Reimagining the daily shift report
Beyond data capture — designing for efficiency, trust, and what comes next
Due to a non-disclosure agreement, this case study has been simplified. Company name, branding, and sensitive details have been removed while preserving the design process and outcomes. Further information can be provided during interviews.
Overview and my role
In 2022, I took part in the discovery and re-design of a reporting tool for a global resources company. The primary purpose of this project is to redesign the daily shift report. It is created to capture the type of resources needed, the time that are spent by each person, the assets needed to undergo the project, and the process that are used to complete a job. The jobs vary from regular maintenance to an urgent fixes.
I was part of Ernst & Young, a consulting firm that is hired at the time. My role involved requirement gathering using human centered methodology , idea conceptualisation through wireframe and clickable prototypes, and the facilitation of user feedback sessions. The end product is an intuitive, accessible, digital interface that enable the company to access the data and predict the future maintenance and assets required.
I partnered closely with cross-functional teams, such as Business Analyst, technical lead, and product owner to understand both the need of the products from the business perspective and the technical constraint to build it.
Role
User research
Product designer
Prototyping & testing
Tools
Figma
Mural
Azure DevOps
Early insights from the field
I had the opportunity to observe an infrastructure maintenance operation in person at a remote location. I was able to see the replacement process firsthand and also speak with members of the maintenance team about their work.
Some of the key findings are things that would not be found from just sitting in my desk.
Some of the key pain points of what the people feel there:
Extreme heat conditions
No mobile reception / connectivity challenges
Reporting was typically postponed until the end of the day, once workers had returned from site.
Wearing heavy PPE / gloves affecting ability to take photos, write down details, and put notes on a touchscreen
Workers are dealing with heavy machines, health & safety is the priority, followed by the result of the job itself, rather than filling out forms
They are currently carrying paper forms in their car, in a folder to be compliant with the health & safety reports, and timesheet report. The wind could blow it away, the pen could roll out under the truck.
Some questions are repeated across multiple forms as requested by multiple depatrnments
Stakeholder interviews
For this project at a large industrial rail operator (under NDA), I conducted stakeholder interviews to understand how the operational report was created, used, and consumed across the organisation.
The interviews explored:
What triggers the operational report
Where the data flows after the report is filled
How work is planned and assigned, and where this comes from
How reports are currently reviewed, who reviewed them, and the role it plays
How different teams use the information for decision-making
Different personas had distinct touch points with it, so mapping the end-to-end reporting process helped identify where breakdowns occurred between teams.
Asset Management
Difficulty tracking asset usage and replacement history
Limited visibility into which assets were active, retired, or swapped
Maintenance Planning & Scheduling
Inaccurate or incomplete shift data and the tasks
Limited visibility into the readiness of assets and resources required for project planning
Reliability Engineering
Limited access to structured historical data
Inability to use reports effectively for failure analysis and preventative maintenance planning
These insights informed the redesign of the reporting workflow to improve data quality, cross-team visibility, and operational decision-making.
Solution exploration
o address the fragmented experience, we asked: How might we create a better user experience for field workers so they can easily capture high-value information for other stakeholders? This became the core design challenge, as it was the root cause of many downstream issues.
In practice, reporting was typically postponed until the end of the day, once workers had returned from site. Harsh weather conditions and the need to operate heavy equipment made in-field reporting difficult. As a result, details about tasks and completion times were often estimated from memory, leading to inaccurate data.
This process also added significant overhead, with workers spending up to two hours reconstructing their shift instead of recording information as it occurred.
Below are the key solutions explored and tested through prototyping.
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1. Offline data capture with delayed sync
We explored building an Android tablet application that allows users to complete reports offline in the field and automatically sync once the device is connected to the internet at the end of the day.
Each tablet would be issued to a team leader, who would be responsible for submitting a single consolidated report for the entire crew.
2. Streamlining multiple processes into one workflow
Another solution was to integrate job data directly from a central repository, allowing the application to display:
Upcoming jobs
Assigned and unassigned work
Project scope and requirements
Team leaders could view upcoming work and assign their team to jobs where appropriate.
Based of the type of work identified, the system could automatically prompt any required reports. For example, if a maintenance task involved welding, the application would indicate that a weld report was required, alongside the standard shift report (which functioned as the team’s timesheet).
3. Task-level time tracking
We introduced start and end buttons for each task, enabling workers to record time as activities occurred. This significantly improved the accuracy of task durations and reduced reliance on estimation.
4. Accessible, field-ready design
The interface was designed with field conditions in mind:
Large, glove-friendly buttons
High-contrast layouts
Usability testing in outdoor environments
This ensured the application could be comfortably used on site, even in challenging conditions.
Due to a non-disclosure agreement, design cannot be shared publicly. Please contact me if you require further information.