VIMANA provides software solution for Industrial Analytics. Operator Touch is one of the apps designed primarily for iOS tablet device that enables shop floor machine operators to update machine status and be more productive by staying informed using real-time performance data.
While real-time machine data kept users informed on machine status, there were times when planned downtimes had to be overridden. Operators would not know the machine state cycles and their duration history. Operators had to view a conventional log book that contained hand written updates about the machine handled by the previous shift operators. These lead to decrease in production efficiency and increased time delays in between processes.
Machine operators handling CNC machines that make heavy and precision manufacturing parts. At times these users also wear noise cancelling headphones to reduce noise coming out of the machines as they drill or cut metal. It was later found that some users also wear gloves as a preventive measure.
Research, user-interviews, wireframing & prototyping, lo-fi, hi-fi designing, usability testing.
Timeline: 2 weeks. Design was to be done for iPad touch screen size and the interaction components had to be large enough for the operators to use with their fingers.
I started by brainstorming with stakeholders and field services team to understand the exact requirements of the users, and then come up with a solution. I listed some assumptions and had them validated through response collected via remote survey forms from machine operators across various shop floors.
Findings:
Next, I used the insights generated to come up with a persona to guide my design decisions.
After I gathered insights and identified needs, I started brainstorming on paper to collate all my thoughts and get some goals to achieve with my design. I set some high level goals and a list of features were feasible to build on an iPad.
Goals:
Features:
After few pencil sketches and iterating on them, I moved on to creating the pixel-perfect screen prototype.
The prototype was shared with selected users and followed a task based testing approach. I tested with 5 users by giving them tasks to achieve. I conducted 2 rounds of testing – one low-fi prototype and another with hi-fi prototype.