Hardware Manufacturer Enterprises

Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software

About project
Brand
BalanceCX
Industry
Hardware Manufacturer
Enterprises
Durection
6 Months
Team Size
2 specialists

BalanceCx is a cloud-based analytics software specifically designed to check system performance during commissioning of buildings and structures, as well as to improve the ongoing operation of the facility.

Services
UX/UI design
UX Research
Web App
Style guide & Assets
Navigation Architecture
Client review
“‎We liked their communication cadence and style overall, it was a positive experience.”
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #1
Joshua Keeler
Software Engineer, Engineering Economics Inc.
Goals &
Challenges

Our team had to take an existing product with a wide audience of active users and gradually re-conceptualize it. The most important objective was to improve the present user experience without disrupting well-tried-and-tested interaction patterns that many users deemed ultimately convenient.

Solutions &
Result

We took up a modular approach to product redesign. During the project workflow, we defined every other module to go into work and fully reworked it. This approach enabled us to introduce newly redesigned modules one by one. I.e., some modules remained unchanged while new ones were added gradually. This allowed the existing users to smoothly adopt new designs without a rough transition of the whole system.

100+
screens
530h
design
In progress
development
Overview
BalanceCX is a cloud-powered solution for in-depth performance analytics in construction systems and building-related platforms that boosts the efficiency of facility-wide operations.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #2
To make the UI/UX utterly convenient and inviting - this was our ultimate goal from the project’s get-go.

Enhanced Facility:
Easier Than Ever

Providing seamless user experience without distracting employees from ongoing tasks is a cost-, time-efficient, and reliable way to improve workflow processes throughout. Which is just the way an up-to-date company should modernize while staying competitive.
4 min
Less time for functional
test creation
2x
Faster navigation
interactions
+3
New UX flows that
the system lacked
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #3
Work process

Navigation architecture

We created a navigation architecture, building from the existing product as a foundation. This allowed us to inspect the product and its features in full detail.

The existing architecture was optimized, improved, and expanded for higher levels of user interaction quality.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #3

Prioritization

The main challenge when working on a module-segmented architecture was the prioritization of tasks and elements. We analyzed the situation together with the client and went from major to minor, implementing critical user capabilities, then the secondary ones, then the extras.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #4

Design

Coming up with a visual concept, we took a separate flow and worked through its color scheme, picked font types, and introduced basic components (buttons, fields, dropdowns, etc.). With the client’s approval, we had a consistent style to create all other screens. This approach saved a ton of client’s time.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #5

The purpose of the redesign

First, we created user scenarios: Mechanic and Manager. For each, we conducted in-detail research to discover what functionality would be helpful for them. Then, we elaborated a user flow and created a list of possible features. Based on that hypothesis, we then created wireframes. After we tested the wireframes and made sure that the user flow, as we see it, matches reality, we designed a clickable prototype.

FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #7
Noisy screens
There is no specific style of text, icons and all other visual elements of the platform
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #7
One platform for all FEBC patries
There is no separation os parties, all participants see too much unnecessary information that confuses them.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #7
Bad navigation
It is very difficult to find the section with the necessary information and perform actions promptly.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #7
Lack of tips and onboarding
It is difficult to use the platform without tips because of the burden of information on the screens
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #7
Lack of accents
No opportunity to concentrate on important things, which increases the strain on the platform users.

Client side functional

The process of working on this project turned out to be quite an interesting challenge for us, as it involved a series of research, testing, and preparation 
of a new approach to the project of a huge platform with many sides and tasks

Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Control the design phase

The client is aware of each stage, he sees the amount of work done on each stage, as well as the amount of work to be done.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Ability to control several projects

If the client has several current projects, he can control them in one place.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Eligible supplier approval

The client is given a choice between suppliers and can approve or reject different candidates directly on the platform.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Project’s budget control

The client can see how much money was spent and on which categories, as well as compare the amount spent and the remaining in real time.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Manager-supplier communication

The client can communicate with suppliers and managers within the platform, thus reducing the time for communication.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Electronic document signing

The client has the opportunity to sign documents for the delivery with an electronic signature on the platform.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #17

User Scenarios

The client provided us with User Interviews of their managers in the 
form of a text document - this served as the foundation for creating User Scenarios. We needed the scenarios in order to clearly understand the number of people, their main goals, tasks, and wishes. Thanks to the scenarios, we derived 5 main parties that will interact with the platform.

Project Manager (FF&E)
Management of all stages of the procurement process for FF&E
BOQ preparation
Comparison of supplier prices
Obtaining approvals between the client and the manager
Preparing a purchase order for a supplier who has won the contract by the customer's decision
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #15
Project Manager (OS&E)
Management of all process for OS&E
BOQ preparation
Obtaining prices from suppliers
Obtaining approvals between the client and the manager
Preparation of a purchase order checkout for a supplier who has won a contract at the discretion of the client.
Management of the calendar and sticking to the schedule, controling project timing.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #16
Business Manager
Introducing new leads into the system as part of the sales cycle
Monitoring and assisting in the team’s negotiation processes
Transferring the winning contract to the project team
Adding new contacts to the system
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #17
Client
Tracking the progress of project managers in FEBC
Making approvals on the system
Viewing progress
Viewing reports and budgets
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #19
Suppliers
Providing prices for their products within the system
Storing catalogs and information about themselves
Tracking the tenders that they won / lost
Communicating with team members about projects
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #20

Client side functional

The process of working on this project turned out to be quite an interesting challenge for us, as it involved a series of research, testing, and preparation 
of a new approach to the project of a huge platform with many sides and tasks

FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #21
Visual overview
Simple and laconic interface for quick and easy interaction
Users can visually track all their projects and their current status on one screen. The convenience of moving between projects and quick switching provides ease in managing each of them.
Less time for functional test creation
Faster navigation interactions
New UX flows that the system lacked
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #22
BOQ Purchasing Control System
We elaborated the BOQ system, which help managers to make a list of purchases for the project. Many states and use cases have been elaborated for this section .
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #23
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #24
Budget Control Widget
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #25
Track the delivery of the order widget
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11
Time tracker
We have developed a system that helps company employees track how much time they spend performing a particular task. Here is a widget which help user to select the project he is working on and turns on the tracker.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #26
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11
Time tracker
We have developed a system that helps company employees track how much time they spend performing a particular task. Here is a widget which help user to select the project he is working on and turns on the tracker.
Manager side functional
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Manage project stage timelines

The manager sets timelines for different stages of the project and can control them.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Client-supplier communication

Internal chat allows you to communicate with all the people involved in the project.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Purchasing table management

The manager compiles a large table of items for purchase, assigning the necessary parameters.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Tender creation for suppliers

The manager adds vendors for the supply tender. After that, suppliers offer prices for different goods.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Purchase order control

The manager maintains documents related to the delivery, edits them and sends them for signature to the client and suppliers.
Homezero - climate tech
startup from the Netherlands, photo #11

Manager's inspection request

The manager can add an inspection request: check how the equipment was installed, if there are any problems that need to be solved.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #34

Let’s talk about BOQ

BOQ is the fundamental system of the entire platform, which help managers form a list of needs for an object, draw up a specification, approve all this with a client, share it with suppliers so that they can offer their prices for a particular product. Therefore, it was important to pay a lot of attention to this section and work out all possible interactions.

Quick interaction with
tabular data
FEBC managers used to perform all tasks in Excel, and we were faced with the task of making interaction with tables as understandable and native as possible so that users spend as little time as possible performing certain actions.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #35
Fast interaction with tabular data
We elaborated the BOQ system, which help managers to make a list of purchases for the project. Many states and use cases have been elaborated for this section .
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #36

Formation and interaction with the project budget

Forming the BOQ table and receiving prices from suppliers, the Preliminary Budget section is filled in parallel where the user can see how much and where to money need to be spent.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #37

Notifications as an important part of teamwork in a project

As soon as there is some change in the table, (i.e. someone left a comment) the user receives a notification that helps to keep up of all the latest changes.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #38
Possibility to create BOQ using Excel document
Since managers worked with excel earlier and old projects can be stored in excel format, the function of transferring such files to the platform was provided.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #39
Manager side functional
About the mobile app
The inspection app was additionally created 
for the convenience of managers. With its help managers can easily monitor the procurement process directly at the hotel, using only a phone.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #40
20+
Mobile screens
30+
different scenarios of how inspector interacts with app
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #41
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #42
Design and Development of a mobile application for quality control inspections
In working on the platform, the client requested the creation of a mobile application for inspection. The main idea is that the inspectors can control which items have already been delivered and which are expected. The inspector also can communicate in the application about the goods, track and mark defects, and much more. Also, the main idea and task for us were to ensure the compatibility of the mobile application and the desktop platform. The manager could start the inspection from the computer and complete it on the phone, or vice versa.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #43

AR mobile app

A business process solution designed primarily for AR is easily adaptable for multi-channel online use. It was a great challenge to create a cross-platform design language that makes such a solution available for everyone. Imported 3D modeling allowed users to easily place furniture, control delivery and manage purchasing processes.

FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #44
Conclusion
This is what we’ve come up with
It took us nine months to complete the bulk of the project’s work at all stages.
Flows for seven different user types;
500+ displays;
When it comes to mobile apps and VR/AR, there are ten clickable prototypes;
There are a total of six extra channels.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #45
See what their users say
The client is so far satisfied with Equal's work. The team's project management has been transparent, concise, and effective. They regularly update the client about the project's progress through Slack.
FEBC - hospitality software rethinking, photo #1
Tarek Dajani
CCO, Hospitality Solutions Company
Back
SAAS

Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software

About project

Brand
BalanceCX
Industry
SaaS
DURATION
6 Months
Team siZE
2 specialists
BalanceCx is a cloud-based analytics software specifically designed to check system performance during commissioning of buildings and structures, as well as to improve the ongoing operation of the facility.
Services
UX/UI design
UX Research
Web App
Style guide & Assets
Navigation Architecture
Client review

«‎We liked their communication cadence and style overall, it was a positive experience.»

Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #1
Joshua Keeler
Software Engineer, Engineering Economics Inc.

Goals&Challenges

Our team had to take an existing product with a wide audience of active users and gradually re-conceptualize it. The most important objective was to improve the present user experience without disrupting well-tried-and-tested interaction patterns that many users deemed ultimately convenient.

Solutions &
Result

We took up a modular approach to product redesign. During the project workflow, we defined every other module to go into work and fully reworked it. This approach enabled us to introduce newly redesigned modules one by one. I.e., some modules remained unchanged while new ones were added gradually. This allowed the existing users to smoothly adopt new designs without a rough transition of the whole system.
100+
screens
530h
design
In progress
development

overview

BalanceCX is a cloud-powered solution for in-depth performance analytics in construction systems and building-related platforms that boosts the efficiency of facility-wide operations.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #2

To make the UI/UX utterly convenient and inviting - this was our ultimate goal from the project’s get-go.

Enhanced Facility:
Easier Than Ever

Providing seamless user experience without distracting employees from ongoing tasks is a cost-, time-efficient, and reliable way to improve workflow processes throughout. Which is just the way an up-to-date company should modernize while staying competitive.
4 min
Less time for functional
test creation
2x
Faster navigation
interactions
+3
New UX flows that
the system lacked
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #3

Work Process

Navigation architecture

We created a navigation architecture, building from the existing product as a foundation. This allowed us to inspect the product and its features in full detail.
The existing architecture was optimized, improved, and expanded for higher levels of user interaction quality.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #4

Prioritization

The main challenge when working on a module-segmented architecture was the prioritization of tasks and elements. We analyzed the situation together with the client and went from major to minor, implementing critical user capabilities, then the secondary ones, then the extras.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #5

Design

Coming up with a visual concept, we took a separate flow and worked through its color scheme, picked font types, and introduced basic components (buttons, fields, dropdowns, etc.). With the client’s approval, we had a consistent style to create all other screens. This approach saved a ton of client’s time.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #6

The purpose of the redesign

First, we created user scenarios: Mechanic and Manager. For each, we conducted in-detail research to discover what functionality would be helpful for them. Then, we elaborated a user flow and created a list of possible features. Based on that hypothesis, we then created wireframes. After we tested the wireframes and made sure that the user flow, as we see it, matches reality, we designed a clickable prototype.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #7

Powerful platform
features

Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #8

Functional tests

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #9

Object state panel

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #10

Asset dashboards

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #11

Faults overview

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #12

Custom graphs section

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #13

Communication system

Automated tests that users can create to check the software/hardware performance.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #14

The purpose of
the redesign

First, we created user scenarios: Mechanic and Manager. For each, we conducted in-detail research to discover what functionality would be helpful for them. Then, we elaborated a user flow and created a list of possible features. Based on that hypothesis, we then created wireframes. After we tested the wireframes and made sure that the user flow, as we see it, matches reality, we designed a clickable prototype.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #15
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #12
20+
Redesigned flows
30+
Recorded screencasts for the client
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #16

Testing

An early prototype allowed us to test new ideas and their implementations in practice to point out which ones we needed for certain and how exactly they affected this or that UX flow.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #17

Close client communication

Almost real-time, transparent communication with the client helped us make project-defining decisions fast while hitting the spot when it came to client expectations.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #18

UX-boosting interactive widgets

The essential part of smooth system-wide user interactions is a set of descriptive widgets. We paid a lot of attention to these underlying elements, making them utterly accessible and simple to use so that users can analyze the information they display and make informed decisions faster.

Control of the system sensors’ state on the main dashboard

The widgets provide users with the latest status of the sensors placed on a certain construction object. Each widget is minimized by default - users can expand them to see more details.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #19

Current hardware state widget

This widget helps define the state of the connected hardware and check the latest updates, operational status, and a set of faults that impact its running state.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #20

Parameters-tracking widget

Users get to view separate construction parameters using a heat map, as well as visualize different levels of the building object. This allows users to conveniently view exactly what they need.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #21
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #22
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #23

Full control and insightful readings.

A set of custom widgets and dashboards give full control over all construction processes, visualize various characteristics and statistics of building objects (like airflow), and improve onsite management (e.g., with airflow indication).

VISUAL OVERVIEW

Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #24

Insightful dashboards for
in-depth tracking

Creating an easy-to-grasp design is one of our ultimate tasks. Using light grey tones and pinpointed accents enabled us to facilitate the way users perceive information across the board.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #25
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #26
Set issue types manually for sensitive fault tracking.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #27
Set issue types manually for sensitive fault tracking.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #28

Conclusion

Let’s implement your next game-changer system
By focusing on the main things, taking modular design step by step, and keeping in direct touch with the client, we managed to achieve a rehauled solution that comes in so much more convenient for its audience of target users. This should help the client make things simpler for hundreds of construction specialists while boosting both sales and reputation.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #29
See what their users say
By focusing on the main things, taking modular design step by step, and keeping in direct touch with the client, we managed to achieve a rehauled solution that comes in so much more convenient for its audience of target users. This should help the client make things simpler for hundreds of construction specialists while boosting both sales and reputation.
Balance CX — UX optimization of the company's internal software, photo #30
Joshua Keeler
Software Engineer, Engineering Economics Inc.