📍
📍
📍
Co.lab
The project was done as a part of Challenge Labs at the RCA, in partnership with industry leader ARUP. The brief was to create a 'City as a Service' project in the context of London, using principles of just transition, i.e., sharing benefits of sustainability and technology transition equitably with everyone. During the span of 5 months, using trend mapping tools, extensive research analysis and systemic-design methods, we conceptualised and tested a speculative service that not only would benefit under-represented and often neglected communities, but also help the partner ARUP with potential ideas and strategies to bring about real-world impact with their initiatives.
Info
Role and Resposibility
User Research: User Interviews, Persona Mapping, Journey Mapping
UX Design: Sketches, Wireframing, Usability Testing
Project Context
July 2021 - October 2021
Company: Larsen and Toubro Infotech
Client: OTIS Japan
Tools
Adobe XD
Team
Shravani Shinde, Madhukar Malwadkar, SanaFatima Sayyed, Sharan Pillay, Gargi Kulkarni, ArunKumar G
Context
Whats happening in Japan?
Japan is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters because of its climate and topography, and it has experienced countless earthquakes, typhoons, and other types of disasters. This susceptibility to natural disasters significantly impacts its elevator infrastructure, necessitating stringent maintenance and regulatory measures to ensure safety and functionality.
Elevator Shutdowns During Natural Disasters:
Kumamoto Earthquake (2016)
15,000
elevators stopped
1000
elevators stopped
Under the Building Standards Act, elevators in Japan are required to undergo regular inspections to ensure safety and compliance with national standards.
The story
When the elevators break, residents call the center and face long wait times. The supervisor scrambles to find an available technician, but by the time one is assigned, hours have passed. The technician then checks for disaster zones, reviews job details, and reads through previous notes, leading to more delays.
The stakeholders
We created questionnaires and conducted sessions to gather requirements, which provided clarity on the goals, objectives and interaction of they key stakeholders- Technicians, Supervisor, Call center operator and Dispatcher. This helped us develop user scenarios and better understand the user roles
Technician ↔ Supervisor ↔ Dispatcher:
Core operational triangle managing tasks, progress, and job assignments.
Call Center Operator ↔Supervisor/Dispatcher:
Focused on customer request intake and task escalation.
Dispatcher ↔ Technician:
Real-time communication for updates and task assignments.
"Create an application that allows the technician to easily view and edit building information, access safety and hazard data before entering the building, and find nearby jobs and disaster-affected areas."
The journey
unreliable and
inefficient
communication
gaps due to inefficient coordination
dissatisfactory and
frustrating
time consuming
process due to
manual escalation
The existing way
We conducted an in-depth analysis of the existing Next Gene App’s workflows, studied its information architecture, and performed a comprehensive UX audit using heuristic evaluation to uncover actionable insights for improvement.
No Real-Time
Alerts🚨📴:
Missing disaster or hazard updates within the app.
Limited Contextual
Information 🏢❓:
Technicians need to rely on external tools or verbal updates on the building condition/elevator status.
Task Management
Gaps 📋⚠️:
No prioritization or filtering for urgent tasks.
Poor Visual
Hierarchy📋❌:
Text-heavy layout with no clear emphasis on critical information.
Confusing Navigation:
🔄❓:
Arrows provide no context or explanation for their function.
Lack of intuitive navigation.
Overwhelming Information Display 📊🤯:
Technicians must manually interpret and locate key information, slowing down their workflow.
The proposed features
Building Search 🏢 🔍
Quickly locate assigned buildings, unit details, and manager contacts for seamless communication.Access comprehensive building profiles, including status and unit-specific information.
Map View 🗾📍
Real-time location updates for personal tracking and task allocation.
Identify disaster-affected buildings and update statuses during emergencies.
Technician Tools📲
Monitor building statuses (Normal, Affected, Unsure) and find directions.
Contact points of contact (POCs) directly for efficient coordination.
Task Management ✅
Real-time job status updates and completion tracking.
Conduct mandatory safety surveys (JHA) to ensure compliance.
Information Hub ℹ️
Access critical engineering and customer notes for better task preparation.
Gain insights into unit-specific issues to deliver effective solutions.
The wireframes
Homepage 🏠
Key Features:
Building Search: Access building details, unit info, and contacts.
Map View: Locate tasks and enable real-time location updates.
Cloud Data: Retrieve and store callback data.
Disaster View: Monitor disaster-affected buildings.
Technician Tools:
Set availability and task schedules.Update transport mode to estimate travel time.
Map View📍
Key Features:
Update personal location in real-time.
View and schedule nearby tasks if unassigned.
Update building status in case of natural disasters.
Technician Tools:
Set availability and task schedules.Update transport mode to estimate travel time.View building status, affected or unaffected.Find directions to the building.
Contact the poc for building.
Building Search 🔍
Building Search:
Locate assigned buildings and access unit details.
View building manager contacts for direct communication.
Information Section:
Access critical engineering and customer notes.Understand unit-specific issues before starting work.
Disaster View 🌪️
Key Features:
Displays buildings impacted by disasters (e.g., earthquakes).
Allows technicians to view the status of contracted buildings.
Building Status:
🟦 Normal (blue)
🟥 Affected-Abnormal (red)
🟧 Unsure (amber)
Task Management:
Update job status (open or closed) in real-time.Complete the mandatory Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) safety survey.
*all the English text was subsequently translated into Japanese 🌐➡️🇯🇵
*すべての英語のテキストは、最終的なビジュアルデザインの段階で日本語に翻訳されました 🌐➡️🇯🇵
Improvement metrics
What difference
did we make and how?
💬 Feedback: Focus groups for feature refinement.
👩🔧 Pilot Testing:10 technicians trial for feedback.
📈 Efficiency Tracking: Task times and completion rates measured.
