Industry
B2B
Sustainability
Skills
UX Design
User research
Interactive Prototyping
Usability Testing
My role
UX/UI Design Intern
Timeline
Jun. 2022 - Sep. 2023
Team
May Chou
Chelsea Wang
Tracy Hsu
Background
Organizations in Taiwan plan to reach net zero emission by 2050, but most of the companies don't know what to do…
Advantech is a leading company in the fields of IoT intelligent systems and embedded platforms, holding the No.1 position in the Worldwide industrial PC market with a 41% share. Following the sustainability regulations of ISO-14064, Advantech sought out to help organizations in Taiwan achieve their sustainability goals by developing the Eco Enterprise System.
Summary of current problems faced by enterprises under the design background
Impact
Guided organizations through carbon verification with clarity, reducing both communication hurdles and workforce strain
As a UX/UI design intern on the Eco Enterprise Team, I conducted in-depth research, iterated multiple versions of solutions, collaborated with the Advantech design system, and presented high-fidelity prototypes to key stakeholders.
📈
50.8% reduction rate in operation time
From data collection to report generation.
🎯
Boosted 30% communication efficiency
between data managers and collectors through streamlined process.
🌐
12 factories worldwide implemented
the solution in IoT systems and energy regulation workflow
Who did I work with?
Collaborated with 5 local and international teams
I worked together with the project manager to organize collaborative schedules and presentations of the product's phasic results throughout the 3 month timeline.
Engineering
Team
Marketing
Team
Sustainability
Department
GHG
Consult
Engineering
Team
(China)
2022 Advantech Summer Internship and team mentors. We had such a fantastic summer working together!
Design question
HMW design a streamlined workflow that enables users to collect and manage carbon emission data easily, while managing organizational carbon emission KPIs?
See Solution
Who are the users?
Sustainability department managers and Data Collectors
Sustainability Department Managers
Sustainability department managers are responsible for data regulation, insights finding, and generate reports on GHG inventory progress for internal/external audits.
Data Collectors
Data collectors are responsible for recording carbon emission data from meters in production areas or lines.
Research
Current data collection process spend more time communicating than collecting.
Through 2 rounds of user interview with 3 main target users and competitive analysis, I identified the bottlenecks in the current carbon footprint verification process and critical gaps between the ISO-14064 protocol and actual verification process. We realized that poor communication and lack of centralized data storage was adding weight on both collecting data and managing emission KPIs.
Carbon inventory process map
Key Insight
⌛
Calculating process is time-consuming and labor intensive
Currently, most data collection are still done manually, which is even more troublesome when an error is detected and needs to be tracked.
🔍
Searching for historical data is like searching for a needle in hay
When generating annual data reports, it takes a lot of time to pull out specific historic data and/or insights.
📝
Complicated report standards
Managers need to search for data and customize into various forms of reports that meets the needs of different GHG protocols.
Optimizing product strategy: Bridging gaps between the inventory process and protocols
Through competitive analysis of 6 existing solutions, we found out that while many of them offered detailed guidance in specific areas of the inventory process, the functions are often scattered and lacked clear resemblance with the 5 main stages of ISO-14064(GHG protocol currently used by Taiwan). I shared the result with the project manager and high level executives on our product's potential positioning in the market.
Competitor strengths
complete structure
detailed information break down
KPI tracking on sustainability goals
Competitor weeknesses
lack clear resemblance with ISO-14064
scattered functions
choice overload
low customizability on emission unit
Affinity map of competitive analysis of existing solutions on GHG regulation
Solution Ideation
6 scattered functions ➡️ 1 streamlined process
With the design goals in mind, I clarified the essential information under each stage of the inventory process and designed complimenting features to seamlessly guide users throughout the journey. Eventually, this concept evolved into an integrated front and back-end dashboard system that guides our two critical users through the 6 key stages of the carbon inventory process.
Final version of IA structure of Calculation Unit Setting Page
Challenges and solution
Visualizing data to convey complex information with the stakeholders
We were challenged many times with function alignment across multiple stakeholders, including company CEO, engineers, and our target users. To solve this, we visualized data and flows to ensure clear communication, and that every decision is made with a purpose that brings maximized value.
Challenge 01
Function alignment
Different stakeholders prioritize varying design KPIs, leading to diverse focuses in functional design.
Solution 01
5+ versions of IA structure organizing 100+ information points
created to streamlinine dashboard feature prioritization and reducing decision-making time.
Final version of IA structure of Calculation Unit Setting Page
Challenge 02
Complex communication
Confusion arouse when trying to communicate the complex carbon inventory system to diverse stakeholders, leading to inefficiencies in reporting and compliance.
Solution 02
Detailed user flow mapping resolved 8 logistic errors
Translating highly technical, quantitative data into a more accessible view of the system. Improving communication and facilitated critical logistic alignments.
Part of data calculation user flow
Challenge 03
Information-Use gap
Struggles in aligning data visualizations of detailed metrics on front-end dashboards with the practical, actionable needs of data managers.
Solution 02
2 rounds of wireframe iterations
Refined the dashboard layout to introduce clearer visual hierarchies, customizable views, and intuitive navigation for data managers.
Scope 1 emission dashboard wireframe
Scope 1 emission dashboard mid-fi prototype
Final Design
A Unified front and back-end carbon emission management system
Main Features
📋
Streamline data collection process
Simplify collection process through standardized user flow and centralized data library, reducing the communication costs between managers and data collectors.
📊
Robust dashboard for real-time data management
Implemented a robust dashboard that aggregates data collected, simplifying data management and personnel oversight for managers.
"As a manager, I want a clear picture of the energy performance across various units, and find critical data easily to generate internal and external reports."
Front-end data recording system
Visualize energy usage and fluctuation trends on individual factories, improve energy data transparency and management.
User goal : Understand and regulate company's carbon emission performances.
User goal : Generate report that fulfills protocol standards.
"As a data collector, I want to record data quickly and precisely without needing to go over complex sheets and graphs."
Back-end data recording system
Visualize energy usage and fluctuation trends on individual factories, improve energy data transparency and management
User goal : Find out what data needs to be collected.
User goal : Complete emission calculation for various report units.
Design Iteration & Testing
3 critical design reviews helped shape a user centric experience
To validate our solutions, we conducted 3 rounds of design critic reviews from actual managers and data collectors, which we revised on information structure and function alignment to better fit the real world carbon inventory process in organizations.
Iteration 1 : Prioritize core metrics on graphs
We refined the interface by adding essential components and removing unnecessary features to bridge the gap between the ideal data collection process and practical implementation, ensuring our design meets actual user needs.
Iteration 2 : User-centric function alignment
On top of the basic structures, we added specific features such as data filters and template selection that can further boost efficiency and ensure communication alignment for our users.
Impacts
"From 3 days of work to under 3 hours!"
After we delivered our design at the end of the internship, Eco-enterprise undergone a pre-launch testing and is now implemented in real world scenarios. I am proud to say that our design has marked a milestone enterprise solution for energy management in the industry!
📈
improved operational efficiency during pre-launch testing.
🌐
in Taiwan headquarters and overseas branches are currently implementing the solution.
Looking back
A Quick Recap
Pain Points
Complicated calculation process
Specific emission factors
Excessive communication cost
Complex report protocol
Solutions
Streamlined and automated calculation workflow
Customizable emission factor library
Centralized dashboard
Report generation template
Reflection
Empower the ability to tackle social challenges through design!
As my first UX/UI design internship, my time at Advantech taught me so much, especially in research and delivering skills on a complex topic like the carbon inventory process. Over the three-month internship, I became familiar with the intricate world of enterprise energy management. One of the key skills that I developed was to adapt and learn quickly in a team. Me and my partner Tracy mapped out a clear roadmap and database from the start to track our progress and consistently aligned with the project manager. This approach helped us quickly onboard to the product development process.
One of the highlights of this experience was connecting with an amazing group of interns from diverse backgrounds. I especially enjoyed exchanging ideas with my peers and receiving feedback from different perspectives—it was one of my favorite aspects of the internship!
Overall, this was a very rewarding experience and I’m so grateful to have spend the most amazing summer at Advantech!
