UX Design for Industrial Machine Visit & Reporting System (B2B)

The Problem:

The client's field service technicians relied entirely on physical paper forms during machine site visits. This manual process led to several critical inefficiencies:

1. Time Sink: Technicians spent significant time manually writing redundant details (Company Name, Unit Address, Machine Make/Model).

2. Data Inconsistency: Manual input led to spelling errors and inconsistent data, complicating final reports.

3. Slow Reporting: Paper forms needed to be physically returned or manually transcribed before reports could be generated, delaying managerial insights (KPIs).

4. Complex Flow: The required data entry was deep and hierarchical (e.g., Selecting a Company dictated available Units, which dictated available Machines).

The UX Solution: Data-Driven User Flows

My core contribution was designing the underlying User Flow and Information Architecture (IA) to transform the manual, repetitive process into a fast, guided digital experience.

A. Strategic Use of Master Data

The key insight was minimizing technician input by pre-loading and linking all possible data points. This involved designing the flow around a set of "Masters" (pre-loaded data tables).

B. Designing the Core Visit Entry Flow

I mapped out the technician's journey to ensure a logical and efficient progression, moving from high-level context to specific operational details.

• Step 1: Context Selection: Technician selects the Company -> Unit -> Contact Person.

• Step 2: Operational Focus: Technician selects the Process (e.g., Denim, Spun Yarn) -> Fiber Type (e.g., Cotton, Polyester).

• Step 3: Machine Detail Entry: Technician selects the Machine (Make, Model) and fills out the technical details (replacing the manual Base selection).

• Step 4: Summary & Submission: Review and final submission.

UI Design & Roles (Information Hierarchy)

Under the project manager's guidance, I designed the initial dashboard focusing on simplicity and brand alignment (Red/White palette).

• Dashboard UI (Landing Page): Focused on immediate value, featuring key metrics (KPIs) and quick links to the most frequent tasks (Visit Entry) and configuration pages (Masters).

• Role-Based Access (IA Decision):

  • Technician Role: Only sees the Visit Entry section to add new reports.

  • Management Role: Has access to the Reports section to view, filter, and analyze the data entered by the technicians (e.g., Total Visits, Visit Status KPIs). This ensured that data was only visible to those who needed it for decision-making.

Outcomes & Impact

By streamlining the process through robust Information Architecture and guided selection flows, the new digital system achieved the following:

• Increased Efficiency: Reduced the time technicians spent on form-filling by an estimated 80%.

• Improved Data Quality: Minimized manual entry errors through the use of linked Master Data, providing cleaner data for management reporting.

• Faster Insights: Enabled management to see real-time visit status and generate accurate reports instantly, replacing a multi-day delay inherent in the paper system.

Key Takeaway

This project reinforced the power of Information Architecture in B2B/Enterprise UX. Designing a smart, linked data structure (Master Data) is the most critical step in simplifying complicated flows for expert users, saving them significant time and making the final data usable for the business.