Impoved Mobile app Usability through Font Accessibility Compliance

OVERVIEW

The Global Field Mobility (GFM) team at Otis Elevator, the world’s largest elevator supplier, supports 42,000 field professionals through device and digital tools management - including multiple custom applications.

With this support, Otis’ Service business contributed $8.4 billion in net sales to the company’s 2023 revenue.

I was brought in to manage the UX design team during the overhaul of these mobile apps and served as lead researcher and UX designer from mid-2021 through the end of 2023.

An image of a launch screen for an app that shows an Otis mechanic looking at a phone. There are two buttons on the screen and the Otis logo.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Following Parts app rejection by the German Works Council and observed reading difficulties during Command app user acceptance testing (UAT), I led the design team in identifying the root cause, researched and tested solutions, and resolved the app readability issues by increasing accessibility compliance and removed the blocker to deployment.

ROLE

  • Senior Manager, User Experiences and Design Strategy

TEAM

  • 1 UX Designer & Researcher (me)

  • 1 UI Designer

  • Development Lead

  • 2 Project Managers (Parts app & Command app)

METHODS & TOOLS

  • Project & Resource Management

  • Research: Interviews, Behavioral Observations, Multivariate Testing, Desk Research

  • Tools: Figma, Figjam, Microsoft Outlook, Teams, & Forms

TIMELINE

  • 4 weeks (2 Design Sprints)

SPRINT 1

Scope: Research

Constraints:

  • No direct communication with German Works Council

  • Pressure from business to deploy in Germany

  • Pressure from Parts PM to “just make the font bigger”

SPRINT 2

Scope: Solution Definition & Testing

Constraints:

  • Different code bases between apps

  • Needed to future-proof solution if possible

  • Need to align with Brand

Process

I planned and conducted 6 remote interviews (with the Parts PM and 5 Command app users) and 2 in-person interviews (with Otis Field Engineers) to understand the font feedback from the German Works Council and specific readability issues field mechanics and engineers where experiencing.

The screen flow of how an iPhone user would update their font sizes

The German Works Council did not approve the Parts app because it did not respond to the device font size settings.

Text that reads "nunito sans, regular, 12 pt"

The original Global Field Apps app font was hard-coded to 12pt, a thin weight, and a medium-dark gray.

I researched mobile font best practices and mechanic demographics to support an evidence-based solution for the Global Field Mobile apps portfolio.

I referenced WCAG 2.0, HIG, Material, and multiple Medium articles for mobile font size best practices.

Globally, about 90% of elevator mechanics are male, with an average age of 45.

The Otis Brand Style guide, used by the original app designer, was not intended for mobile app use.

Presbyobia (age-related farsightedness) begins about age 40 and progresses until about age 65. Numbers vary some by population - 85% of Americans aged 45+ are affected while 40% of Japanese aged 40_

I tested the original gray font color contrast using WebAIM and the Stark Figma plugin, showing that the original color failed WCAG AA compliance for small fonts.

I also worked with the UI designer to create 3 screen variations for testing, with the current screen as the control:

  1. Larger only (as requested by the Parts PM)

  2. Heavier weight only

  3. Both larger and heavier weight font

To ensure buy-in and implementation alignment, I connected directly with Brand, the development team lead, and the project managers.

Successful Solution Requirements

  • alignment with Brand

  • ability to be implemented in Parts and Command apps before the end of Q4

  • Acceptance by the German Works Council (to achieve Parts app deployment)

Brand agreed with the proposed direction and requested that I join the Brand Font project as an SME for digital products.

The development team lead raised concerns about the variations in the code base and requested guidance documentation.

I supplied the PM with a single-page summary of the multivariate test results for presentation to the German Works Council, who approved the Parts app deployment contingent on the implementation of the solution.

I created two guidance documents to provide implementation standards and confirmed approvals with the development team lead.

I led a deep dive workshop with the development team lead, and the lead UI developers for the Parts app, Command app, and a third app that represented the remaining code base to discuss the current font implementations, device settings responsiveness, and the guidance they would each need.

Clipart of a woman at a table drinking from a mug while using a laptop for remote work

Results

a double table icon

The Command app team received a font table for guidance and completed the base font updates and device settings responsiveness implementation within the following two sprints.

a double check mark icon

The German Works Council approved the base font changes and proposed device settings responsiveness, allowing the team to deploy Parts by the end of Q4 as planned.

a map icon

I created roadmap for implementing the base font and device settings responsiveness changes into the remaining Global Field Mobility portfolio of apps.