Rolling out ‘smooth of use’ on the factory line
The Story
Redimark, a subsidiary of parent company Matthews, embarked on a journey to reinvent the user experience and overall product for factory bar code printing. Recognizing the pivotal role of ease of use in product adoption, Redimark sought to improve its website conversion rates while also redesigning the interface on a tablet print management experience. The goal was to ensure that printer operators and mechanics found the UI intuitive, streamlined, and user-friendly. This project aimed to uncover design elements that may prove confusing or problematic, improving site conversions while making the lives of factory technicians a breeze.
Redimark’s objective was to identify usability issues, minor or major, within the site and a new printer touch screen UI and mobile app that Experience Dynamics would redesign. The overarching goal was to streamline the user journey, ensuring that each touchpoint resonated with ease of use and empowered users to navigate seamlessly. If this was to work we would reduce stress and confusion from the job of deciding to purchase and managing operations on the factory floor smoothly.
The Challenge
For the website, the key challenge was securing factory bosses for an online usability testing walkthrough of their site. Their time was precious. Likewise, for the product UI (tablet used to manage print jobs on the factory conveyor line), having factory workers and service Techs attend a usability testing with a prototype interface redesigned by Experience Dynamics was challenging.
Neither of these audiences would be willing to participate due to their job responsibilities and time constraints. In fact, the Redimark team spent over a year recruiting two people.
Also see, Why participant recruiting is non-trivial, and why nobody is talking about this
The Strategy
Service Tech users interacting with the wireframe prototype during a usability test at Experience Dynamics labs.
The Turning Point
Experience Dynamics spent two weeks rapidly recruiting users. Within days we realized the core user was not the floor conveyor belt operator but the service Technicians. By going to factories directly, we were able to intercept employees as well as factory managers.
Meanwhile, Experience Dynamics held online prototyping sessions with Redimark stakeholders globally. In several weeks we had a completely streamlined prototype, ‘wired up’ (clickable prototype) and ready for testing with 10 users.
See Sample sizes in User Research.
The Execution
We would use our usability lab to test the device (touch screen interface) and supporting mobile app. Remotely we would have online usability testing sessions with factor bosses regarding the website purchase decision experience.
In Human Centered Design, we use research to validate concepts and ferret gaps in touchpoint design. This empirical approach would uncover nuanced insights, shaping actionable design recommendations and fostering an intuitive and rewarding user experience.
The steps included:
- Comprehensive Usability Testing: The usability testing spanned the Redimark website, printer, mobile app, and touchscreen UI. End-users, including printer operators and mechanics, walked through common scenarios, enabling an evaluation of structural navigation and content robustness. Service Techs were able to play with an unboxing (giving us Out of Box Experience insights) and then mount a printer and manage it– with our new interfaces prototype.
- Lab Setting Observations: The usability testing sessions unfolded within a controlled lab environment, enabling close observation, meticulous recording, and comprehensive analysis.
- Empowering Design Recommendations: Experience Dynamics provided Redimark with a comprehensive usability test report. This report encapsulated the findings, actionable recommendations, and the roadmap for enhancing user experience. These suggestions aimed to enhance the UI’s user-friendliness and address any identified issues. We found content enhancement opportunities and the need for streamlined navigation with managers. For Techs, we got valuable feedback on missing features and “almost there” insights that helped us polish Interaction Design concepts.
The Result
Redimark was able to quickly optimize its website, including important decision assets. They got real customers (end-users) in front of designs to provide honest feedback about design concepts. Most of all, observing users interact with the various product touchpoints and channels (mobile app, touchscreen UI, website) provided holistic context intelligence. The site had a 16% increase in conversions within the first month. The factory-bound product was tweaked just in time for roll out. Users were enthusiastic about the product features and were delighted by its ease of use—one less UI to worry about.
This case study underscores the role of usability testing in gaining evidence-based UX. It helped shape a more precise (conversion-boosting) experience, fostering adoption and empowering users to embrace technology confidently and easily.
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