Design a Field Service Management Platform for increased efficiency
This project focused on designing a digital platform to streamline field operation management, improving efficiency for 12K engineers across service workflows.
Overview
Feedback from the Voice of Customers survey revealed a recurring frustration among clients regarding inefficiencies in service delivery, lack of real-time updates, and difficulty in communication with field teams. These gaps were affecting client satisfaction and operational efficiency.
​​​​​The goal was to enhance internal coordination, provide real-time job visibility, and create a seamless communication flow to improve customer satisfaction.
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Product Type:
A progressive web app
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Role:
Senior UX Designer (under the guidance of a Lead Designer)
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Assisted in user testing, supporting research by developing prototypes and taking notes during initial user interviews.
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Designed journey maps and service blueprints, making it easier to capture client needs, challenges, and experiences.
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Lead facilitator for a Design Thinking workshop to define and align core user and business needs around the key journey.​
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Duration:
Jan - June 2023 (6 months)
85%
of users reported better visibility into job status through the self-service client dashboard.
40%
Communication delays were cut using real-time technician updates via the mobile interface
90%
of pilot participants expressed willingness to adopt the solution post-testing.
“We aimed to take a leap toward digitization by streamlining operations and delivering a more transparent, asset-focused experience for our clients. And this was enabled by UX by adding an emotion- and experience-capturing mechanism. ”
- Executive Director of Asset Management and Operations
Challenges
This platform was developed to tackle critical challenges in service transparency, workflow efficiency, and multi-channel customer engagement. The solution had to solve the following challenges
Unclear Work Assignment and Scheduling
Work order tracking and task assignments were handled manually, often through spreadsheets resulting in scheduling conflicts and inefficiencies.
Communication Gaps
Communication between engineers and managers was fragmented across emails leading to missed information.
Lack of a self service portal
Client have no real-time access to request status or track SLAs, due to the absence of a self-request generating portal client dashboard.
Clients feel disconnected and disempowered
Clients lacked visibility into the status of their service requests, creating frustration and frequent follow-ups with support.
Lack of consistent documentation
Technicians lack easy access to contextual job information or past issue resolutions while on-site, leading to delays.
Field teams struggle with lack of consistent checklists
Field teams struggled with paper based manual checklists, leading to inefficient workflows and reduced service quality. (Led to a full fledged project - see here)
Research & Discovery
User Research
The UX research team conducted
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8 client interviews
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5 ride-alongs with field engineers
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5 contextual inquiries with field managers
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Additionally, we analyzed support tickets and previous request logs to find recurring inefficiencies.
User Personas and their goals​
Based on user research, I created the following 3 personas to support and validate the requirements throughout a project’s lifecycle.
The following key personas were identified based on business decision to keep the MVP delivery scope focused and prioritize high-value features.
Field Engineer
Responsible for servicing and repairing industrial assets using the standard methods.
Goals:
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Receive timely, accurate job updates without relying on calls or emails.
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Easily update service status and access job history while on the move.
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Digitally record tasks using an intuitive checklist to reduce manual errors.
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Quickly identify job priorities and SLA deadlines at a glance.
Field Service Manager​
Oversees maintenance teams, schedules tasks, and ensures SLA compliance.​
Goals:
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Monitor live job statuses and technician progress in real time.
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Assign tasks efficiently with intelligent, conflict-free scheduling tools.
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Access team performance analytics and maintenance trends for reporting and planning.
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Communicate seamlessly with field staff for support and escalations.
The client
Business client responsible for managing industrial assets and ensuring timely maintenance.
Goals:
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Track maintenance requests without needing to contact support.
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Submit, monitor, and escalate service requests through a self-service portal.
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Receive timely updates on technician arrival and job delays.
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Access a centralized view of past services and assigned service personnel.
My role included:
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Assisting the research team by taking notes and analyzing the feedback to derive key insights.
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Developed profiles for each persona including their goals, frustrations.
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Created a taxonomy to analyze each recorded ticket and maintenance logs received so far.​
Design Thinking Workshop
To ensure the solution aligned with both user pain points and business goals, I facilitated a Design Thinking workshop that focused on Service Blueprinting and exploring potential key features.
Key participants
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Field Service Managers (to understand scheduling and tracking needs)
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Field Engineer (to identify work order challenges)
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Customer Support Team (to assess communication issues)
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Product Team & Developers (to gauge feasibility)
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Business Stakeholders (to align with company objectives)
Key activities
Using the developed user personas and their goals and challenges generated via the ux research on the existing journey:​
Mapped out the end-to-end workflow from job creation to completion using Service Blueprint.
Reframed pain points into problem statements using 'How might we' to spark ideation and collaboration.
Curated a list of prioritized features for MVP and to test using Impact/Difficulty Matrix.
Key outcomes
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Targeted Pilot Rollout
Decision to launch the MVP with a select group of 5 existing clients and high priority services. -
Key features identified
Prioritized key features to ensure the most impactful functionalities were addressed first.
An example to show a sample end-to-end workflow describing different roles and stages handled by these roles starting from creating the work order and related task through the completion of the work order task in a Service Blueprint. I recreated a digital version based on the one created in the workshop.
An example to show a sample use an Impact/Difficulty Matrix to evaluate each feature based on its potential impact on user engagement and the effort required to develop it.
My role included:
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Ensure all participants (operations, customer support, maintenance teams, etc.) understand the goal of the blueprint—identifying inefficiencies and improving workflows.​
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Facilitate collaborative discussions to document key touchpoints, actions, backstage processes, and system dependencies.
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Capture actionable insights for improving service quality—such as introducing automated notifications or a self-service client portal.
User Testing
To validate our assumptions before full development, we conducted 3 rounds of usability tests based on the initial wireframes that simulated key interactions using low-fidelity prototypes.​​
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Illustrating with an example for customer's view.
Round 1:
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Test Focus:
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Client-facing dashboard with live job status updates
Key Feedback:​
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“Sometimes I don’t know which field manager is handling my job.”
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“I need the ability to cancel the request.”
Round 2:
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Action Taken:
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Added Field Manager details and ability to cancel request
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Key Feedback:​
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“I need a centralized view of what’s been done, where, and how often."
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“I’d rather message support directly than wait on hold.”
Round 3:
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Action Taken:
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Added widgets that allowed users to view request logs, all the assets and the ability to chat with support team if required.
My role included:
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Develop and refine low-fidelity prototypes in Figma for validating different ideas.
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Assisting the research team by taking notes and analyze the data to identify usability issues and areas for improvement.
Design Decisions
Breakdown of key features and the subsequent screens that support the goals of a Field Manager managing multiple field engineer teams.
Dashboard Overview Screen
Key Sections & Features:
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KPI Summary Cards: Display high-level metrics like total open work orders, SLA compliance %, average response time, technician utilization.
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Work Order List Table: Sortable and filterable by job type, priority, client, technician, status, or SLA.
UX Intent:
Prioritize clarity and immediacy — enable decision-making in seconds.
Work Order Management Screen
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Key Sections & Features:
Detailed Job View Panel: When a job is selected, display full details: issue description, client notes, location map, attachments (photos, videos), service history.
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UX Intent:
Keep it functional and responsive for managers juggling multiple tasks.
Scheduling Screen
Key Sections & Features:
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Calendar View (Day/Week): Visual display of technician schedules, with color codes for job types or status.
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Conflict Alerts: Warn when a technician is double-booked or underqualified for a task.
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UX Intent:
Design for control and flexibility — enabling quick replanning when issues arise.
What I Learned
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Seeing stakeholders visualize inefficiencies through service blueprinting made alignment faster and more empathetic.
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Co-creation during workshops led to faster buy-in from departments resistant to change.
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Usability testing early saved development rework time and highlighted user priorities that weren’t visible in business requirements.
What I’d Do Differently
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Include analytics planning earlier to ensure success metrics are tied directly to UX.
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Gain a deeper understanding of the supporting systems and identify opportunities to leverage them more effectively.
