DURO PLM

The background -

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems are crucial for managing the complex processes involved in the design, development, and manufacturing of products, especially in the hardware sector. These systems help companies track the evolution of their products from conception through design, manufacturing, and service life. DURO PLM, a cloud-based SaaS software, emerged to transform this landscape for hardware companies. Striving to offer a solution as simple to use as a spreadsheet but equipped with automated data entry and validation, DURO PLM aims to enforce hardware product development best practices, addressing the industry's long-standing pain points. The vision was clear: to evolve from traditional, cumbersome PLM tools to a streamlined, user-friendly platform that can adapt to any industry's needs.

The challenge -

The primary challenge was overcoming our biases to design a tool that truly represented the users' needs, focusing on those who rarely had a say in the tools they used daily. We aimed to create an intuitive, efficient workflow within a modern, clutter-free UI.

My role -

Leading the user research phase, I gathered insights, formulated design mandates, and laid the groundwork for UI development. My journey with DURO PLM concluded after handing off the wireframes to the UI/Visual designer as the detailed visual design phase began. 

What we knew -

Existing PLM tools were notoriously clunky, error-prone, and outdated, resembling "decorated Excel sheets" rather than modern software, posing steep learning curves and operational inefficiencies.

What we wanted to know -

We sought to understand how users interacted with existing tools, the features most critical to their workflows, and the obstacles that hindered their productivity.

The process -

Our holistic approach involved competitive surveys, user interviews, and persona development to ensure our design decisions were informed and user-centric.

The Competitive survey -

Analysis revealed that competitors' UIs were riddled with complicated workflows and inconsistent elements, confirming our suspicions about the steep learning curve and inefficiencies.

The Survey and Interviews -

Tailored questions focused on workflow, accessibility, and UI led to in-depth interviews with ten users, revealing crucial insights for our design mandates.

The Personas -

We developed six primary personas differentiated by their roles, responsibilities, and technical skills within the PLM process, guiding our design strategy towards a diverse user base.

The UI ideation -

Our journey to redefine DURO PLM's UI began with identifying pain points in existing tools. This research led us to set forth design mandates aimed at transforming the user experience:

• State-of-the-Art Design: Achieve a modern, visually appealing interface.
• Minimal Clutter: Display only essential information to reduce cognitive load.
• Efficiency in Execution: Simplify workflows to allow task completion in fewer steps.
• Reduced Dependence on Traditional UI Elements: Limit the use of drop-downs and right-clicks to enhance intuitiveness.
• Robust Yet User-Friendly: Ensure the UI feels powerful without overwhelming users.

Guided by these principles, I initiated the design process, focusing on optimizing user flows. This involved examining competitor UIs to avoid their flaws and iterating on low-fidelity prototypes to refine our approach.

The final UI emerged as a blend of innovation and functionality, distinguishing DURO PLM as a leader in modern PLM solutions. It was the result of a deliberate, iterative process that balanced aesthetic appeal with practical utility, setting a new standard for user-centric design in the PLM space.

The final UI -

Transitioning to high-fidelity mocks, a Visual Designer brought the UI to life with a refined style, color scheme, and iconography, encapsulating our vision for a state-of-the-art PLM tool.

The conclusion -

The DURO PLM case study exemplifies a research-first approach to overcoming industry-wide challenges in PLM tools. By prioritizing user insights and iterative design, we crafted a solution that not only meets but exceeds the modern hardware company's needs, setting a new standard in product lifecycle management..