Project Goal: The project goal was to create an eco-system around the Direct Store Delivery solution, with seamless interaction possibilities for planning the route, shipments, stock adjustments, managing returns and damaged goods and monitoring the overall activities through a web based solution.
Learning from the research and design implications were translated into a research paper as a part of IndiaHCI'18 Proceedings of the 9th Indian Conference on Human Computer Interaction. The paper also got published last year. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3297137
Customers & end-users: Store Supervisors, Route Sales Representatives (RSRs), IT Team
Methodology: Conducted primary research with the main stakeholders and doing ‘Drive Along’ with the drivers to understand the task of pick and delivery of bakery goods. At present the entire task is done with a handheld device and item lists printed on paper. It takes a lot of time for RSRs to load/unload, place the items in shelves, returns and damages, generating invoices and balancing out the stock at the EOD.
Customer journey maps and personas were created to understand the pain points and generate the experience outcomes.
Success Metrics: Increased Revenue, increasing time efficiency and productivity by reducing the time taken to complete the tasks, Error reduction
Research, Conceptualisation, UX Design & User Testing: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Nancy Wojack, Brian Schulte
Project Goal: The goal of this project was to create a user interface with seamless interaction possibilities for storing, searching and retrieving information for the new web-based application for workbook creation having simplified work flows, improved usability and outstanding visual design, in order to achieve a high degree of User Experience.
Customers & end-users: Project Lead (Super User) – supervises launch of components from factory to client site, Project Engineer (Day-to-day User) – take care of the launch of components from factory to client site
Methodology: Research protocol required us to cover a wide range in terms of the interviewee’s work experience and domain. The objective of the interviews was to get an overview of the product processes as well as an in-depth understanding of everyday tasks. We met with 13 participants with 5 - 30 years of experience from Engineering, Quality and Management. The data gathered from the primary research was used to generate insights leading to opportunity areas and design principles which lead towards generating design ideas.
Success Metrics: Enabling end to end tracking of parts/components at customer plants, contextual checklists, standardisation of checklists, reduction in errors happening due to ambiguities, Creating a rich database
Research, Conceptualisation, Testing & Development Reviews: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Raj, Yugendran, Senthil
Project Goal: Workers in supply chain operations are increasingly using voice commands and responses to get picking, packing and replenishment tasks completed. Honeywell already has a strong presence in this domain in form of Vocollect technology, taking it a step forward, this project aimed at increasing the efficiency and productivity of workers through Augmented reality and mix modal inputs
Customers & end-users: Pickers in warehouses (Honeywell’s and end customer’s)
Methodology: The process started with understanding the current workflow in warehouses with/without the use of Vocollect devices. The data was analysed to generate opportunity area for an AR/MR solution which would not only assist the pickers in their work but would also increase their efficiency and productivity. Initial prototype was tested with the help of HMDs and the data logs were analysed with the help of time and motion study to analyse the gaps which could be improvised further
Success Metrics: Decrease in the time taken to perform a single/multiple picks and increase in productivity and efficiency based on total picks performed in a day.
Research, Conceptualisation, Data Analysis and User Testing: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Vikram Rao, Kaushik Hazra, Ranga, Ritika
Project Goal: The goal of this 5-month project was to understand many different aspects of the beef market, from the point of view of design, technology and business and adopt an open-ended innovation research approach.
Customers & end-users: Farm Owners, Farm Managers
Methodology: We started by understanding the whole chain, stakeholders involved, their needs and the overall market need in order to create a product concept and prototype which could be taken to the market before mass implementation.
Success Metrics: Increased revenues on meat production, Transparency in the system, Improved health of cattle, Remote monitoring of farms, Better forecasts
Research, Conceptualisation & UX design: Ajay Mittal
Team: Somaditya, Yugu, Senthil, Ajay
Project Goal: Honeywell has been actively involved in working with AR/VR/MR platforms and frameworks, however, with multiple business units its becoming difficult to bring the solutions under one umbrella. This project/exercise was an attempt to come up with a common framework for all SBGs. The goal of this project was to create a user centric, scalable framework for innovation and build competency
Customers & end-users: Multiple SBGs (Strategic Business Units) of Honeywell.
Methodology: Since multiple SBGs were involved in this project, the entire project was broken down into weekly workshops which lasted for 3-4 months. It started with understanding the challenges in business and challenges which are faced by the user/customers. These helped in identifying the trend drivers and the competition from the market. Once the trends were identified, those were elaborated in form of usage scenarios and experience outcomes. Each SBG worked on ideas relevant to their domains and parallels, in terms of methodology, process and technology were drawn in the end.
Success Metrics: A well-defined framework which could be used across Honeywell and X-SBG
Research & Conceptualisation: Ajay Mittal (representing SPS – Business Group)
Team: Cross SBG (15+ members)
Project Goal: SAP-C4C (Cloud for customer) is a platform which controls the Business Analytics part of the CRM (customer relationship management) tools for the clients/end users. These CRM solutions have been existing since several years and have seen a transition from Silverlight to HTML5. With the advancements in use of mobile and tablets for accessing all such applications, there was a need of coming up with a responsive UI – ‘Fiori’. The goal was to recreate several elements under Business Analytics and make them work in the new Responsive UI Platform
Customers & end-users: Multiple players, using SAP – C4C’s customer relationship management tools across the globe
Methodology: All the current CRM solutions which are rendered on HTML5 and Silverlight were analysed to study the existing flows and identify the issues and challenges in moving them to a responsive UI. Using Fiori 2.0 elements as base reference all the various elements which falls under Business Analytics were studied, analysed and redesigned to make them align with new platform for responsive UIs
Success Metrics: Simplifying the complex task keeping them aligned with the responsive elements of Fiori 2.0, Transition from desktop applications to responsive UIs, Increase in revenue with new customers/clients on board.
Analysis, Conceptualisation, Visual Design and Development Reviews: Ajay Mittal
Project Goal: About 80% of the senior citizen population undergo a sense of solitary loneliness later in life. Some of them become victims of depression as they feel deserted by their progeny which has psychological repercussions. The goal of this project 'Connected Generation' was to bridge this distance in elderly people with their friends and family.
Customers & end-users: Senior citizens living alone, Immediate Family and friends circle, Doctors
Methodology: The project was intended for European Senior citizens and the prime focus was to interact and understand their needs and daily routine. This is an eco-system which works on a tablet, wearable and a mobile app. It connects the family even if they are remotely located. The mobile app is connected with the tablet app, through mobile app family and friends can interact, monitor health and other parameters of the elderly person and can be with them in case of emergencies
Success Metrics: Feeling of self-dependence, connecting with friends and families, increasing happiness quotient, ensuring help in case of emergencies
Conceptualisation, UX & UI Design: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Kratika, Manoj
Project Goal: Diesel and Gasoline system is one of the biggest internal business verticals and they work on lots of components which are used in Automotive industry. All these parts are virtually tested in a simulated environment which requires a lot of quality check, code validation and checklists to be followed. The goal of this project was to conceptualise and design a meaningful and rich solution for the DGS Review Tool, which is simple, intuitive and high on usability to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the associates.
Customers & end-users: Authors (Software engineers writing the codes) Reviewers (Senior engineers and experts, testing the code)
Methodology: There was an existing tool, which was developed by the technical team after few years of hard work. Though it was solving the purpose to some extent, however DGS team approached us to review it and enhance the user experience before rolling out the final version. To our surprise, we realised in our user research that the new tool misses the user’s needs at several points and does not cover all the use cases. The research direction was changed from analysing the new tool to finding new requirements. To make the project team and technical team understand the gaps, several workshops were done, post which everyone on the board was convinced for a redesign exercise. The final solution took some valid features from the existing design and did several value adds to come up with the new solution
Success Metrics: Making the process of code review faster and efficient, Easy to document (add/view) findings, allowing multiple people to collaborate and work without any errors, increase in productivity (faster rolling out time)
Research, Conceptualisation, UX & User Testing: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Merlijn, Raj, Sarang, Senthil
Project Goal: Site measurements and working with construction drawings and details is a tedious and time-consuming task. Most of the workers in this domain, still prefers to stick to the traditional way of doing things because of its ease of use. The goal of this project was to not only introduce the laser distance measurer device and supporting eco-system to make their jobs easy but also give them the same flexibility in terms of planning and doing their daily jobs.
Customers & end-users: Architects, Dry-wall installer, Carpenters, Interior Designers.
Methodology: This project was challenging as we were trying to replace something very simple yet highly flexible and functional for the end users with new technology. An intense primary research was conducted to understand the daily work and problems faced. One of the most important and tedious task in construction industry is to create workable drawings, which requires a number of dimensions and software to come up with the final drawing. This goes in the same loop if there are any changes or corrections. Also, we had to replace ‘PAPER’ with technology and that’s where maximum challenges stood in our face.
Success Metrics: Creating automated drawing by a single click, Planning the tasks in advance and more organised way, flexibility in sharing and co-working
Research, Conceptualisation & UX Design: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Dominic, Stephanie, Soumava, Berndt
Project Goal: The project was done as a part of design entry for Red Dot Awards 2014. When rushing around airport to board a flight, the only help to find relevant information is on a small piece of paper known as ‘boarding pass’. Not much has been done recently, when it comes to reinventing boarding pass design. In today’s world when everything is moving in direction of ‘smart design’ we are still trapped in an age-old design in form of paper boarding pass, which has a standard size and hard to read printed information. The goal was to design a boarding pass which not only solves the passenger’s needs but also come out as a sustainable solution.
Customers & end-users: All the people traveling through air and spending time at airport (waiting)
Methodology: Starting from some secondary research several constraints of the existing boarding pass along with the problems faced by passengers, were identified which were plotted on the customer journey created for a person traveling to Point A from Point B by air. Those problems were divided into different scenarios leading to several design features which were prioritised and validated with the issues and constraints to come up with the final solution
Success Metrics: Ease of information access, Eco-friendly alternative to current solution (which uses too much of paper), last mile solution (not only limited as an entry access), cost effective (can be re-used over time)
Conceptualisation, UX & Visual Design: Ajay Mittal
Project Goal: The project was part of 'Maruti Suzuki - AutoExpo 2011' and the challenge was to come up with few installation, which would not just surpass other pavilions in terms of technology but also becomes a crowd puller. With the biggest presence and space in Auto Expo it was even more challenging to plan an installation which would utilise the space well and at the same time create excitement and curiosity amongst the visitors in the pavillion
Customers & end-users: People visiting Auto Expo, Interested Buyers, Competitors
Methodology: 3 different installations, making use of Virtual Reality, Microsoft Kinect and multi-touch screens were put up in place. The installations gave tremendous possibilities to the users interacting with it - designing, assembling and painting a car in virtual environment, throw virtual messages on giant screens or play on multi touch screens.
Success Metrics: Increased promotions, Increased revenue (through advanced bookings), Image and reputation build up.
Conceptualisation, UX & Visual Design: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Imran, Madhukar, Nimish, Rineesh, Rajesh, Suresh, Gaurav
Project Goal: The project was part of international sustainability conference at IIT Bombay, where each team was asked to come up with an interactive solution which would also cater to the national and international audience, coming to attend the conference.
Customers & end-users: Visitors to the exhibition, Students participating in the conference, international guests, common public
Methodology: Indian civic authorities are constantly struggling with inculcating basic civic sense in its citizens which resulted in “Swachcha Bharat” campaign flagged off by PM Modi. In this era of smart cities and not so smart people (tongue in cheek remark) we devised a dustbin which brings itself to the user called Sustain-O-Bin. Hence, saving the effort of finding the nearest dustbin, that could be hidden away from public sight. Totally based on smart sensors, fabricated with packaging material used for laptops n gadgets.
Success Metrics: Creating awareness, motivate people for the social cause, project received a lot of press and accolades.
Design & development team: Ajay Mittal, Aniket, Aniruddha, Mandar, Saurabh, Shashwath
Project Goal: The goal was to create a rich and compelling BOSCH+IDEO corporate Kickstarter platform leveraging the brand values of IDEO and BOSCH to widen the spectrum of future innovation.
Customers & end-users: Design students, Design Practitioners, Design universities, Innovators
Methodology: The process started with a secondary research around the existing solutions/models and doing contextual inquiry with the design universities and design students. The biggest challenge was to make a working business model which favours both the platform team and the participants. Looking at the diverse mix of end users, both IP and monetary rewards were considered.
Success Metrics: The platform would create a community of innovators, taking part in design challenges and design triggers, provided by Bosch business divisions, and backers, supporting and validating the submitted ideas.
Research, Conceptualisation & UX Design: Ajay Mittal
Team: Ajay, Devika, Nachiketa, Sharan, Somaditya, Yugu
Project Goal: The goal of the entire study was to understand the existing issues and evaluate the effectiveness of the existing solution.
Customers & end-users: Project Teams, Development Teams
Methodology: The issues were derived from detailed study of each and every workflow of the implemented version. A different take on ‘Jakob Nielsen’s’ Heuristic principle was used for this evaluation. The context of study was different and also the purpose of conducting this research. All the issues were categorised under 4 broad categories:
· Usability/Experience
· Information Hierarchy
· Information Design
· Visual Consistency
Success Metrics: Educating development team on using Design Principles and Honeywell’s design guidelines, Fixing the usability issues, identifying a different/quick approach for conducting an expert or Heuristic evaluation
Heuristic Evaluation: Ajay Mittal
