Client
Soundtrace
Location
Denver, CO and Cincinnati, OH
Date
Ongoing. Kicked off Jan 31st, 2023
Team
Myself - UXUI
Ryan Kast - Developer
Matthew Reinhold - COO
Jeff Wilson - CEO
Tools
Figma, Notion, Miro
Soundtrace is a digital transformation company that simplifies OSHA's complex Hearing Conservation Program requirements under one unified software solution.
Soundtrace
The design challenge
How could I improve the UI of the exisiting product to make it more intuitive for busy industrial professionals to get the data and feedback they need to remain OSHA compliant?
The Client & Objective
Soundtrace is a cloud-based platform that provides employers with a unified & automated hearing conservation program for their workplace.
It serves as a proactive solution that can inform on real-time observability and alerts to ensure OSHA compliance and hearing protection for employees.
I teamed up with Soundtrace's founders to turn their platform's dashboards into a cleaner, seamless, and quick source of information for employers.
Research
To research the user who would need to use this dashboard, I first went to the Soundtrace team. I learned that they work with industrial companies and the managers that track safety compliance metrics are often very busy, working on the floor with their employees, and rarely sitting behind a computer. Therefore, the product needed to give them quick answers to their questions so they could move on with their tasks. Sorting through pages of data, dates, and downloading CSV files was creating a burden.
My persona, Steve, is who I wanted to keep in mind while designing. Steve knows the importance of his employee's safety- both immediaete and long term- and he needs a tool that can help him enforce these measures. His people are important to him not just as employees but as a team that helped him to build his company.
Define
Problem Statement
Companies needing to meet safety standards do not have visability to records from one source. This creates confusion around emplyee compliance and can lead to an OSHA violation.
User Insight Statement
Busy employers and managers need a quick and reliable source of information and access to records in order to remain OSHA compliant and protect their employees.
Opportunities for UI Improvement
Chart graphic is difficult to decipher
Missed opportunity to showcase the logo
Needs hierarchy in the presentation of information
No search bar
Could use more context to inform the user
Stakeholder Check-in
Before diving into the designs, I met I met with the COO once more to review their expectations and discuss my plans post research. Matt informed me that one of the challenges of the dashboard will be layering the view of:
1. the sound monitoring devices
2. the facilities
3. the employees
It was important that the user be able to access all 3 quickly and easily and drill into records or reports when needed.
Design
I began the design work with some sketches and wireframes. I researched some standard dashboard designs so I could apply best UI practices. My first frame was redesigning the exisiting noise monitoring dashboard (image above). Once that was approved, I used atomic design principles to create and build the remaining screens:
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Facility Compliance Dashboard
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Employee Compliance Dashboard
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Employee Profile
Next Steps
Once the product was in a good place, I met again with the Soundtrace founders and their developer to begin to handoff and implement the designs. The work is ongoing and I'm sure this case study will evolve with it!