Real-time machine health for technicians and supervisors

Concept · Design challenge · Desk research

A time-boxed design challenge: how quickly can a technician report a failing machine, and how fast can a supervisor act on it?

By Atulesh Kumar3 min read

Role: Product designer (solo)
Type: Concept, design challenge
Platform: Mobile & web
Product name: MyFactory

The supervisor’s view: line health, staffing and open tickets.

The problem

Machine failures were costing factories time and money

In a factory, an unexpected breakdown stops more than one machine. Production slows, people wait, and costs climb with every minute. Often the slowest part is the reporting itself: a technician spots a problem, then struggles to log it, and the supervisor hears about it late.

The challenge was to design a real-time monitoring and reporting system, on mobile and web, that closes that gap.

The brief

A time-boxed concept with no access to users

This was a design challenge with a short deadline and no way to talk to real technicians or supervisors. I decided to be upfront about that and work from the best evidence I could get: desk research, the patterns in established platforms such as IBM Maximo and GE Predix, and carefully reasoned scenarios for each role.

Research

Desk research pointed to two roles with different needs

Technician

What they do
Monitors machines, responds to alerts, updates status

What they need
Real-time alerts and a fast, simple way to report problems

Supervisor

What they do
Reviews reports, tracks maintenance, makes the calls

What they need
Clear data visualisation and detailed analytics

Both roles also needed a shared space for status updates and handing work over, so nothing falls between shifts.

Technician app

Reporting a problem takes three steps and a scan

I started with paper sketches of the report-a-problem flow, then moved to high-fidelity screens.

Hand-drawn wireframes of the report-a-problem flow: dashboard, locate the part, scan the barcode — First sketches of the report-a-problem flow.

The technician’s home screen shows today’s shift, the live state of their assembly line and quick actions: report a problem, self-diagnose or open a manual. To report an issue, they scan the part’s barcode with their phone camera, choose the problem, add a photo and send it. The report lands with a severity and an assignee straight away.

Technician dashboard with today’s shift, assembly line status and quick actions — Shift dashboard

Camera view scanning a part’s barcode — Scan the part

Step 2 of 3: choose the problem, describe it and attach a photo — Describe the problem

Problem reported confirmation with severity and assignee — Reported and assigned

Supervisor portal

Supervisors see the whole line at a glance

On the web, supervisors get a view of the production unit: line health, temperature and airflow, staff on site, machines running and every open ticket. Opening a ticket shows who reported it, who owns it and its full history, ready to assign or escalate.

Ticket detail panel for a pressure hose pipe leakage: critical severity, reporter, assignee, attachments and ticket history — Ticket detail, ready to assign.

Reflection

Clear assumptions, ready to be tested

When you can’t talk to users, write your assumptions down and design so they’re easy to test later.

MyFactory was a quick concept, and I’d validate it with technicians on a real shop floor before building anything. The parts I’d expect to hold up are the ones I now see in my enterprise work every day: put the most urgent action one tap away, and make sure the person who reports a problem and the person who fixes it are looking at the same thing.

Next case study Grocareh! A digital storefront for neighbourhood grocers

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