Traffic is an increasing problem in major Nigerian cities. But even worse, is the law enforcement officials who use every opportunity to extort road users at every slight mistake.
The myFRSC is a recently launched app that aims to solve these problems. On its Play Store page, the app promises to provide information on ambulance services, a Traffic Map via Google Maps, a Real-time traffic feed from Top Twitter Traffic Handles, all Nigerian Road Rules and Regulations, Safety Campaigns, Personalized Contact Option and direct links to important portals such as Registration for Drivers/Vehicle License, NIMC Pre-enrolment, and Plate number centres etc.
Does the app meet up to expectations in this regard? No. While it is an innovative and laudable concept, the execution of the app is poor.
From use of outdated icons/layouts, to poor implementation of its functions, the app falls short of expectations.
Beginning from the start screen of the app, a Federal Road Safety Corps logo is seen followed by social media icons and finally buttons for different sections of the app.
The official FRSC logo should not have been used in that regard as this is not an official FRSC app.
The social media icons below the FRSC logo are too small and close together to be clickable. Should you eventually succeed in clicking any of them, you will be quick to notice that they do not do anything but are mere images. That being said, the social media icons should not have been on the landing page of the app at all. An app’s landing page should contain the most important, and most frequently used part of the app.
And that is the problem with the buttons arranged on the homepage. Most apps no longer have a home page showing different sections. What usually happens is that the landing page shows the most important section of the app with a navigation to the other sections.
Going deeper into the app, it starts to look like most of the app is a referral to web pages. Clicking the Registrations section will pop up a screen that say ‘Links’ and goes ahead to list some items. Clicking on any of the 7 items on the links takes the user to a browser where it eventually opens the FRSC website showing the requested information. As that is information that is mostly static and rarely changes, there is no need why it cannot be housed on the app itself with changes to the web pages applied to future updates of the app. This applies to the Regulations sections as well.
The problem with the Safety part of the site is the UI which features those outdated icons again.
We are at Android Marshmallow right now, and if there is anything Material Design taught Android developers, it is how to make an app visually appealing and easy to use. This app does not apply those concepts.
