we’re all speeding down the road like some underground illegal car race club. There’s two tow trucks in front of us with cars attached. Boss Hog and I are in third position and an old Ford Explorer full of some mad dudes with guns hanging out the window are in last place. Boss Hogg calls in a team audible on the walkie Talkie, the two tow trucks in front of us pull a hard right down a back road. Boss Hogg and I slide into the intersection and stop in front of the road to block the Explorer’s path. The Explorer passes us by and does a quick U-turn across multiple lanes of traffic and is heading back our way.

I AM THE LAW!

“Do you think we need to call the police?” I ask Boss Hogg. “The law?” He says, as he pulls out his shiny chrome .45 and points it to the sky. “I AM THE LAW!” So Boss Hogg has his gun out, 6 guys in an Explorer are headed back our way with their guns out and I’m wondering if I should barrel role out of this truck or test the bullet-proofness of an iPad.

Here I am, trying to observe, ask questions and test the tablet UI while I keep finding myself in these COPS level situations. W.T.F. Luckily, Boss Hogg decides to peel out of there at the last second and live to tow another day. The Explorer gives up the chase and we make it back to the impound lot with our bounty and no bullet holes. It’s as close as I’ve ever come to playing Grand Theft Auto in real life.

Boss Hogg finally drops me off at my AirBnb so I can get a couple of hours sleep before he picks me up the next morning at 8 am for a whole other adventure, deep in the heart of Texas.

CONCLUSION

The moral of this UX story is to be ready and open for anything. It’s always fascinating to discover patterns you never thought about or considered before conducting a usability test. Hopefully what you discover doesn’t also happen to be hazardous to your health!

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