Boost Productivity with Digital Work Instructions App for 12K engineers
This project highlights the designing of a cross-platform solution enabling technicians to execute digital work instructions via mobile while authors curate and manage them through a desktop interface.
Overview
Field Service Management uncovered critical inefficiencies in field operations and documentation, largely driven by the continued use of paper-based checklists. Field engineers were burdened with generic, outdated forms that lacked real-time updates and multimedia capabilities—resulting in errors, missed steps, and delays in service delivery. At the same time, technical authors faced challenges with manual formatting, poor version control, and limited collaboration tools, making it difficult to produce consistent, scalable checklists.
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In response, the goal was to design an intuitive, accessible application that empowers technical writers through guided authoring workflows, enabling them to create structured, high-quality checklists with ease. These digital checklists serve as actionable prompts for field engineers, ensuring critical tasks are completed accurately while allowing efficient logging of observations through images, voice notes, or text. The captured data feeds into preventative maintenance efforts, helping organizations proactively identify risks and maintain operational reliability at scale.
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ROLE:
As the Lead UX Designer, I was responsible for defining the user experience strategy and leading the design execution from research to implementation. My role included:
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Uncovering user challenges through research and defining opportunities.
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Translating strategy into structured user journeys, workflows, and wireframes.
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Driving ideation and execution in an Agile environment.
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Collaborating cross-functionally to ensure alignment between product, engineering, and business objectives.
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Evaluating designs through user testing and iteration to enhance usability.
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CROSS FUNCTIONAL TEAM:​
1
UX Designer
1
Product Owner
1
Product Champion
2
Product Lead/ Manager
12
Engineers
3
Quality Assurance
DURATION:
8 month project​​​
A Faster, Smarter, and More Reliable Checklist System
Impact in the field
30%
reduction in HSE non-compliance incidents.
36%
faster task completion in field operations.
18%
Improved engineer satisfaction scores
"The accessible checklist app has improved HSE compliance and helped our field teams deliver faster, safer, and more consistent service."
- Field Operations Manager
Impact for authoring
50%
decrease in authoring time for new procedures.
100%
adoption across documentation teams within 3 months.
Improved accuracy and version control across all checklists.
"The standardized authoring tool makes it easy to create clear, compliant checklists that field teams can actually use—no more guesswork or outdated paper forms."
- Senior Technical Author
Design Process
User Research for problem framing
I conducted a combination of one-on-one user interviews and remote contextual inquiries.
The user interviews focused on gathering insights from ​12 participants into the challenges, needs, and expectations of field engineers and technical writers regarding checklist creation, usage, and management.
User Groups
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Field Engineers (5 participants) – Those who use checklists for inspections, maintenance, and compliance.
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Technical Authors (7 participants) – Those responsible for creating, updating, and managing checklists.
💡 Challenge and solution:
Due to travel restrictions and safety concerns at field sites, I had to shift from in-person contextual inquiries to remote contextual research. I used remote meetings and cameras to capture the engineers in the field. By adapting my approach creatively, I was able to leverage remote methods that still provided valuable insights.
Key Insights based on personas
A thematic analysis revealed key insights from the research. I also involved SMEs and stakeholders in the analysis process to enhance accuracy and deepen the team's understanding of users' behaviors, motivations, and needs.
Field Technicians
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Checklists are too generic or irrelevant – Checklists were not tailored to specific equipment, tasks, or site conditions, leading to confusion and inefficiencies.
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Cumbersome and time-consuming to fill out – Paper-based added to unnecessary administrative burdens.
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Lack of real-time updates –
Outdated checklists lead to errors, missed steps, or redundant tasks, increasing operational risks. -
Limited options for data entry –
Engineers need to document observations efficiently, but paper checklist made it hard to attach images, notes, or voice recordings. -
No clear follow-up actions –
Once a checklist is completed, there’s often no clear process for flagging critical issues or escalating asset needs.
Technical Author
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Time-Consuming Checklist Creation –
Authors spend excessive time formatting and structuring checklists in Microsoft Excel, leading to inefficiencies.
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Lack of Standardization –
Inconsistent formats across teams make it difficult to ensure uniformity in field inspections.
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Limited Authoring Guidance –
Without structured workflows for assets, authors struggle to ensure checklists were aligned.
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Difficulty in Managing Versions –
Tracking changes and maintaining different versions for various use cases leads to confusion and errors.
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Collaboration Challenges –
Lack of real-time collaboration features results in communication gaps between authors and field SMEs.
Key features to be designed
Based on the feedback generated we narrowed the features to the following -
Field App – For Field Engineers
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Role- and context-specific checklists (e.g., by equipment, site, or task).
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Real-time updates to ensure the latest procedures are always available.
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Support for multimedia input: photo capture, voice notes, and typed observations.
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Clear progress indicators and prompts to reduce missed steps.
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Offline functionality for remote or low-connectivity environments.
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Add comments or attach media to report problems
Authoring App – For Technical Authors
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Guided authoring workflows with predefined templates and best practices.
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Real-time co-authoring and feedback features.
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Version control with audit trails and publishing workflows.
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Preview mode to see how checklists will appear in the field app.
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Metadata tagging for easy categorization by equipment, location, or task.
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Integration with existing documentation and maintenance systems.
User Testing
To gather early feedback efficiently, I developed clickable Figma prototypes and shared them with project stakeholders, including subject matter experts (SMEs), technical authors and engineers.
💡 Challenge and solution:
Since field engineers had demanding schedules and time constraints, direct engagement with them was limited, so I could run only one round of user testing. To streamline the design I involved the SMEs—who had deep domain knowledge— ahead of time to ensure that the design was informed by real-world requirements while minimizing disruptions to the field teams. This approach allowed for quicker iterations and validation before conducting user testing with field users.
Design decisions and rationale
For the Field App here are key UX decisions I followed to keep the design intuitive and accessible.
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Show only the current step with clear progress indicators and minimal distractions.
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Prioritize images, videos, and diagrams to reduce reliance on text-heavy content.
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Accessible UI for Environments that included high-contrast mode, large tap targets, and offline indicators for field usability.
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A progress indicator to enhance task clarity, motivation, and confidence.
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Allow users to review or reset previous steps (with permissions).
For the Author App here are key UX decisions I followed to keep the design intuitive and accessible.
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Drag-and-Drop Instruction Blocks to uild instructions modularly with intuitive, reusable components.
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Inline Feedback & Collaboration Tools for real-time commenting, tagging, and notifications for faster iteration.
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Guided Authoring Templates for Best-practice prompts and content structure tips to assist less experienced authors.
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Clear Publishing Workflow with Status Indicators for simple draft-review-publish tracking to avoid publishing errors.
Conclusion and final thoughts
By streamlining workflows for engineers and technical authors alike, the dual-application platform has become a foundational tool—enhancing service quality, compliance, and operational efficiency. Building on this success, the company plans to invest in and expand the platform long-term as part of its commitment to digital excellence across the enterprise.
What I Learned as a UX Lead
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Balancing Research Rigor with Time Constraints
With limited user availability, I had to prioritize quick yet effective research methods, leveraging SMEs for validation and supplementing with remote inquiries. -
Stakeholder Alignment & Communication
Managing diverse stakeholders across engineering, product, and business teams required early and frequent alignment.
Regular check-ins, concise research summaries, and interactive prototype reviews helped maintain alignment. -
Driving Impact with Data-Backed Decisions
Synthesizing qualitative insights into actionable recommendations helped gain stakeholder buy-in.
