Protern.io GPS sport analysis platform
Reboot
After leaving government in May 2019, I joined Protern.io, a software company that wanted to take their platform to another level with better usability and features. The hope was also to expand into new markets.
Assemble the team
The Protern.io team was mostly located in Whitehorse. We had a developer in Calgary who made several trips up for a week at a time. Together, we worked at a shared space, in a small room, at the end of a hallway. It was a warm summer, so there was plenty of days where having six people with six or more computers in the room produced a lot of heat.
Build a prototype
When I arrived, there was already the beginnings of a working, but very rough prototype. We were able to re-use an existing software product's code as a base and grow from there. Still, it was clear we also needed to agree on a direction and start working towards it.
Organize the vision
To accomplish this, I ran prioritization workshops to identify the key features of the new product and talk through each scenario of how they could be used. We came up with a large list of things to do and sorted each into a product backlog and began to plan our design and development sprints. I also began to sketch some early ideas on paper and digital whiteboards.
Design a new experience
After a few hectic weeks, I moved from sketches to starting to deliver what would be the new vision for the software product. This involved early-stage designs for how the product may look and work based on user research, customer interviews and our own extensive testing.
Platform progress
By the end of June, our team had made a lot of progress with the prototype. By July, we decided that we should initially focus on a single market: alpine ski racing. By doing so, we would have a narrower scope and more easily understood feature targets.
On the glacier
In July, we took our functional prototype to Zermatt, Switzerland where on the glacier, we set ski teams up with phones, sensors and our yet-to-be-officially-named product. We watched them use it, discussed ideas and asked lots of questions.
User research
We gathered the results of this real-world, on-snow user research and used it to make the prototype and my designs better. It felt like we were finally starting to find a solid direction. The product really started to take shape.
Apply the new design
Our team kept plugging away on the prototype while waiting for me to finish more of my design work. After it was good enough, we had the new design built as templates and a few weeks later, merged my concepts with the underlying codebase.
Ship the thing
From October to November, it was a mad rush to get our product out the door in time for a World Cup alpine ski race in Lake Louise. During this period, we also worked on marketing, pricing and sales plans in preparation with for demos with potential customers.
The value of feedback
We continued to get feedback from our customers, which turned into a long list of features to add and improvements to make. Seeing what you make in the hands of someone else is such a thrill. User research has always been a rewarding and energizing activity for me.
A goodbye to start-up life
Shy of a year after I started, I chose to leave Protern.io to re-join the public service. Our world was in crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I wanted to help. Today, the talented team at Protern.io remains on a successful path, and has continued to improve, build and scale the platform that we made together.