Markel Maintenance App

Project Type:	Team
Role:	Project Manager, UX Designer
Class:	Interaction Design Studio II (Fall 2020)
Skills/Methods Used:	Stakeholder Mapping, Figma, Prototyping

Markel Food Group produces process machinery for various large-scale food production companies, such as Pepperidge Farms, who mass-produce baked goods. Our research identified a key problem in their client operations: the currently existing maintenance pipeline is quite slow, causing unnecessary machine downtime for clients.

For this project, we created a high-fidelity native mobile application, which is targeted towards making this slow pipeline more efficient. The application aims to provide better support throughout the maintenance process of any Markel machine by helping clients troubleshoot issues on-site, providing analytics on machine performance, and assisting in setting up maintenance requests.

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Stakeholder Map

As a method of organizing various important actors in Markel’s operations, my teammates and I created a stakeholder map in hopes of being able to find opportunities for improvement in the connections between stakeholders. In particular, we decided to focus on the feedback loop between three stakeholder groups: Direct Consumers, Product Development, and Customer Relations.

We wanted our mobile application to allow better communication between these three groups in order to advance our value-flow: time and efficiency, in addition to streamlining the jobs-to-be-done for these groups. Using data from customers and the company would be crucial in achieving this.

The Concept and Execution

After consulting feedback from our peers, the idea that we decided to move forward with was a maintenance app to streamline the process of fixing and repairing faulty Markel equipment inside customer factories.

We started with a home page with a summary of information and a Systems tab with information for each machine in the factory, as well as data (photo on the left). At the very top is a 3D-map view of the machine, and the user’s position with respect to the machine. We deemed this to be extremely helpful given that these machines are quite large in size, and if the user needed to find a specific section of the machine to troubleshoot, this map would assist them in finding said component.

We additionally provide a list of the core components that make up a machine (photo in the middle). To indicate whether a component has an existing issue, we highlight the component in red on the 3D view, and also attach a red blinking indicator next to the component’s icon.This micro-interaction is crucial in helping users identify issues. The component overview screen is similar to that of it’s machine counterpart, in that it too provides a 3D map of where it is with respect to the entire machine.

If the component requires attention, an insight module is displayed describing the current and future consequences of damage to the component. The troubleshoot button will also be displayed and will oscillate up and down to begin guiding users through the troubleshooting process.

Finally, we provide data analytics for each machine. As seen in the middle photo, we show the key performance metrics for this particular machine, with the horizontal line marking the threshold for normal performance. Data analytics are also provided in the form of key performance indicators specific to the component. Additional details will display depending on whether these metrics go above or below the threshold.

For the Troubleshooting Guide, we are relying on the advanced technology and sensors in industrial equipment that can monitor when machinery is faulty or may become faulty (see video). We wanted to present users with an overview with animations for what to do to fix a particular component of a machine, as well as allow them to use their camera and AR technology to scan and ensure what they’re doing is right.

In addition to the Troubleshooting Guide, we offer users a Maintenance Tab (photo on the right) to submit reports to Markel about what is going wrong with particular machinery. They can also monitor shipments and past reports. In the event that the user has attempted to troubleshoot a faulty component, but the system still detects an issue, the user can then file a maintenance report to have the component shipped and looked at by Markel personnel.

The majority of our prototype was designed on Figma, with the AR feature created in Unity.

The Role of Data

Our app allows Markel Food Group to collect both explicit and implicit forms of data. Specifically, metrics for each machine and component are easily organized within the app for users and Markel to monitor to ensure everything is running smoothly. There, the frequency and quantity of maintenance requests are also measured so Markel can understand which machines are consistently breaking and might need replacing, or to be engineered better.

Furthermore, for transparency and ease of use, each component also has a Problem History timeline so Markel can see how many times a machine has broken down or needed fixing. We might also consider measuring how many times the “Troubleshoot” button is selected and how long the user spends on the Troubleshoot guide to know if our instructions are clear.

Reflection

Overall, the creation of Markel Maintenance as a part of this project allowed my team and I to consider how data interplays with user experience, as well as how stakeholder groups interact and provide opportunities for generating additional value.

The native aspect of the application, the integration of AR into the design of the app, and the method with which we chose to display such vast and complicated groups of data regarding a subject we were largely unfamiliar with were all challenges that we overcame and faced. In the future, we could consider exploring other forms of data visualization and experimenting with more complicated actions in AR.

Ultimately, this project provided me the opportunity to confront our assumptions and be creative in generating value for the business and consumer.

For more detail about the overall process: Process Book