iOS app
Redesigned Tulip Player as an iOS app for frontline workers, making mobile deployment simpler, glove-friendly, and reliable enough to earn five-star App Store reviews.
From a web interface to a mobile tool
Tulip Player lets frontline operators run the custom apps their teams build in Tulip. The experience existed as a web app and a poorly adapted Android app, but customers had long requested a native iOS option for better mobility and connectivity on the factory floor.
The existing mobile interface largely copied the desktop product. It was difficult to navigate on a small screen, lacked essential controls, and did not account for the way operators move between devices, apps, and shifts.
Designing for frontline constraints
Factory workers often wear gloves, operate a device with one hand, and log in and out as shifts change. Nearly ten percent of Tulip’s users are colorblind. Those constraints made large touch targets, short paths, concise content, and cues beyond color central to the design.
I focused each screen on one task and placed the most important controls within a comfortable thumb-reach zone. Removing secondary information was not just visual simplification—it reduced the precision and attention required to use the product in motion.
Reachable controls with a resilient escape path
Large, centrally placed buttons made the most common actions reachable, while restrained color-coding helped operators distinguish functions without turning color into the only signal.
A swipe gesture opened the app menu. It was more forgiving than a small tap target for users wearing gloves and provided an important fallback: if an app builder forgot to include a menu button, an operator could still exit instead of becoming trapped inside the app.
A native experience delivered in one month
I owned the design and handoff end to end, working with my manager and senior engineers to translate the Player experience into Apple’s conventions while keeping implementation focused enough for a one-month timeline.
The app was accepted into the Apple App Store and received five-star reviews. More importantly, it gave frontline teams a more flexible and dependable way to deploy Tulip apps wherever the work was happening.