InstruCheck
Overview
Client
Endress+Hauser is a global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for industrial process engineering
Customer
Corteva, Inc. (also known as Corteva Agriscience) is a major American agricultural chemical and seed company that was the agricultural unit of DowDuPont prior to being spun off as an independent public company.
Problem
Lab Technicians at Corteva have a hard time controlling and keeping their instruments in check. They lack instrument knowledge and their current process involves a lot of manual work.
Solution
Our solution aims to bridge the gap between technology and science. The lab dashboard helps the lab technicians have an overall view of the instruments as well as offers a solution for them to remotely access the instruments with the current technology that they use. It also provides them an alert system that notifies them if an instrument malfunction as well as provides training material and premium help and support all in one place.
My Role
UX/UI Designer, Product Designer,
Operations Manager
UX Methods
Desk Research, User Research, Competitor Analysis, Thematic Analysis,
Persona Development, Empathy Mapping, Information Architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping and Usability Testing.
Duration
6 weeks
Team
1 UX Researcher
Tools
Figma, Miro, Whimsical
Design Process
DATA COLLECTION
PROBLEM FRAMING
IDEATION
PROTOTYPING
EVALUATION
DATA COLLECTION
Desk Research
Desk research was mainly done to understand the domain of process automation better. As a part of this process, Environmental analysis was done and key trends were understood.
DATA COLLECTION
Competitive Analysis
Asset Performance Addition is a major opportunity field in the domain of process automation and the below three companies are some of the major successful competitors for Endress and Hausser's products with Heartbeat Technology
After the competitive analysis we understood that Endress and Hausser's Heartbeat Technology has almost all the features that its competitors provide. But one thing that is common with all these competitor products is that the new technology cannot be integrated with their older generation instruments. Thus, in order to make E and H stand out we need to enhance their customers' experience without having to force them to buy newer and trending equipment that has smart technology.
Thus, our main constraint while coming up with a solution must be a way to provide asset performance features which can be integrated with the customer's older generation instruments.
DATA COLLECTION
User Interview
We conducted a one hour Focus Group interview session with 8 lab technicians from Cortev. This session helped us understand our users better as well as helped us come up with a set of pain points or challenges that the customer faced.
PROBLEM FRAMING
Thematic Analysis
We performed a thematic analysis by making use of the data from user research.
This step was mainly done to categorize the research data into meaningful groups as well as to understand the pains of the users.
PROBLEM FRAMING
Current Ecosystem
PROBLEM FRAMING
Persona Generation
PROBLEM FRAMING
Customer Profile
IDEATION
Brainstorming
We had multiple brainstorming sessions to find the solution to the problem. We selected our top Three ideas based on the Customer Profile. The Three ideas were:
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Lab Dashboard Application
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Alert System
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Augmented Reality based Training and Troubleshooting Platform.
We then had critique sessions with the client as well as the customer and decided to amalgamate Ideas One and Two to make our Asset Performance Application.
IDEATION
The Solution
After multiple brainstorming and critiquing sessions, we came up with the solution to build an Asset Performance Application for the lab technicians at Corteva.
Requirements
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Digitized remote operating platform to decrease Manual Labor
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Reliable results from the instruments
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Alert system that also predicts instrument health
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Easy and intuitive interaction with instruments
Constraints
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The solution must be economical and adaptable to Corteva's current system
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It should be a transparent process across all lab technicians
Features
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Real time status of instruments
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Alerts and notifications when instruments malfunction
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Suggest actions to be taken while troubleshooting
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Remote operation of instruments
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Simultaneous operation on multiple instruments
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Predict instrument malfunction
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Help and support
How is our solution integrated with Corteva's current Ecosystem?
A value proposition map is constructed to understand why our solution is good as well as to identify the pain relievers and gain creators with respect to the features in our solution.
IDEATION
Value Proposition
Gain Creators
Products and Services
Pain Relievers
IDEATION
Information Architecture
PROTOTYPE
Mid Fidelity Prototype
PROTOTYPE
High Fidelity Prototype
01
Notification on computer screen
02
Sign In Page
03
Home Screen showcasing all instruments with live health data and instrument status based on NEMUR NE107 Standard
Recommendations is an important feature that recommends actions to be taken in case of instrument malfunction
04
Instruments can be filtered based on its status. Selected Instruments can also be accessed remotely.
05
Instruments can be remotely operated on using visuals that mimic the real world instrument interaction. This is technically possible by making use of the current Modbus Technology that Corteva uses. The buttons can be linked to modbus registry commands of instruments to operate on them remotely.
06
Recommends actions to be taken when instrument malfunctions
07
Application also recommends to take similar action on multiple other instruments that it predicts to malfunction
08
Instrument Training acts as a guide to help technicians operate on instruments
09
Troubleshooting features FAQs as well as has options to contact Endress and Hausser
10
Instrument History features logs of actions taken on instrument previously
11
Reports can be generated for any particular action or instrument at any given point of time
12
Reminders can be used to assign tasks or as to-do lists
13
Reminders can also be set and used to remind technicians about yearly/monthly validations
14
Notifications act as an alert system that alerts technicians if any instrument needs their attention. The technicians can directly operate on the instruments from the notification page.
EVALUATION
Testing
Our Testing process was done with three categories of participants to make our product a full fledged solution.
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We first tested our solution with key stakeholders at Endress and Hausser to understand our solution's business viability as well as its technical feasibility
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We then tested our prototype with the lab technicians at Corteva to understand the desirability of our solution
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Finally, we conducted cognitive walkthroughs with three expert UX practitioners to understand the usability of our solution
What worked ✅
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Our solution was loved by the technicians at Corteva, they said that this is a dream come true
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They loved the alert feature as well as the health prediction
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They agreed that training and help center is very vital
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They felt that the homepage was clear and loved that they could filter instruments based on their current status
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The Solution was technically feasible with their current modbus technology.
What did not work ❌
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The high fidelity prototypes had a lot of dummy data used which initially confused the lab technicians.
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HomePage can feature important live important data points in addition to its health status
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Advanced troubleshooting option necessary during remote operation to help technicians work more efficiently
My Learnings
Asset Performance Application was the first project in which I went through the whole design process, taking into consideration the business aspect of design. It was also my first time working with real life clients and customers. Some of my Key Takeaways are:
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Technology Impacts Design: It is always best to consider the technology and its limitations to find workarounds and come up with a better solution. Looking at the technical architecture and understanding the amount of time and effort required for changes defines the best MVP.
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Design With Stakeholders: Utilize the domain expertise of experienced people. I conducted critique sessions with these experts to understand their perspective on how they envisioned the system. Their thoughts and ideas helped me shape a better experience for the users. Doing this makes them feel involved and thereby being less resistant to changes.