Inviting transparency in autonomous intralogistics 

 While we may be years away from having driverless cars, self driving factory robots and forklifts are here. A large caveat however with current state of internal logistics is that they are full of rigid processes which the control operator has to handle via multiple separate softwares. Our client is developing a platform that aggregates these intralogistic processes aimed towards simplifying them. We consulted them in achieving that through the UX and interface design of their control program.

Research

Visiting the production facilities of a large auto manufacturer, our team interviewed and shadowed the operators who control the factory floors and logistic operations. We studies the tasks that they had to repeat quite frequently during their shift and studied the control systems they used for accomplishing them. It was at times surprising how under-developed internal logistic processes could bring a world-class production facility to a standstill.

Defining Core Functionalities

We outlined the key tasks that the operators tackle on a given day and grouped them appropriately. And for the first phase we decided to tackle the three most essential areas of the program - Order tracking, Emergency Actions and the Map panel that supports all other functions.

Excerpts from the UX design process

Showcasing some chosen examples of the design decisions taken along the way.

 EXCERPT 2:

Comparing variations in flows

An area on the floor has to be be blocked. If there are vehicles in the selected area, the controller would need to choose their next actions.

 EXCERPT 3:

Accommodating various mental models

The map in its default state displays all vehicles. Each vehicles however has certain properties, which the controller may want to filter them by either getting an overview or to help them better focussed view.

 EXCERPT 4:

Appropriating the content to the context

Designing the map in a way that helps the control operator and brings real value to with respect to the task they are on needed us to make many cartographic decisions.

 While we started off from a map that was focussed towards presenting the spatial layout of the space, we felt that the map could be further augmented. That’s when began shaping the map towards a more schematic representation rather than just being a layout of the space. 

This approach not only allowed us to further visually simplify the map keeping only the most necessary details, it also created the opportunity to really enrich the map with implementation of symbols towards making the map more dynamic and intelligent.