Loupe App

Loupe 2.0 came with an entirely new user interface and a big component of this was the introduction of the Dashboard; a widget-style home screen that let users access quick bits of information at a glance, without having to dig into specific views in the app. And, these widgets could be customized by role. So, for a Senior Sales Partner, this included details like an analytics snapshot of their top three metrics adjustable by current week, month and year-to-date, a list-view of all appointments for the day, a recently edited customers list, and a collection of upcoming protocol violations of tickets that needed immediate attention. The Dashboard was truly a game-changer view and we noticed that users were spending more than half their time on this view compared to other top-level sections of the app, indicating that it was providing them with access to the information they needed most.

We wanted to make this latest generation of Loupe simple and easy to use, but still provide the level of functionality and speed required of our more technically-inclined power users. To accomplish this, we incorporated some gestures that make accessing the data our users need quick, intuitive and enjoyable! One of my favorite gesture designs is the swipe up from the ticket preview on the map view to the full ticket details. This simple gesture introduced a bit of back-end complexity for the engineering team, but they pulled it off flawlessly and it makes using the map view a lot of fun.

There’s nothing like a global pandemic to force you into building functionality you’ve had on your wish list for years. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to start building a heat map that would show our reps exactly where to work. We partnered with a data company to license key attributes in all of the major counties that Apex operates. From there, we matched that data to historic Apex customers to pinpoint the best prospects based on home value, home age, homeowner income and homeowner age. We then plotted that data on our map as an overlay that can be toggled on/off and shows which parcels are most likely to be an Apex customer based on their LIT score (what percentage of the data matches). This did a couple things for Apex: 1) because we had the age of homeowners we could avoid knocking on doors of those who were at higher risk of of COVID complications based on age, 2) the advanced prospect targeting greatly reduced the amount of time our reps had to work in the field, minimizing their exposure, and 3) the data itself was integrated into the business model in such a way that made us way more effective during the time our reps were out.

Another feature of Loupe that I was quite proud of was our on-demand analytics system. This provided users of Loupe with access to real-time performance metrics that helped them manage and motivate their teams (and themselves). We had a variety of analytic types in Loupe, from quick stats like how many doors you knocked, to how many jobs you’ve sold, to graphical metrics like closing and paid ratios. We also implemented a ranking system that let users see how they stacked up against others in the office, which really helped to drive inter-office competition, and elevate sales in the process. We also tracked installer performance, which let us focus on finding areas of improvement, and rewarding those for a job well done.

Loupe was certainly the longest-running and most time-consuming project during my tenure at Apex. We went through two complete redesigns, formed an entire company around building the technology, and it became instrumental in the growth and success of Apex. It revolutionized the customer experience, and became a defining piece of the culture at Apex. And, in the early days, it was truly unique. So much so, that we were granted both design and utility patents on the software.  The patent centralizes on how Loupe uses the app’s location to auto populate location information and submit customer information to a centralized server where it can be viewed by another mobile device. Nowadays this technology seems a bit commonplace. Unfortunately as we ran into more and more apps that were infringing on the technology, it became clear that as hard as it was to get the patent, it would be even harder to defend it. But, not many people have their name on a patent, and I’m proud to be one of the few.