IBM. Energy & Utilities //
FIELD CONNECT
PRODUCT DESIGN / UX / UI DESIGN / USER RESEARCH / USABILITY TESTING
OVERVIEW.
As a Product Designer for the iOS MobileFirst Energy & Utilities team, I supported a team of 3 UX designers from concept to delivery. Designs were created for the Apple iPhone and iPad.
WHAT IS IT.
Field Connect equips maintenance technicians with new tools and real-time information that deliver better situational awareness and enhanced collaboration. The app helps to improve productivity and safety in the field – whether inside or outside the truck. Field Connect helps technicians stay informed of critical project information, access support or help from colleagues and gain ongoing awareness of all relevant risk factors.
ROLE. PRODUCT DESIGNER
DURATION. 4 MONTHS
TOOLS. SKETCH, FIGMA, APPLE KEYNOTE
Main Map UI with Work Orders (WO) on the left and their pins on the right
The First Challenge: Convincing the Stakeholders to use one application instead of various separate apps:.
Line Technicians action various tasks throughout each job so our stakeholders believed that their Technicians required separate applications to tackle each task which required various forms and documentations.
My team and I solutioned a Design Session which included the SME to help use through to understand the technicalities and rigors of the Technician’s job which in turn allowed us to empathize with our users and chart a day in the life of journey map followed by a problem definition and ideation exercise. The exercise allowed the stakeholders to understand the woes of their employees and lead to their successful on-boarding.
WO Map screen with integrated weather warning APIs from The Weather Company
The Second Challenge: Non-techie Users bogged down by an archaic paper-driven process:.
I tackled this challenge by first aggregating 2 small groups of users and having them walk me through their daily processes separately. Then I took this information away and came back with an interactive prototype and asked the first set of users for their feedback. After receiving a positive response, I went back to the second set of users and asked them for their feedback of the prototype.
The outcome from both user groups clearly helped my team and I identify any gaps and collect feedback between the two groups, ultimately increasing our trust between our end users and stakeholders but also refining and delivering a polished product.
Work Order details UI
The Third Challenge: Finding the right flair to spruce up the UI:.
The UI functioned quite well, however; it lacked the flair to set itself apart from some of the other Energy apps in the market. The strategy I used was to utilize my previous design resources to help the 2 junior designers choose the right iconography to compliment the UI colour scheme. They received positive design feedback from not only the Product Manager and SME but also confirmation from the client stakeholders to finalize and bake the iconography into the app release.
Viewing other field technician trucks in the vicinity, weather alert banner and estimated time of power restoration
Once the job is complete, the field technician completes a quick mandatory job completion form confirming their safety and finalization