Cape reached out to me to help design and build a mobile solution to manage field operations in a single application.

Previously cape was having to navigate through numerous apps in the field as well as handle paperwork. This was non optimal given the time sink this was causing as well as the overhead causing the business.

During kickoff we began wireframing the app's architecture and outlining technical requirements. As we realized the scope and technical issues on the drone operator side, we decided to focus on getting customer management part of the app drafted first then setup navigation to support various operator roles later on.

During this initial phase we started with android in mind but as we worked with DJI to get there SDK integrated, we soon realized we needed to shift to iOS.

With these tech spikes underway on the drone operator side, we decided to shift focus to getting the customer management side design & built out first.

Few key areas this needed to handle was managing reservations on site, adding/managing customer records, dealing with new customer waivers, and taking payments remotely. In addition to building out these capabilities we needed to also support storing data created locally on each device given environmental constraints. A feat that was not easy especially on waiver and payment management side.

During this process I worked closely with internal employees and those in the field to define the various pain points needing to address in this MVP.

With the customer management side of the app underway we then began building out the interface to manage drones flying in the field. One of the key principles we focused on for this part of the app was automation. How can we set things up to quickly be executed onsite with almost no work needed. As a result we built a way that admins can create "rails" that drone operators can execute a drone to fly through with minimal control. Also for the drone operator side we built a way for the operator to quickly go through a checklist and execute commands to easily manage there tasks.

As we started testing out the software in the field and getting the right in person experience down, we soon realized a key piece wanting to add was the ability to manage a handheld camera that can communicate with the customer management tool. Reason needing to pull customer management data was primarily to support mapping the recordings to the customer in the videos.

During this exploration phase we tried a few different cameras. The first being a GoPro that paired with the app via bluetooth. The second camera we tried was the DJI Osmo, which included gimble support and easier pairing with our app. The moment we paired the DJI Osmo we knew we had a winner.

During this several month process we got to a pretty solid MVP that has been stress tested in rough enviroments and unique customer senarios. Once the issues came to a minimum we shifted our sights on getting to a stable production build. I helped Cape at this point get a private app deployment enviroment in place as well as QA process in to make sure we can release stable tested builds out.

After we shipped v1 of the app to all Cape locations, we continued to develop new features to enhance the experience. This being things like Facebook Live stream support, Drone Camera Enhancements, and stability fixes for the various integrations.