Building better workforce registry
for construction worker
Building better workforce registry
for construction worker
Real Time Asset Tracking
Hilti and Trimble is a joint venture for Asset Management application.
In 2012, Construction industry Asset Management to Hilti and Trimble across country felt wow. To keep it up the wow experience and be a leader in a market, in 2017 introduced real time asset tracking using BLE tag. This is the story of
how I made positive experience to customers and target users
in Asset Management market.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential
information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and
does not necessarily reflect the views of Hilti & Trimble.
The Challenges
The Impact
Wasted Time
Construction workers spend a staggering 90 hours per month searching for assets across job sites. This lost time translates to reduced productivity and efficiency.
Increased Productivity
Real-time asset tracking freed up 40% more work time by eliminating 90 hours of monthly asset searches. This translates to a significant efficiency boost.
Ineffective Tracking
65% of customers struggle to keep track of crucial asset information like required certifications and maintenance dates. This lack of visibility creates potential safety hazards and compliance issues.
Enhanced Safety
Real-time tracking led to a 30% reduction in safety incidents during the first year, promoting a safer work environment.
Frequent Asset Loss
An average of 6 assets lost every month highlights a significant problem with asset management on construction sites. This leads to financial losses, delays, and disruptions to project timelines.
Reduced Asset Loss
The system recovered an average of 6 assets per month, resulting in a 50% reduction in lost assets. This minimizes financial losses and project delays.
My Role
I was responsible for the real time asset tracking experience strategy and design of the iOS, Android and web app. I led the UX work, producing all UX deliverables and presenting these to all stakeholders. I worked alongside a Senior Visual Designer who focused on visual design and animation.
Research, Interviewing stakeholders and end users, studying about BLE tag and NFC tag, synthesis data, prototyping, usability testing and collaborated with multi-disciplinary team.
Experience Strategy & Vision
It was a first project to me in Trimble and it was not a design driven approach product. I have introduced User Centered Design Process for Asset Management product design and started establishing with design thinking workshop.
I created prototypes based on the customer/end users culture and empathy to share the vision, design principles and content strategy. This helped to evangelise ideas, gain alignment and drive decision making.
Customer Insights & Ideation
I partnered with two product owners and project manager to uncover insights and translate concepts into features that address user behaviours and motivations.
Planning & Scope Definition
I defined the product with stakeholder. I evangelised customer/user goals and balanced business goals.
Design Execution & Validation
I designed iOS, Android and Web. I executed journeys, wireframes, prototypes and design specs.
Leadership
I designed up and presented works to gain buy‐in from executives, senior stakeholders and many other internal teams throughout the project lifecycle.
The Approach
Fast Good Cheap
To early in market, we were tasked to design and build real time tracking within the existing product architecture. This plan was advantage and the least riskiest.
The assumption was simple: thousands of customers extend, track, manage conceptual model that customers were familiar with and leverage the existing infrastructure to get to market sooner and cheaper.
This early architectural decision had a major impact on the quality of the customer experience we could both create and reconcile.
“The combination of a fixed launch date and aggressive scope created an intense environment with many coordination and time challenges.”
Working backwards from a fixed launch date, meant that design was subsumed into an engineering‐driven process. Sign‐off milestones were driven by engineering estimates and time to create the right design was the time left over.
The Discovery
We conducted customer research with product owners to drive our planning phase.
The discovery phase was a quick, high‐intensity effort that allowed us to define project milestones, audit the existing work, understand our vision, and begin research into user needs, behaviours and pain‐points. We also kicked off a technical discovery phase to understand feasibility and constraints.
Our persona hypothesis consisted different archetypes which we used to facilitate discussions about our users needs, desires and varying contexts of use. Through careful analysis of our research, we identified sufficient behavioural variables to segment our user.
Key Personas
Asset Tracker Journey Map
The map highlighted how broken the asset tracker journey was and created a deeper empathy amongst the team. This research was a major breakthrough for our team and allowed us to focus our energy on creating the right experience.
Asset Tracker Journey Map
The map highlighted how broken the asset tracker journey was and created a deeper empathy amongst the team. This research was a major breakthrough for our team and allowed us to focus our energy on creating the right experience.
The Framework
Extracting Requirements with Asset Tracker Mental Models
Combing through our research and brainstorming the different things people do before, during and after tracking allowed me to come up with a broad set of tasks–quickly.
I categorised and segmented the tasks into behavioural affinities and aligned content and features. This gave me a way to visualise what existing functionality and content would be useful, what tasks needed supporting, what opportunities were available to innovate.
Afterwards, we entered all the ideas into a spreadsheet and prioritised them against our personas needs along with product owners, tech feasibility, and business objectives. This informed our phasing strategy for the app, the product feature roadmap and the product backlog.
How We Got There
The biggest challenge I faced throughout this project was balancing moving forward with designs, whilst collaborating with the wider team. Since this project touched every part of asset tracking, I needed to coordinate and get buy‐in from many teams that were both co‐located and distributed. This was hard.
Managing feedback was even more challenging. The team spent a disproportionate amount of time debating design decisions - when there wasn’t data that could easily be gathered to help drive a decision.
These are the key insights that defined the launch version of the product:
Faster Inventory Check At Location
The Warehouse Manager, Jobsite Manager, Van Driver and Field Worker starts BLE scanning on the mobile app to check if all the items listed for a location are actually there. Environment could be a service van, a container, or a warehouse.
Last Seen At
All user can see in the web interface in the asset details where it was last seen. Also, in the "Google map" view.
Location Based Notification Alert
All user can configure the alerts: asset entry, asset exit and location violation alert on web interface.
Faster Confirm Delivery
Jobsite manager quickly scans the surrounding the expected delivery assets which is sending from Warehouse.
Confirm Delivery Automation
In-Transit assets when arriving at the BLE gateway destination, automatically confirmed as arrived at location.
Find My Tool
With the help of BLE tag attached to an asset, background service running on a field worker’s mobile phone. Fieldworker can request ‘Find My Tool’. Another worker’s mobile application receives the request, starts background scanning, finds the tool and informs the worker who had broadcasted “ Find my tool” request of the tool’s current location.
BLE Tag Activation
To use the BLE tag, all user need to activate the BLE tag.
So, how to activate BLE tag?
What is BLE tag?
Signal range 30-70 m, Dimensions (LxWxH) 1.1 x 0.4 x 1.5 in, Broadcasting frequency 5 s, Battery life 3 years
NFC tag and smartphone communication
As per the study understood mostly NFC tag communicator is built on top part of the Android smartphones.
It help us to educate to Warehouse and Jobsite Manager how to activate/deactivate BLE tag.
Defined 5 easy steps to activate BLE tag to the user:
Step 1: About BLE tag
Step 2: Tags need to be activated before use
Step 3: Hold your mobile close to BLE tag
Step 4: How to activate with user smartphone
Step 5: Identified the place to activate for next time
Find Nearby Tool
Warehouse manager, Jobsite manager and Service worker can find out nearby asset thru BLE for their daily job activities. If asset is not available in their location, they can see the asset history and can call responsible person to figure out.
Faster Inventory Check At Location
The Warehouse Manager, Jobsite Manager, Van Driver and Field Worker starts BLE scanning on the mobile app to check if all the items listed for a location are actually there. Environment could be a service van, a container, and warehouse.
Find My Tool
Field worker, responsible employee, job site manager, and warehouse manager can see in mobile and web interface in the asset details where it was last seen. Also, in the "Google map" view.
Asset is found at a geofenced job site. The current location is also geofenced.
The Refinement
Usability Testing With End Users
We worked closely with our Usability Testing product owner to help define tasks, establish objectives and evaluate the app.
To ensure the test was realistic, we opted to use a clickable prototype design. We were able to find usability issues related to perceived affordances, real time tracking.
Fixing
We observed critical issues related to real time tracking which allowed us to re‐prioritise design tasks at the time. And fixed all the usability issues.
Activate BLE tag and register in mobile app
In usability testing we understand when user trying to activate BLE tag if it’s taken more than 8 seconds, run time displaying the help button would be useful to user to see how to activate.
Help button will appear if it’s more than 8 seconds. Once user tab on it will display guide tour 4th step.
Back to Activation
Guide Tour
Voice of the Customer
Far greater inventory visibility
Knowing where a given tool is, who is responsible for it, what jobsite it’s on, and when it’s expected back, all in real-time.
“Cloud-based is helpful for real time visibility. The UI is easy to navigate and pretty intuitive, which is helpful for optimal user adoption.”
Chelsea
Project Coordinator
“Easiest system out there to work with. App is very easy to use, now they have implemented bluetooth tags, that seems to be the cheapest option in the current market.”
Eric
Warehouse Manager
Greater employee accountability
A reduction in shrinkage due to loss, theft, or hoarding of tools and supplies.
“System is easy to use and effective for tracking inventory movement. App allows local and remote employees to access the system”
Chelsea
Project Coordinator
“Tracking and accountability for all tools and equipment. Crews are able to determine where equipment is at all times and plan for what they need and know who to contact instead of always asking the office where a particular tool or piece of equipment is”
Josh
Vice President
“It works well as a tool tracking mechanism. It creates transparency and clarity for managers. There are plenty of fields to enter specific details. Transferring tools is simple.”
Cliff H
Controller/CFO
“The real time information on where our tools are, gone are the days of calling around to find out where things are”
Justin
Vice President