With the supply chain industry on the rise and the decrease in labor force for yard jockeys, there is an increased pressure on safety of truck chassis and drivers, and coordination within shipping ports. Currently only 3% of the ports are equipped with partial or full automation technologies for handling the increased volumes.
I conducted an environmental analysis using the four teardrop framework for business model environments. This allowed me to identify market dynamics that may have direct or indirect impact on the product's problem domain. The four teardrop framework categorizes these dynamics into key trends, market forces, industry forces, and macroeconomic forces. Key insights are listed below:
01
Desire to apply internet of things to existing systems.
02
Logistics management systems are being rapidly integrated in port systems.
03
Union workers against automation due to job insecurity - retrain existing workforce.
Through the environmental analysis we identified our stakeholders on a preliminary level and validated the potential in this problem domain. Due to a lack of access to stakeholders, we decided to pursue other methods to inform our design process. I looked at various YouTube Vlogs of crane operators, truck drivers, read through market journals and articles, and listened to podcasts. Here are some key sources:
After this, we coded the data based on thematic analysis. This generated six themes: Lack of Resources, Lack of Coordination, Port Organization, Backlogged Processes, Port Reputation, Executive Goals. Each of the six themes were inclusive of various goals and challenges.
From these six areas, the following were the highly repetitive insights:
01
Shortage in new generation labor force due to changing skill sets.
02
Smaller ports operate using manual paperwork to save time and costs.
03
Multiple trucks backed up waiting for tasks in yards due to inefficient communication.
04
Systems used by ports are often decentralized, causing inefficient communication.
05
Multiple people use a single truck, causing in correct alignment of chassis due to individual settings.
06
Tracking and assignment of jobs to workers is desirable for port managers for planning.
To articulate a problem statement to guide our design direction, I created the user story for the yard truck driver guided by the team's secondary research. These stories summarize tasks, goals, and pain points, of the user groups.
Our client's goal was to devise a strategy to sell their autonomous yard truck which was still in development. We recognized that primary stakeholder whose needs could be leveraged would be the truck driver. To further deepen our understanding of them, I looked up more Vlogs and raw footage shared on any public sources. My team mate had an opportunity to interview a FedEx driver, which was incorporated within a finalized user persona.
To clearly articulate user's frustrations and present it to the client and subject matter experts, I created a user journey map representing the yard truck driver's current journey.
How might we increase the efficiency of smaller yard operations while reducing the driver's cognitive load and increasing safety?
We ideated three concepts to tackle the problem. We conducted a quick SWOT analysis of each concept, which were presented to Ring-Co. Ringo-Co selected the third concept of "turning an existing truck into a smart truck". The features ideated into this concept were:
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To evaluate our front-end interface, me and my teammate generated key wireframes. These wireframes were evaluated by other designers and a FedEx driver. The key takeaways are mentioned after the wireframes.
JOB VIEW SCREEN
• Show one job at a time to reduce cognitive load, as well as increase safety.
• Remove start & stop buttons as it may potentially confuse drivers or they may forget using them.
YARD NAVIGATION
• Navigation is distracting for experienced drivers, as they may not require directions.
• Map could display location of other drivers, key locations around the yard.
• Map design should promote memorization of locations.
PROXIMITY DETECTION
• Camera view needs to be expandable to avoid strain on eyes.
After two weeks of ideation, and collaboration with subject matter experts, Ring-Co, and a potential user, we named our concept as EvoTruck, which means evolved truck. EvoTruck is a modification of existing yard trucks by equipping it with cameras, RFID sensors, NFC tags, and proximity sensors.
The two cameras are placed behind the truck and the chassis. The RFID sensors are placed on the back of the truck, which detect the NFC tags on the front of the chassis, allowing easier alignment. The proximity sensors are placed around the four corners of the truck for detection of nearby objects.
Inside the truck is a tablet with EvoTruck software. This is the only interaction point for the truck drivers. The EvoTruck dashboard shows proximity alerts, chassis alignment, rearcam views, assigned tasks, and offers navigation as required.
The EvoTruck dashboard is designed in a way to keep cognitive load as minimum as possible, with interactions based on iOS system UI. The jobs are allocated by communicating/integrating with existing YMS systems, as most ports have multiple systems in place, however, not smart trucks.
To represent the internal workings of the proposed concept, I created an IoT ecosystem diagram which shows how the various parts of the concept interact with each other.
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