Wilson Security - Kiosk App
Over the past 5 years Adapptor has collaborated with Wilson Security and Kombu to develop a number of digital assets for guard management and alarm response, and more recently, a kiosk app for guards signing into their shifts. Each product serves to improve the experience of Wilson Security employees and helps them to deliver a premium service to their clients.
The app was designed and developed to offer Wilson Security guards the ability to sign on and off their shifts from a kiosk on location. It is optimised for tablets but can also function on the desktop.
Wilson Security conceived of the kiosk app as a version of one of their fully featured native apps, adapted to an on-site setting. The key design requirements were clear: to be an efficient workflow, the app needed to offer a simple and secure sign on and sign off process, while providing all of the information necessary for them to understand their shift’s parameters.
The initial target was a native Android app, running on a tablet device. But it was soon recognised that there were a number of use cases–including testing, support and administration–that would benefit from being able to access the app on a range of devices. Accordingly, Wilson Security decided to pivot to a web app.
Craig Winley at Kombu designed the UX/UI to streamline the process for guards, and together with Adapptor collaborated with stakeholders to ensure that the app’s design would meet the business requirements. First time users are provided a workflow to enable subsequent logins to require less clicks. Once logged in, guards are then able to sign on to their next shift and see their upcoming shift.
The Requirements
The Solution
To implement the kiosk app, Adapptor chose a framework that is able to target the web alongside both native platforms, Android and iOS. The choice of framework enabled us to leverage our existing experience with Wilson Security’s digital assets, with a curated library of third-party packages and rapid development facilities. Additionally, it preserved the option to target Android or iOS in the future if necessary with a minimum of development.
The web app is a cloud-hosted service built and monitored by Adapptor. This is an overhead that comes with the web platform, but is a trade-off with the hassle of store submission required when targeting native platforms.
Testing
The Adapptor test team carried out comprehensive testing, with a focus on the various states that user shifts can be in. We worked with Wilson Security’s testers to set up a range of shift types for different users to exercise a variety of scenarios for guards. Most importantly, we worked to ensure that the sign on and sign off functions worked correctly in the context of a shared device and were reliable.
Once we had carried out sufficient internal testing, the kiosk app entered a pilot phase and was tested on a larger scale onsite. This allowed Wilson Security to collate real world feedback from guards on their experience using it. In response to this feedback Kombu updated the UI, and we rolled out a new and improved login flow, which has been well received by the Wilson Security stakeholders.
The Delivery
Adapptor has deployed the kiosk app to testing and production environments, and we continue to liaise with Wilson Security around issues they encounter, or updated requirements that arise from feedback. The app code, which includes the app implementation and release configuration, such as container definitions, is pushed to a shared repository. This enables Wilson Security visibility and serves as the start of a roadmap to self-management, as the app matures into the maintenance phase of its lifecycle.
When the app is updated and a new release is planned, we liaise with the Wilson Security team to ensure that deployment is carried out in an efficient and low-risk manner. Ensuring that we can roll back deployment to a previous version if an issue is spotted.