Phase 1. User Discovery & Human Factors
Phase 1. User Discovery & Human Factors
Diagnosing the technical foundation to find the human need
Diagnosing the technical foundation to find the human need
Diagnosing the technical foundation to find the human need
Diagnosing the technical foundation to find the human need
Context: In a mission-critical industrial environment, traditional empathy isn't enough. You can't just "observe" an operator during a high-stakes factory shift. I applied Technical Empathy—a method of deep-diving into system documentation and engineering constraints to understand the cognitive boundaries within which the users operate.
Context: In a mission-critical industrial environment, traditional empathy isn't enough. You can't just "observe" an operator during a high-stakes factory shift. I applied Technical Empathy—a method of deep-diving into system documentation and engineering constraints to understand the cognitive boundaries within which the users operate.
The Approach
The Approach
Technical Audit & Standards: I analyzed 100+ pages of legacy documentation and Industry 4.0 standards. This was my "symptom check" to identify where the software architecture was failing the human operator.
Technical Audit & Standards: I analyzed 100+ pages of legacy documentation and Industry 4.0 standards. This was my "symptom check" to identify where the software architecture was failing the human operator.
Stakeholder Alignment: Facilitated in-depth interviews with system engineers and project managers to extract unwritten operational requirements and business constraints.
Stakeholder Alignment: Facilitated in-depth interviews with system engineers and project managers to extract unwritten operational requirements and business constraints.
Research Proxies: Since field access was restricted by factory security, I leveraged surveys and moderated interviews with senior operators to validate pain points and prioritize information hierarchy.
Research Proxies: Since field access was restricted by factory security, I leveraged surveys and moderated interviews with senior operators to validate pain points and prioritize information hierarchy.
Who are we building for?
Who are we building for?
Production Manager:
Elimination of manual paperwork through automated logs
Quality Manager:
Monitor the entire production lifecycle in real-time to maintain 100% compliance.
Journey Mapping
Journey Mapping
Identified "Friction Peaks" where fragmented reports and missing notifications led to operational delays.
Identified "Friction Peaks" where fragmented reports and missing notifications led to operational delays.
Production Manager
Production Manager
Key insight:
Key insight:
I synthesized raw data into 2 distinct personas (e.g., Zofia, the Quality Manager), focusing not on demographics, but on their Cognitive Load and decision-making triggers.
I synthesized raw data into 2 distinct personas (e.g., Zofia, the Quality Manager), focusing not on demographics, but on their Cognitive Load and decision-making triggers.
Competitive Analysis
Competitive Analysis
Conducted an Industry 4.0 benchmark analysis (SAP, ABB, Siemens) to identify where Supervisor could disrupt the market through superior usability.
Conducted an Industry 4.0 benchmark analysis (SAP, ABB, Siemens) to identify where Supervisor could disrupt the market through superior usability.
Main insights:
Main insights:
This phase helped me align the project around a shared understanding:
This phase helped me align the project around a shared understanding:
Fragmented Operational Communication:
Fragmented Operational Communication:
Most competitors provide robust monitoring, but few address seamless communication with operators;
Most competitors provide robust monitoring, but few address seamless communication with operators;
Latent Critical Awareness:
Latent Critical Awareness:
Real-time notifications were either absent or too basic, leaving production managers without immediate updates for critical issues.
Real-time notifications were either absent or too basic, leaving production managers without immediate updates for critical issues.