simonthesun | First Mode

Overview

I designed digital product concepts and holistic training programs to help mine truck drivers learn to drive First Mode’s new hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs).

These dashboard-based behavior change systems were adopted into the First Mode’s product strategy, introduced UX methodologies to the development process, and drove customer engagement through the launch of a new product line.

Timeline

Nov 2023 - Jan 2024 (6 weeks)

Role

UX Design, UX Research Support

Team

2 Researchers, 1 Designer

Deliverables

Product Definition, Early Prototype Concepts

Problem

How might we build systems to train new driving patterns AND provide clients verification that the trucks are successful at emissions reduction?

Solution

I defined a suite of digital products including a web dashboard and mobile stat tracking app, as well as interventions such as on-site modifications and training service concepts.

Animation showing a dashboard panel. Clicking a point on a line graph pulls up an overlay with more detailed data.

3 phone screens with different parts of an app-- the home/welcome page, a trends page, and an operator details page.

Outcomes

These products and processes formed the basis of First Mode’s digital strategy, solidifying client investment and enabling up to 25% emissions reduction in initial internal testing.

With HEV development ongoing, further iteration and prototyping is needed to flesh out interactions and features, but the product definitions dictated software directions moving forward, providing additional product offerings and revenue streams beyond the truck.

Read on for the design process!

Context

Side view of a First Mode-branded haul truck on-site, with rocky terrain and sunny skies.

First mode was changing as a company.

In 2023, First Mode transitioned from an engineering consultancy into a product development company aiming to decarbonize the mining industry. Their main product was a hybrid-electric haul truck designed to replace existing diesel trucks.

Digital solutions were needed to support this transition.

The HEV couldn't reach emissions targets in a vacuum. First Mode’s clients indicated that they wanted to track driver performance to ensure the new trucks meet their KPIs. This “performance reporting” idea thus became a focal point of the HEV’s digital services.

Through card sorting with clients, performance reporting was shown to have impact and easy to integrate into existing operation.

However, product definition was vague. That’s where I came in.

“Performance reporting” was only a concept at this stage, but UX approaches were needed to explore what it could look like in reality. What does the product actually entail, how will it be implemented, what are the opportunities present?

After joining First Mode to improve the UI for their internal engineering tools, I was looped into this project to assist in research and explore design possibilities.

Approach

This project faced 3 main challenges.

Challenge 1

First Mode did not have a culture/history of user-centric product development.

Challenge 2

The customer of the product is not the user.

Challenge 3

Daily mine operation is a tangled web of interactions.

Interaction map I created from baseline research data showing current mine operations. See challenge 3.

Our process addressed these challenges, letting us move quickly on multiple fronts even with limited info or resources.

Addressing Challenge 1

Explicit senior leadership involvement to show value add of a human-centered approach

Addressing Challenge 2

Research and testing that includes both a user-centered view and a client-centered view.

Addressing Challenge 3

A hypothesize-and-test approach to keep things moving and avoid being caught in the web

Research

Our research was driven by three questions.

Client

What are the success metrics for the client?

User

What is the baseline mine experience for an operator?

Technical

What factors of operation are important to track?

I took charge in technical research, which revealed the data hierarchy.

Through interviewing SMEs and combing through technical documents, I derived a host of data points to track. However, the client would mainly care about fuel savings as an indicator of success.

I asked SMEs both their own expertise and their analysis of what a driver would find helpful.

Rough driver persona created by a researcher.

User research showed the drivers’ behaviors and interactions with other stakeholders.

User interviews, archival data, and a mine site contextual inquiry helped paint a picture of the day-to-day.

Concept Hypothesis

(We were wrong)

Prototype layout of the dashboard, showing more technical graphs and data

Low fidelity digital sketch of the dashboard

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My early concept explorations leaned heavily on the data-heavy dashboard approach.

Iterations changed what data would be shown, but never asked why that data might be helpful or how it could be useful to a driver.

However, early driver feedback showed that we were not addressing their actual underlying motivations.

Drivers we spoke to found the dashboard helpful for the surface goal of performance tracking, but didn’t find it helpful for their day-to-day operations.

Some sticky notes with driver observations, showing that getting through a shift is the most important.

Surprisingly, drivers actually just wanted to get through the day...

Analysis

(Or in this case, reanalysis)

We widened the scope to a problem of behavior change, rather than just surface metrics.

With this new approach, we asked new questions of our research data to find design opportunities.

Client (Remains the same)

What are the success metrics for the client?

User

What are the opportunities for easing behavior change?

Technical

What driver behaviors lead to fuel savings?

Technical Finding

Use of regenerative brake was the key driving pattern leading to fuel savings.

This became our focus for behavioral change.

SME research revealed the intricacies of the regenerative brake usage in different inclines and behavioral scenarios.

User Finding

Drivers had specific cadences that are opportunities for interventions.

Through user journey mapping, I was able to build scenarios for weekly, daily, and real-time strategies. These each directly mapped to a specific part of the solution suite.

Through this analysis, we ideated interventions for each cadence that the driver was open to behavior change.

These mapped directly to our product concepts.

Product Definition

Desktop browser window showing a data dashboard, with operation analytics data.

A web dashboard provides comprehensive driving data, able to be filtered and analyzed by both drivers and supervisors.

This also provides a basis for future products such as truck performance and intelligent dispatch.

Rationale

Based on the initial client ask, this dashboard is aimed primarily to provide data to clients and on-site supervisors to meet their needs of verifying the effectiveness of the HEV, able to see both overall performance and individual performance. While drivers can also use this for feedback, the desktop medium makes it more suitable for post-shift analysis. This was a natural evolution of my early designs that clients indicated had value to them but drivers had doubts about.

Zoomed in part of the dashboard to show a dropdown for drivers whose data will be shown.

Home/welcome page of a mobile app. The key visual is a half-donut arc graph showing diesel savings.

A mobile app provides personalized feedback to drivers and holds more immediacy than a desktop dashboard.

Rationale

When presenting my initial designs, drivers indicated that a dashboard was unlikely to spur behavior change because

Desktop format means that drivers aren’t able to access it frequently and thus may forget learnings while focused on operation.
Raw stats don’t help them know what to actually do during a tiring shift.

Our user research showed that a smartphone is usually the only computing device drivers have access to while on-shift. This meant that an app would be a better medium to provide feedback to a driver specifically.

Safety

The team and I had discussed modifying the truck cabin interior to provide this feedback, but the drivers’ number one priority being safety made us prioritize keeping the focus on the road when actually driving. This also translated to safety features in the app concept.

Overlay showing a warning that driving is in progress and that app use is not permitted.

The welcome page of the mobile app with an alert showing that the brake was applied too late.

Feedback

Feedback in the app is also behavioral-based, offering suggestions that are actionable as well as providing environmental context. In other words, do this at this place. This bridges the gap between data and response: don't make the driver have to think.

A haul truck driving on a mine road. A mockup of a red road sign is illustrated beside the road. A close-up of the sign is superimposed on top of the photo: a red triangle with the word "SLOW" an an icon of a foot pressing on a brake pedal in white.

In addition to digital products, we concepted environmental opportunities to affect behavior change, such as new signage at the mines themselves.

This could be a service offered in the HEV bundle.

Rationale

Our analysis showed that real-time was the cadence drivers are most conducive to change, but safety prevents any intervention that took focus away from operation. One analogy we used was driver’s ed, and the ideal way to learn was with someone else in the car guiding you. With the absence of another person, other cues could provide similar reminders. We were unable to properly prototype these concepts, but drivers and supervisors we presented to showed enthusiasm towards these signs.

Training Definition

Beyond new products and services, we mapped out potential training methodologies, utilizing existing training infrastructure.

This provides a basis for future work in the design of the training materials themselves.

Rationale

Our user research uncovered current training programs that drivers are required to keep up with. With the HEV, these programs will need to be redone. This is an opportunity to allocate training resources to better align with the specific needs of the new truck. We once again used the user journeys and the timings available to insert training interventions.

Design Iteration: Next Steps

Filters panel of the desktop dashboard with the driver and time interval selections on the same line as the rest of the filters

Following concept testing with drivers and clients, the next step would be to get into the weeds of UX/UI.

However, as this project was about product definition, we delivered the concepts at a high level to leadership. Further project work is pending.

Impact

When First Mode did its first demo of the HEV showing up to 25% emissions reduction, operators at the Proving Grounds drove according to "optimal behavior."

This project laid foundations for scaling that number beyond the testing site.

A man stands with his back towards the camera wearing a hard hat and a safety vest. A haul truck drives towards the direction of the camera.

A photo of a design session, with people seated throughout the room, looking at two boards at the front filled with sticky notes

This project was able to course-correct the product direction of the Digital Products team, saving time and money.

While development is still ongoing, my work directly introduced user-centered processes to the company’s product development process. The findings and artifacts were used in customer engagements, securing partnerships for HEV delivery, including a strategic alliance with Mitsui & Co.

Key Learnings

With much of my design work having been in collaboration with larger organizations, the fast-paced startup atmosphere let the rubber meet the road, challenging my preconceived design strategies.

Stay Scrappy

When existing research and resources are tight, use what you can to glean insights. Use opportunities to speak with SMEs close by, and piece designs quickly with what knowledge you have. Build then test.

Holistic Thinking

Learning to design beyond pixels and the screen— user experience encompasses the entire user journey.

Transforming a Culture

Introducing UX and product development processes to an org that previously did not place emphasis on these non-technical aspects is a slow but necessary step in company maturity.