Propeller Computing Inc
6 weeks
A Fresh Look at Ski Patrol Rostering
The developer had already built a working application informed by feedback from users of the previous site. I was excited to explore it from a UX perspective—reviewing how people moved through tasks, how information was presented, and where interactions could be clearer. I documented my observations and recommendations in a shared Google Sheet, using Figma to make proposed changes easier to discuss.
Overview
About the Application
A rostering application for Lake Louise’s volunteer ski patrol, helping members view schedules, sign up for shifts, and communicate availability. It supports different responsibilities across trainees, patrollers, hill leaders, and administrators, from managing personal shifts to coordinating coverage.
My Role
I partnered directly with the developer to review and refine an application he had already built using Claude Code, informed by feedback from users of the previous site. I was excited to bring a fresh UX/UI perspective to a tool built for a community I care about. My work included auditing workflows and permissions, documenting usability issues, and creating revised designs in Figma.
Current Status
The application is currently being tested. My work focused on clearer workflows, a more consistent interface, and mobile usability. User feedback will help establish how well these changes support everyday rostering tasks and where further refinement is needed.
UX Audit
Reviewing the Experience with Fresh Eyes
I worked through the application using different member and administrator roles, reviewing tasks such as joining shifts, managing rosters, updating profiles, and publishing news. Alongside usability, I checked whether each role could access the actions it needed and whether restricted actions remained unavailable.
I documented 25 UX findings, including unclear labels, competing actions, weak information hierarchy, and task-blocking bugs. I recorded the affected role and screen, assessed severity, and added recommendations and linked Figma designs to make the findings actionable.
Design Improvements
Turning Observations into Recommendations
My recommendations focused on making everyday tasks easier to understand: clarifying how to join a shift, helping members find their own schedule, and making buttons communicate what would happen next. I translated these observations into targeted interface revisions rather than redesigning every screen.
01 — Simplifying Shift Sign-Up
The roster presented two ways to register for a shift, making the intended action less clear. I recommended removing the competing “Available” options and introducing a direct sign-up interaction within the shift details. This gave patrollers a clearer path from viewing an opening to registering for it.
02 — Bringing Personal Shifts into Focus
“My Shifts” needed to help members understand their own commitments, but relevant information was mixed with details about other people on the roster. I introduced tabs for new, upcoming, and past shifts and removed information unrelated to the person viewing the screen. The revised design also supported joining a shift or removing themselves when unavailable.
03 — Making Publishing Actions Clearer
The news form allowed submission without a description, and its “Done” button did not clearly communicate that it would publish a post. I recommended renaming the action “Post” and disabling it until the description was completed. This made the action more explicit and helped prevent empty posts.
BEFORE
Discrepancy details and ticket information were separated, making operators piece together their request.
AFTER
Receivers could flag the affected fields and explain the issue within one focused screen.
Collaboration
Working Through the Details Together
With just the developer and me on the project, a shared Google Sheet became our central reference for findings, recommendations, questions, and progress. Each UX finding had an ID, affected role and screen, severity, and a proposed next step. Where a recommendation needed visual explanation, I linked directly to the relevant Figma design.
This connected the reasoning behind a change with the interface details needed to implement it. The sheet also captured open questions and distinguished fixes from recommendations that were still unresolved or had been set aside.
Current Status and Learnings
Moving into Testing
The application is currently being tested, so user outcomes are still to come. The audit records fixes to several areas, including shift registration, personal schedules, profile layouts, and news publishing. Testing will help establish whether these changes make tasks clearer and reveal where further refinement is needed. This project gave me the opportunity to bring design structure to an existing application through focused recommendations and direct collaboration with its developer. It reinforced the importance of connecting each proposed change to a specific task and making the reasoning easy to discuss.
