Project Summary

Timeline

Oct. 2021 – present

Users

Maintenance and construction field crews servicing the electric and gas grid

Stakeholders

  • Electric and gas operations teams
  • Quality assurance teams
  • Joint utilities organization
  • Business and executive leadership

Products

  • Internal iOS app for work documentation
  • Salesforce customizations

Value of Products

  • Improved data quality
  • Faster work completion
  • Reduced waste (crew time, vehicle trips, rework)

My Team

  • Product Owners (1-2)
  • Scrum Master
  • Developers (2-6)
  • Testers (1-3)
  • Lead UX Designer (me)
  • Supporting Designers (0-2)

My Role

  • UX design & strategy
  • User research and testing
  • Stakeholder management
  • Project management support
  • User training support

Value of My Contributions

  • Increased product usability, efficacy, and accuracy
  • Increased app performance
  • Increased team efficiency
  • Cultivated buy-in across stakeholder groups

Challenge: Critical Data Trapped In Paper Docs

It’s hard to know which equipment is most in need of repair when the answer is buried in reams of paper spread across numerous warehouses. Harder still when maintenance records may not exist at all. Getting this data often requires someone to physically inspect each asset. But once they do, if that data is recorded on paper, the next time someone needs it might result in yet another inspection, and so on and so on.

Solution: Go Digital!

PG&E employs a wide array of digital tools to improve their processes. When no off-the-shelf option appeared to meet the needs, the company spun up an agile development team to expand their suite of in-house apps to close the gap.

PG&E’s mobile app for field work documentation integrates with other apps in the company’s toolbox, including their system of record. These integrations enable many of the benefits of the app (ex. speed; improved data quality; reduced need for data collection, etc.).

PG&E’s mobile app makes it easy to record and review field asset data

Meeting Users Where They're At

The workers in the field, performing all the dangerous maintenance and repair tasks, are the same ones filling out the paperwork at the end of the job. They don’t spend much time at a desk and are hard to get on a video call. They’re also the core end users of PG&E’s mobile app for field work documentation. The best way to understand their needs is to witness their work in action. It turns out this is also the best way to ask them questions and get a real-time response.

Challenge: Changing Behavior & Building Buy-In

The value of digitally collected field data doesn’t always translate to the benefit of the field workers doing the collecting. For these field personnel, the benefits of paper can be significant.

Benefits of Paper

  • Familiar
  • Reliable
  • No training required
  • Works anywhere, anytime
  • Does not demand anything of the user

Solution: Make it Worth Their Time

Benefits of Digital (for Field Crew)

  • Less form fields to complete (when that data already exists in the system)
  • Offer greater guidance and clarity (compared to paper)
  • Save crew time & effort (ex. document handoff, rework, extra site visits)

While paper does have its advantages, there are many benefits to the field worker that make digital documentation tools a competitive choice.