A large steel manufacturing company, with divisions throughout the North America, uses internally-built software to prepare production staff with dimensions, load characteristics, and other characteristics like beam sizes. All of this data is produced from simple 2D drawings produced and shared by engineering firms working on behalf of familiar big-box retailers.

This software ballooned into a fairly complex tool used by nearly 100 team members, with an array of complaints ranging from the tool's slow performance, to specific issues in the workflow with the tool.

Early insights

We came up with a handful of themes from the experience audit:

• It's too hard for a structural engineer to select a series of plan components based on design criteria
• The tool lacks important visual cues to signal which actions should be taken next
• Users tend to need to switch between multiple tabs/screens to complete their work
• Each division spread throughout North America tends to have its own unique process

Through our work, the client is realizing up to a 20% reduction in the time it takes design engineers to complete their tasks, which is to $500K in annual savings from efficiency gains.

Through this project we helped guide the client to understand:

1. Make it easier to interpret information quickly. The more users can quickly glance at and make selections, the faster they can complete their work.
2. Remove unnecessary steps. Combine multiple existing and new features in a way that improves focus.
3. Allow for customizations. Each division has its own slightly-altered process that should be gradually more accommodated by the tool.
4. Apply UX best practices. A few simple things to keep in mind, like visual hierarchy, will help the team to continue evolving the tool with users in mind.

In summary, through our partnership the steel manufacturer is saving significant time and energy, has a better understanding of UX best practices, and is well positioned for further growth and enhancement.