Emlid · 2024

Traverse

Users already had the data. Traverse made them enter it again. Project points, distances and calculated values often already existed elsewhere in the workflow. Users had to transfer them manually before they could continue in Traverse.

iOS
Android
Desktop

Field illustration showing a surveyor calculating an inaccessible point from known points, direction and distance

Role

A coordinate-calculation tool in Emlid Flow for surveying and construction. I led the redesign end to end with the product and engineering team, from understanding field workflows and defining product direction to shaping the interaction model, in-app guidance, and the shipped experience.

Research

The requests pointed to one underlying problem. Users needed to reuse known data and calculations without breaking the current workflow.

Community forum

I would suggest being able to copy a direction calculated with Inverse and then use it in Traverse.

YouTube

I tried to copy the angle from Inverse, but it is not possible to paste it into Traverse... This would be really important, especially in work settings.

Decisions

Three changes followed from these findings.

Traverse workflow showing project-point selection and calculated direction — Reuse existing project dataLet users select project points directly as calculation inputs.

Existing comparison of Traverse input and calculation interfaces — Keep calculations connectedKeep measured and calculated values reusable inside the same workflow.

Tools entry and About Traverse guidance explaining a field scenario — Teach workflows, not controlsExplain Traverse through concrete field scenarios rather than only describing its controls.

Prototype

The first prototype hid feedback users needed to see. After selecting a point, the panel could collapse and hide the result. We added explicit feedback so the new value stayed visible.

Original Traverse panel with calculation fields below the map — Before

Revised prototype with a top instruction banner and calculation confirmation — After

Results

One interaction model now covered several field workflows. Users can reuse project data and connect related calculations inside one workflow, without switching to separate tools.