Designers
UX & Customer Insights team / Florian Jörgensen, Tjark-Lajos Rischbode, Tilman Deuschel, Sarah Gelb-Wiegand, Frederik Bader, Payal Mistry, Daniil Starikov, Joachim Gorzel, Dr. Sebastian Walter, Christian Klaucke
Year
2023
Category
Product
Country
Germany
»The Planner application successfully optimizes a complex production process by combining internal operations and external data sources. The development was based on consistent user research with the goal of making cement production more cost-effective, efficient and sustainable. The jury appreciates the clear problem definition and the clear explanation of the business case and USP. The design is straightforward and fulfills its purpose. The inclusion of real-time data and predicted energy levels can have a remarkable effect on solving a complex and relevant problem.«
Lisa Gerkens & Nancy Birkhölzer
And the Award goes to...
Three questions for the project team
What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The planning process for cement production requires the oversight and incorporation of multiple factors. This includes which cement type will be produced on which machine at which particular time and day. When designing Planner, it was a challenge to find the balance between a manageable cognitive load and showing all the information needed in that moment. The key to answering this question was to precisely understand the way the user thinks before making a decision. And there is not only one answer: it can be different from plant to plant, from country to country.
What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
A definite highlight was when we were able toquantify the savings that Planner created for the plants and for the company for the first time. Why is such a business metric important for UX? Features serve as the differentiating factor for whether a plant is willing to start using Planner or not. UX is the differentiating factor calculations on spreadsheets. The more a plant uses Planner, the more savings add up across the plant. This shows that UX is not only relevant for user satisfaction but also directly relates to company success.
Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
For Planner, we see three clear areas where we want to explore. First, to expose the CO2 impact of the planning process and create the tools to encourage users to reduce that impact. Second, to continue to increase cost avoidance in all of our cement plants in all countries so it can be invested back into our sustainability efforts. And third, to automate tedious tasks, across the supply chain from supply and sourcing to delivery to the customer, while keeping the user in the driver's seat. On the global organisation level, we will focus on bringing a UX-mindset and methodology to the entire planning process across all departments: from the board level over to sales to country managers and down to plant operations.
