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Zonar Systems, a fleet management software and hardware company, needed to modernize its legacy admin tools to support its growing EV (Electric vehicle) customer base in the heavy-duty vehicle space. Creating, modifying, and managing EV config (configuration) packages was a slow, manual process. SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) relied on a series of outdated tools that required many steps per device, while Customer Care teams lacked the visibility they needed to support customers effectively. As a result, the current processes didn't allow for scalable deployment of the company's program and became harder to manage as more devices are deployed.
I designed a solution that served both technical and non-technical users. The new tool called IoT Device Manager led to a reduction of pain points, by simplifying the user's task flow and also contributed to a 29x increase in EV customers.
Fleet electrification introduced complex configuration needs, especially for heavy-duty EV buses. SMEs struggled with inefficient workflows, and Customer Care teams lacked access to key system data. The legacy systems were overly technical and difficult to learn. The challenge was to design an intuitive, scalable tool that simplified EV management process and support a growing user base.
Project goal: The output of this project will be a user-validated proof of concept for net new user experience to be built on top of CORE IoT stack, and not UX fixes to be implemented into the existing tools.
Assumption: Primary use case is desktop, design team will not be exploring mobile workflows in this scope of work (informed by stakeholders as well)
“I have to go to 8 different tools to accomplish what we're doing here … And 13 steps”
- Zonar's Senior Solutions Manager
What my workflow looked like in the 14 weeks (see image below)
Analysis, synthesis and learning of existing materials
To better inform my design approach, I conducted a thorough review of our engineering team's notes, Confluence pages, and various conceptual models. This allowed me to gain a comprehensive understanding of the legacy tools for electric vehicles and the technical nuances of the space.
User interviews
To understand the goals, needs, pain points and challenges for the data configuration managers using the legacy tool, I focused on understanding their existing workflows to capture insights to inform larger product vision.
Some of my research questions for the SMEs (Subject Matter Expert):
- How do they complete their task?
- Do they have diverse ways of doing things?
- What are areas of potential improvements?
- How do they create, edit, apply, manage a config?
- Are certain things (or steps) more important over others?
- Are all the steps necessary?
- Can steps be reduced in a future design?
Methodology
- Remote recorded user interviews
- Video screen analysis and research guide to document workflow across tooling
I utilized research tools like Dovetail to tag research findings and insights from the user’s transcription.
Workflow mapping
I conducted a detailed task analysis diagram to map the SME's workflow. This included tagging findings, technical feedback, and pain points along the task flow. This process revealed friction points and decision moments within the existing system.
Learning the legacy systems and assessing the technical feasibility
Working with engineers who are familiar with how previous systems ran I also discovered that the previous programs were a very manual and slow process with multiple steps in between (example in image below: diagram on the left side). After discussing the technical updates that could be done to improve the experiences for the users, we found areas that could be automated with a new Zonar backend and databased with everything wrapped around a user friendly experience (example in image below: diagram on the right side).
Key Insight
Two distinct user group: SMEs vs. Customer Care
They required divergent UX approaches. SMEs needed powerful tools; Customer Care needed clarity and accessibility.
- Doug (Daily SME): Manages configs for multiple EV buses; needs speed, clarity, and control.
- Rob (Rare Configurator): A technically inclined but inexperienced SME; needs onboarding and structure.
- Carol (Customer Care): Needs to find the right info fast when supporting customer issues.
I started with low-fidelity wireframes, progressed to mid-fidelity click-throughs, and continuously refined based on user input and the Job steps from our story mapping sessions with the product team. Key sprint focus areas:
1. Create Configs
2. Edit & Track Configs
3. Manage Lifecycle at Scale
Design Goals
1. Consolidate tools into a single, intuitive platform
2. Accommodate both advanced and novice users
3. Ensure future extensibility for additional EV system features
New users, like 'Rare Rob,' could feel more empowered to create configurations if the learning curve wasn’t so steep.
Result: Break the steps down into an easy-to-follow, 3-step process
Users spent a lot of time on manual steps
Result: Automating many of the manual steps thanks to the new backend
Users had to split their time between several places to get the status of a configuration
Result: Created a centralized area for users to view the status of configurations
Users no longer need to go to 13 different places to know which step to do next to set up the configuration
Apply newly created configuration package with ease
Users only need to go to one place to see the configuration status, the time passed since initial creation and the config package name
- I conducted end-user research that generates recommendations for stakeholders.
- I did a UX audit of existing workflows to understand goals, needs and pain points of current users so that we can generate design requirements for the new UX vision moving forward.
- User validated prototypes, wireframes, and prioritized feature set by performing multiple rounds of user testing
- User testing insights: With each round of user testing, we surface insights in a collaborative share-out of pros, cons, and recommendations. The feedback helped validate the new design direction and design requirements that were used to populate the initial release backlog.
Next Steps (Running a story mapping workshop):
- Prioritized Story Map: High level user stories will be mapped in a visual way to help facilitate scope prioritization across various teams. Assumptive MVP and Beyond-MVP stories will be visually represented in Miro
- User stories: For MVP stories, the team will write more formal stories with requirements to aid in rough level of effort sizing. These sized stories will enable a more strategic plan and sequencing in the backlog.
- Prioritized Backlog: The backlog defines MVP, and contains all the requirements necessary for stakeholder and business unit buy-off. It will then be used for design/development teams to build from in subsequent design phases.
The UX was delivered to market and we collaborated closely with developers to come up with ideas to improve the designs. By Q4 after the initial launch in Q1 of the IoT Device Manager tool, the work I did with the team contributed to a 29x increase in EV customers.
“There's multiple pieces to it that made understanding this (the config tool) extremely easier”
- User