General Motors: Visual Aid

MY ROLE: SENIOR UI/UX DESIGNER

My responsibilities for this project included concept development, wire-frame & user flow design,

visual design, interaction design, prototyping, user testing, and quality assurance.

APPLICATION DESIGN

At General Motors, manufacturing and assembly departments needed a new internal software application to use on the production floor that made it easier for the technician to identify defective parts.

As a time consuming process that was mostly executed on paper, GM executives recognized there was a need to digitize the defect identification procedure, to not only streamline and make it more efficient, but also to record and archive the data being generated for future analytical use and reference.

The primary users of this new internal application included assembly departments made up of part technicians, assembly line operators, and shift managers. Secondary users included division executives and data analysts.

My key role and responsibility was to design the UX and UI for this new application. I was the sole designer on the project along with 4 developers and a project manager.

The timeline for this project was just a few (3) months. During this time, the larger scope was assessed and changed to an MVP (minimum viable product) that would satisfy early users and provide feedback for future product development.

Wireframes

Through initial stakeholder meetings, project mangers expressed that the application needed an intuitive, yet familiar interface that would allow the technician to quickly navigate through the process without holding up other operations along the assembly line. Shown here are Balsamiq mockups of the vehicle make and model selection and the defect recognition screens. These were used to quickly visualize the business requirements as well as to start laying out the UI components needed to accomplish the end goal.

Final Design.psd

Adhering to brand standards and utilizing our new UI Design Library, I was able to design a sleek application that provided advanced technology to improve a legacy pen and paper process.

Final-Final Design.psd

Although looking a little different than my final delivered designs, this application is used throughout all of General Motors’ assembly plants to safely identify and repair defective vehicle parts before they leave the plant into public consumption. It’s funny how real world scenarios can sometimes alter or change our vision.