A digital experience to measure moving trains with lasers
Have you ever tried to calibrate multiple sets of lasers and 3D cameras? Neither had we - but the Siemens team had. It turns out it's as complex as it sounds - which is where we came in - Oh, and the lasers have to measure moving trains! Technicians in the field were attempting to do this using manuals in foreign languages, so we helped the Siemens teams to build a seamless digital experience that both simplified and guides users through the complex set-up process.
Efficient train wheel maintenance requires assessing every wheel on every train for wear and tear. How do you know when to service them? Lasers.
Customers looking to implement a risk based maintenance approach to their train wheels were required to install a complex product with complicated instructions. They were required to configure an array of lasers on each side of the track, and then ensure the camera was set up to capture the right angle. If any help was needed, that meant remote support, time zone limitations, language barriers and differing levels of expertise on both sides of the phone call.
We knew our approach had to be solid, as the team already had live installations on multiple continents, with users requiring significant technical support in the absence of a digital solution that met their needs.
Through workshops with the team, we mapped personas that needed to be involved in this process, collaborated to understand how each user journey would progress, and conducted walkthroughs of life size cardboard models of the real-world installations to get everyone into the minds of the technicians, and ensure a seamless, accurate set up of the lasers and cameras.
Interactive user interface designs allowed us to spend time making sure we got the process right before the build started.
We took inspiration from conventional software setup wizards and turned an extremely complex technical process into a seamless digital experience for field technicians to follow. We worked closely with the clients technical team to ensure our solution was able to hook-in to the systems and processes required to deliver on the user journey design from the initial workshops.Taking the time to focus on journeys and processes at the beginning phase paid dividends for the team in the design phase, resulting in a solution that creates client value and exceeds users expectations. Also, there are lasers, did we say that already!? ⚡️
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