Product Overview
Vindicator Command and Control (VCC) is an existing desktop software application that provides a graphical operator interface for Vindicator security systems. The application is sold by Honeywell’s Vindicator Technologies business unit, a leading provider of integrated security solutions to government, commercial and critical infrastructure customers throughout the world.
The objective of this project was to design a new version of the VCC application that improves the usability via interaction design improvements and updated visual design.
My Role
Took part in site visits to Vindicator demo room and Lackland AFB
Contributed to key user identification
Wrote interview protocol and served as a moderator and notetaker during interview / user testing sessions
Contributed to product requirement (epic & stories) creation
Created information architecture, wireframe user flows, and visual design mockups
Research & Strategy
Product Demos The design team was able to view product demonstrations at the Vindicator main offices as well as observe the application in action at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.
Stakeholder & User Interviews Interviews were conducted with stakeholders within the Vindicator team, 3rd-party Technical Support, and Lackland AFB personnel (VCC administrators and operators). I worked with the PM and other designer to write interview protocols and conduct sessions.
User Manual Study The user manual for the current product provided myself and the team a source we could study thoroughly to gain knowledge of things that may have not been covered in the product demos or interviews.
Identifying Key Users Using what was learned via stakeholder & user interviews, the team was able to identify the MVP users of the application.
Creating New Product Requirements The design team, product marketing manager, project manager, and development team met over multiple sessions to write epics and stories for the new product. This included identifying existing features that would be carried over to the new product, features that we would be getting rid off, and new features we would be adding. The knowledge we gained from our research and from research done prior to design’s involvement in the project allowed the team to identify key features that needed improvement and features that could be discarded or minimized.
Old Interface (VCC2)
Design Execution
Information Architecture I created an information architecture map for the existing product version during research to help me better understand the system. Using that and the new feature requirements, I went about creating the new application’s IA. This IA was shared with the team and feedback was taken and implemented until we were in agreement on the structure.
Wireframes & Comps Working with the PM and development team, a design sprint schedule was created to divide up the user flows / app sections into manageable chunks that could be wireframed out in 2-3 week sprints. A team decision was made to include high fidelity comps in the wireframes to speed up the design process. Another decision was to start utilizing styles and components from the new Honeywell Design Language that was recently created for implementation across all Honeywell products. Each sprint involved cross-functional team reviews of the work completed.
Areas of Improvement
Device Detail Panel
Existing Product Issues
Device details lives on multiple windows.
Device-specific “Additional Details” window is hidden and requires hotkey to surface.
Device-specific action buttons grouped with global action buttons with no differentiation.
Solutions / Improvements
Consolidated device details into one scrollable panel with responsive sections that allow for varying content to populate.
Added labels to improve user comprehension.
Ungrouped global action buttons and moved to another part of interface.
Map Window
Existing Product Issues
Map images stretched and distorted to fit into fixed width/height ratio of view container. Wasn’t responsive to different window sizes.
Lacked zooming capabilities.
Details of maps were hard to read in some situations.
Navigating through the site’s various maps was cumbersome.
Solutions / Improvements
Created a responsive interface that allows the map to hide or reveal more depending on window size and shape without distortion.
Introduced zooming and ability to view and move around map at different levels.
Added new mechanisms (navigation buttons & selection dropdown) for intermap navigation.
New Alarm Event Mode
Existing Product Issues
One of the biggest issues we kept hearing during our interviews with operators at Lackland AFB was the interruption of their workflows when an new alarm event appears. In the existing application, when a new event occurs, the existing view is replaced with the new alarm event view. Once the user has completed action on the alarm event, there is no quick path back to the previous view.
Solutions / Improvements
Took what was one view and made it into two separate views: Take Action (New Alarm Events) and Directory. This allows the application to switch to one view when a new alarm event occurs, while still saving the users place in the other view. Once the user completes action on a new alarm event, they can click back onto the other view without losing where they were.
Search
Existing Product Issues
Functionality was hard to find, requiring a hotkey to launch. During inititial research interviews, some users suggested we add search (didn’t know it existed).
Search functionality limited to inputting full device ID number. This required users to know ID numbers in order to search for a device.
Solutions / Improvements
Made search more discoverable by placing icon in persistant top bar.
Expanded the functionality to include searching by ID or keyword entry. Exact matches not required.
Added search filters (by device type, location, tag, etc.) to improve search results.
Outcome
This was the final project I worked at at Honeywell before I left. Design and prototypes of all high-level interactions had been completed and delivered to the Vindicator Technologies product team to continue work at the time of my departure.
Based on the available product offerings, this project did not make it through to launch.
HUE (Honeywell User Experience) Team
Dan Tran - Experience Designer
Shannon Roberts - Experience Designer
Caroling Lee - Project Manager