Foundations of manufacturing industries are gradually changing. How to propel manufacturing industries to match the future levels of digitalisation, such as higher automation and AI solutions? Gofore’s Senior User Researcher Suvi Leander shares her experiences in witnessing the benefits and power of international user research when transforming industries towards a deeper state of intelligence.
Last year, I led two international user research projects for global companies operating in the intelligent industry. One of them is producing specialized heavy machinery used all around the world, while the other is manufacturing products used in automotive vehicles globally.
The studies were aimed at understanding human-machine interaction, identifying problems in the current systems, and addressing usability issues to make improvements. The results were used in the design of next generation systems, innovation and renewal projects. The user studies were conducted by visiting factory sites in five European countries.
Embracing the two sides of change:
Technical and the human side
The level of digital maturity varies across factories and the focus is often on implementing new technologies. However, it should always be remembered that a factory is not only about machines and assembly lines; the working crew plays a crucial role.
Adopting new technology involves not only technical changes but also changes in people’s attitudes, skills and ways of working. A sustaining change can seldom be forced. It should be introduced gently in order to be integrated into the daily lives of people. And sometimes we can really see that old habits die hard.
To ensure the success of renewal projects, we need to:
- Understand the human aspect better
- Involve factory employees in the digitalization & automation changes
- Innovate solutions, that do not only aim to better efficiency but also towards better work satisfaction and workplace of the future
- Understand role changes, new responsibilities, and training needs as automation increases
This all can be studied on a deeper level by conducting traditional user research in the real context. This requires the good old combination of observation and interviews, that can hardly be beaten by other user research methods. In practice, this requires visits to the factory sites, talking to users, hearing their thoughts, and using empathy to understand their experiences.
Gaining deeper user understanding by using empathy
In these project examples, both organizations have innovative automation ideas and modern technologies in use. What they lacked was a deep understanding of the human-machine interaction and the nature of problems users encounter during their work shifts.
With this study, the organisations wanted to increase empathy among factory workers, machine operators, development engineers, and maintenance specialists. In addition to gaining user insights, one goal was to make workers feel heard.
During our factory visits, operators were delighted and even surprised that someone wanted to hear their thoughts and improvement ideas.
Some maintenance specialists even brought lists of pain points and wishes, having waited for this opportunity for years. This truly warms a user researcher’s heart.
In both studies, the results provided concrete solutions to existing problems and larger development initiatives for future roadmaps. Additionally, making employees feel heard and involved will improve acceptance of new solutions in the future.
We also discovered important human factors, such as role changes, cultural aspects, and communication issues. Cultural differences between sites not only present different problems but also lead to varied solution proposals. User understanding is key for designing better solutions.
Key learning to anyone leading transformations? Create an experience of being heard, and of being genuinely involved in the transformation journey.
Interested in hearing more?
Contact our Design services to start your journey in increasing user understanding in your organisation.
Look into the study: How was it done?
We spent about two days at each site to talk to as many roles as possible. The project included:
- Pre-study: Interviewing internal stakeholders to understand the background, terms, processes, and workflows of different roles, and to prepare interview scripts.
- Factory visits: Observations and contextual inquiries on the manufacturing floor to understand the working context, machinery, ergonomics, pace of work, repetitive tasks, HMI usage, communication, manual tasks, and automation levels.
- In-depth interviews: Conducting one-to-one and group interviews with identified roles such as operators, maintenance, and development engineers.
- Qualitative analysis: Analyzing observation notes and interview data.
- Comprehensive report: User insight, including selected artifacts such as user profiles or personas, stakeholder maps, empathy maps, concept mockups, and future forecasts
