In a rapid six-month sprint, I led the research, design, and iterative build-to-learn continuos discovry of a mobile-first platform for a leading Australian energy company, directly addressing field workers’ challenges in accessing location-specific information; launching a pilot program that prioritised user feedback, the platform’s focus on real-time collaboration and information delivery aimed to significantly enhance safety and efficiency in remote operations.
In just six months, I had the opportunity to lead the creation of a mobile platform for a major Australian energy company. The goal was pretty straightforward: to make life easier for field workers who often struggled to get the information they needed when they needed it. We knew that if we could solve this, we could make their work safer and more efficient. We built a platform that puts essential information at their fingertips, helps them communicate better, and streamlines their daily tasks.
To make sure we got it right, we spent a lot of time with the field workers themselves, really trying to understand their painpoints and workflows so we didn't add a tool that went in the way, we know adoption in the field would critical for success, and change of behavious is not easy. Because of that, we focus our desing efforts on how to encourage them to actually use the platform, constantly getting feedback and making improvements along the way as we build and design the product.
The information they need to nail the job, right at their fingertips. This means they don't have to waste time, and they can make decisions faster.
It gets rid of the paperwork. Field workers can easily do things on their phones, at the spot, which saves time and cuts down on mistakes.
It makes it super easy for them to talk to each other and to the main office. If there's a problem, they can get help quickly.
It helps keep everyone safe by giving them alerts about hazards and making easier to follow safety rules.
To really understand what field workers needed, we went out and spent time with them. We watched them work, talked to them about their day-to-day challenges, and tried to see things from their perspective. This kind of research, where you immerse yourself in someone's environment, is called "ethnographic research," and it was key to our project.
We learned a ton about the frustrations they faced: not being able to find information quickly, having trouble communicating with their team, and dealing with a lot of paperwork. All of this helped us design a platform that actually solved their problems and fit into their workflow.
We knew that just building a great platform wasn't enough. We also had to get people to use it, so we defined our product strategy with that in mind, focusing in being seamless integrated with their jobs, give quick benefits and change behaviour.
We brought behaviour change and go to market to the forefront of our discussions from day one, articulated very clearly the value of using the tool and focused on features that would give them real wins and solve their current pain points.
To make sure the platform would work well for everyone, we launched a pilot program. This meant testing it out with a small group of field workers and getting their feedback. We used what we learned to make changes and improvements.
We created a intertwined stream of work that collected feedback from the field workers and bring us insights that were implemented in the product definition, with an experimental and data first mindset that allowed us to learn and de risk the roll out at scale.
