An Iot based remote monitoring application integrated with wireless devices to report critical data and alerts on live oil well sites.
The goal with this project was to create a minimum viable product to attract early adopters to the idea, as well as validate the product idea within the industry. Users needed a way to set up, and monitor existing Revival devices, and a mobile app was the most optimal solution.
During early discovery on this project, stakeholders were able to produce 10 candidates who would be users of this mobile application. These users would be field operators on live oil well sites, and their job was to manage and monitor the pumps. After interviewing some of the future users, I was able to produce 2 base personas that summarized the demographics of the candidates as seen below.
With personas and an understanding the users for this application, stakeholders walked through the product specification and their concept of the application, as well as providing an example mockup of the home screen.
Based on the product requirements and user demographics, I decided to proceed to user flows to capture a navigation layout that could include every aspect of the app without over complicating the screens. First, a flow was created for the main use of the app, and another flow was created to set up devices in compliance with the IoT specifications laid out by the data engineers.
Following the user flows, the client found that the simple navigation style would suit their needs and agreed that it was the best option for their users to avoid excessive complexity. I was able to transition into making some low fidelity wireframes to present the layout to the stakeholders. The clients had initially given requirements for what elements would be included on each screen, but after deliberation, and presenting the layout for the best usability, it was decided that some elements would move to different screens to keep priority on certain functions.
These wireframes are based on the device setup flow create. This setup flow was designed to create an easy and intuitive way for users to set up new devices on their well sites.
Following the wireframing process, the highest priority was ensuring a well designed home screen. This was the first screen to be worked on and as seen below, it was able to include all of the required concept information, as well as some of the optional data as well.
Breakdown:
• Alarms & warnings are displayed as the largest cards directing priority to these sections.
• Operation well sites & acknowledged alerts have been compressed into smaller elements, as they are rarely used features.
• User can access notifications from the bell icon.
• Bottom navigation provides clear navigation to different sections, preventing excessive nesting of pages.
As mentioned earlier, there was content on the home screen concept that stakeholders wanted to use but had declared as optional. From all the provided data, it was decided that the weather and stock price would be most effective to the field operators. To figure out if users would like this option, two versions of the home screen were designed. Version 1 of the home screen was designed with all the basic content, and Version 2 was identical with the addition of a dropdown feature at the top displaying weather and stock price. I proceeded to run an A/B test using Maze, and it was determined by the users that they would prefer Version 2, as they found it useful.
The main screens followed a layout very similar to the wireframes, although some small changes were made during the process of user testing and interviews. These 4 screens contain all of the information the user would need, and have been laid out to prioritize certain content.
Apart from the main screens, a large portion of this project was designing the sensor hub device setup. The base station setup flow was also designed, but coming onto this project there was an existing flow that was utilized. The base station setup would typically be completed already, so they've been omitted from this case study. This UI was created to simplify the setup process and provide an easy process that our users could follow. Following a progress bar style at the top allowed the UI to feel intuitive to mobile users, as well as provide necessary visual feedback, even for users like the Carl persona. The use of large and bright icons allowed users to see visual feedback even in harsh weather, as many field operators work during poor conditions like storms.
Although data was initially thought to have been manually updated into the application, stakeholders later decided that they would like a basic admin portal from which they could manually change or update data from the app. This included well site names, company details, as well as provisioning new users. I created a basic text entry portal to allow admin users to either add new users, or update copy within the app for certain features. However, since this portal contained copyrighted materials, the designs of the portal itself cannot be shown.
The final designs were compiled into a clickable prototype for users to navigate through. Since user testing on the low fidelity wireframes was done, there was positive feedback on the app and users were pleased with the navigation, layout, and functionality.
