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Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma, Google Forms, G Suite
Team
Bioastronautics and Life Support System (BLiSS) student project team at the University of Michigan
Skills
User flows, Information Architecture, Design Systems, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing
To understand the problem at hand in order to improve on the current design, my team and I met with our sponsor to learn more about current management system being used. Based on insights obtained from the meeting, we conducted further literature research to gather context using published NASA documents and resources and concluded on several technical constraints of the new design.
Figure 1: Current space station cargo organization, Figure 2: Inside of a CTB
Even though there are many forms of inventory management software and application available on the market, there is none that currently has a rigorous error prevention and emergency safety system that would meet the requirements for a space cargo management system. Due to the high opportunity cost associated with a system breaking down in space, having embedded error prevention and safety features is at high priority for the design of this iPad app.
Utilizing what I learned during secondary research, comparative analysis, as well as design priorities outlined by our stakeholder, my team and I agreed on the following design opportunities:
Through the course of 4 weeks, my team and I met weekly to define the content, layout, and information architecture of the iPad app by sketching on Google Jamboard collaboratively.
After using sketches to discuss the initial layout of the app with my team together, I made the following mid-fidelity wireframes to test the usability of the system and receive feedback.
I designed a usability test for the wireframe with 3 tasks and a brief 10 question post-test survey that follows the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. My team and I administered the test with 9 participants, collecting quantitative data on total time spent, and number of screens clicked for each task. At the end of the test, we ask the participants for their overall feedback and if they'd like anything on the interface changed. The test itself would last about 15 minutes and required the participants to be in person, while the post-test survey would take about 2 minutes.
View test details here.
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Users can set up their iPad before they begin to manage their supplies. They can set their username, password, and language of choice for the app, as well as allow the mechanical system to initiate.
Viewing the complete inventory list of what is on board is available in the cargo management app. Users may search for an item or directly click on an item from the inventory list to view the item details. The app also enables filtering by categories, showing the user's favorite items, and displaying the availability of non-perishable items on the list.
There are two methods of item retrieval requests: quick request and request from the cart. A user may use the quick request method when they only want to request 1 item of any available quantity, and they might find the cart item helpful when they aim to request multiple items at once. For each item, a user may choose the quantity they want to retrieve in each request, as well as viewing the current item location, and use history in the more details pop-up.
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The cargo management app utilizes a very simple QR code scanning process to stow currently in-use item back into the system. To complete stowing, a user simply need to scan the QR code on the item, confirm that the item is correct, and update the item details if necessary before finishing. A user will also be asked to confirm that they have returned the item to the respective cargo bag once the CTB is delivered by the system.
Home page is where the users will be most of the times; it contains details about the time left until the CTB that would contain the item will be delivered, and which requests are currently in the queue. A user may also click on any of their favorite items to put in a quick request for retrieval.
When a CBT is delivered from the system, a user may click on the item row in the request queue on the home page to begin processing the item. For a retrieval request, users are prompted to scan the item for system inventory tracking purpose as well as updating the item details and quantity if there is an error with the request. For a stowage request, users are asked to confirm that they have put all parts of the item back into the CBT before re-stocking the CBT back into the compartment.
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Safety is a crucial component of the cargo management app. Users may view the full system error log from the past with time stamps and severity. The status of the mechanical system is displayed at all times. And at last, an emergency stop is available on all pages so that the user can stop the mechanical system at any time.
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Takeaway
Ideas or designs that at first seem redundant may not be so insubstantial after all and keeping track of iterations of ideas or designs is good practice. A scanning system for when item is ready was brought up in the first design meetings but did not seem fit in the wireframe. Usability testing proved that this feature might come in handy and it was later incorporated into the final design.
Another takeaway I have is that to improve usability, the design should match real world conventions. Usability testing participants were not sure where to proceed with the QR code screen because the page did not look clickable while it is — what doesn't look like a button shouldn't be a button.
Challenges
Coming up with the initial information architecture for the app was difficult and took more time than I expected. Initially, my team and I thought deciding on what and where to place labels and app components should be a simple process and thus did not budget enough time for designing information architecture.
We did not have a good picture on where to begin and when to stop. There were a lot of disagreements among the team for the layout of the home page. For future reference, card sorting could be useful for this aspect and speed up the process.
Technical Design
In order to sustain a large scale inventory management system, a secure and fast database must be used. For future implementation, I would use SQL to build the back-end of the app. The metadata schema for each inventory item can include: item name, unique ID, quantity in stock, and more. Each item must maintain its own use history, and the system overall must maintain a complete user list and error log.
Next Steps
Notification design will be the next step for this project. Ideally, astronauts should be able to receive notifications from both the iPad and from their current location. Apple Watches could be a fitting solution to address tis need. With more time, I want to design notification screens for iPad and potentially Apple watch as well.