I DESIGN FOR REAL PEOPLE IN REAL ENVIRONMENTS - FROM FACTORY FLOORS TO AIRPORT TARMACS.
Designing a Kiosk That Works from Tampa’s Heat to Chicago’s SnoW
Meet BOB
Bob is a Southwest Airlines baggage handler in Tampa, FL.
On summer afternoons, the tarmac can hit 120°F. In January, his coworkers in Chicago work in -5°F windchill with snow pelting their jackets. Bob’s job? Load and unload planes — sometimes with as many as six stops in a single day — while making sure every bag ends up on the right plane.
Southwest employs roughly 4,000 baggage handlers across the United States, each working in drastically different conditions but sharing the same mission: move fast, stay accurate, and keep flights on time.
“Turnaround times reduced by up to 25% — keeping flights on schedule nationwide.”
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Older kiosks weren’t designed for outdoor use in extreme climates.
Gloves made touchscreens unreliable.
Screen glare in direct sunlight slowed handlers down.
Limited tech options meant collaborating closely with hardware vendors.
This wasn’t just a UI challenge — it was a high-stakes operational problem impacting flight schedules nationwide.
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I traveled weekly from Boston to Dallas and shadowed handlers at multiple airports.
Observed: how weather, noise, and pace impacted interaction with kiosks.
Discovered: year-round glove use required large touch targets.
Found: glare and dim lighting demanded high-contrast modes.
Quote: “When it’s freezing, I can’t take my gloves off just to tap the screen.”
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Environmental: heat, cold, rain, glare.
Hardware: limited kiosk tech (pre-iPad era).
Operational: integration with IBM’s load-balancing algorithm.
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Glove-friendly buttons with large touch targets.
High-contrast/low-light modes to adapt to glare or dim conditions.
Minimal navigation layers for speed.
Collaboration with kiosk manufacturers to ensure hardware/software fit.
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Operational wins: faster load/unload times → tighter turnarounds.
Human wins: handlers could use kiosks without removing gloves.
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Design begins where the user works, not where the designer sits. Standing on the tarmac with Bob taught me that environmental empathy shapes real solutions.
Designing a Mobile Application to Support Tai Chi for COPD Patients
Meet FRANCINE
Francine is a 67-year-old retired teacher in Lake Placid, MI. She lives with her husband, has three adult children nearby, and was recently diagnosed with COPD. She also manages diabetes, arthritis, and frequent stress.
Walking short distances leaves her breathless; panic attacks often follow. Tai Chi became her lifeline — but in-person classes were hard to attend.
“Gained confidence to practice daily at home — reducing stress and panic attacks.”
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Patients like Francine needed:
Guided Tai Chi sessions for limited mobility.
Breathing exercises to manage COPD.
Meditation tools to calm stress and panic.
At-home support when classes weren’t accessible.
This wasn’t just about exercise — it was about independence and confidence.
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I traveled weekly from Boston to Dallas and shadowed handlers at multiple airports.
Observed: how weather, noise, and pace impacted interaction with kiosks.
Discovered: year-round glove use required large touch targets.
Found: glare and dim lighting demanded high-contrast modes.
Quote: “When it’s freezing, I can’t take my gloves off just to tap the screen.”
-
Environmental: heat, cold, rain, glare.
Hardware: limited kiosk tech (pre-iPad era).
Operational: integration with IBM’s load-balancing algorithm.
-
Glove-friendly buttons with large touch targets.
High-contrast/low-light modes to adapt to glare or dim conditions.
Minimal navigation layers for speed.
Collaboration with kiosk manufacturers to ensure hardware/software fit.
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Operational wins: faster load/unload times → tighter turnarounds.
Human wins: handlers could use kiosks without removing gloves.
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Design begins where the user works, not where the designer sits. Standing on the tarmac with Bob taught me that environmental empathy shapes real solutions.
Designing a Relocation Experience for Expats
Meet jenny
Jenny is a mid-level corporate employee relocated from Europe to the U.S. with her family. Her relocation involved immigration lawyers, tax consultants, relocation vendors, HR, and payroll. Instead of excitement, she felt stress and constant surprises.
“Mobile approvals and unified reporting cut relocation delays — so families could settle in smoothly.”
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Expats like Jenny faced:
Confusing, conflicting vendor instructions.
Delays in visas, shipments, and approvals.
High tax prep costs, missed reimbursements.
Poor communication with too many contacts.
Every week brought a new gap in support.
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We surveyed expats and mobility staff.
Employees: wanted GMS involved earlier in decisions.
Mobile approvals: missing and slowed processes.
Shipments: damages and delays were top pain points.
Vendors: costs were consistently questioned.
Quote: “Every week I faced a new surprise or delay — I never felt in control.”
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Multiple stakeholders (HR, tax, immigration, relocation vendors).
Global compliance across countries.
Emotional stress for employees and families.
Scalability to support ~100 long-term expats at a time.
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Unified reporting tool across tax, relocation, and immigration.
Mobile approvals to cut bottlenecks.
Predictive analytics for risks like shipment delays.
Simplified communication: FAQs, standardized timelines, one point of contact.
Vendor renegotiations for cost + service improvemens.
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Expats gained clarity and confidence.
Faster approvals and fewer surprises.
Reduced vendor costs.
Human result: Jenny’s family focused on settling in, not chasing paperwork.
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Relocation isn’t just logistics — it’s life disruption. By reframing around the employee experience, we helped families like Jenny’s feel supported, not stranded.
Designing Time & Attendance for the Factory Floor
Meet ADELA
Adela is a plant worker at Honeywell. She clocks in daily at one of five wall-mounted time clocks. Her routine is structured but stressful: lines at the clock, uncertainty about vacation balances, and unclear rules for medical absences.
“Clock-in lines cut to seconds, not minutes — and vacation balances finally visible.”
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The time & attendance system created frustration at scale:
Long lines at shift start wasted productivity.
No visibility into vacation/sick balances.
Paper time-off requests slowed approvals.
System fragmentation caused admin headaches.
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We ran VOC sessions with employees like Adela.
Clocking in/out: lines and malfunctions were common.
Time off requests: paper forms caused delays.
Sick leave: uncertainty around absence logging.
Quote: “I wish there was an easier way to find out what my vacation balance is.”
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High-volume use (hundreds clocking simultaneously).
Legacy integration into multiple systems.
Compliance with legal and union rules.
Accessibility for all skill levels.
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Expanded access points: mobile/web clock-in + more physical clocks.
Self-service tools: vacation balances, time-off requests, error fixes.
Simplified codes: plain language absence codes.
Integrated workflows: end-to-end processing tied to payroll.
Manager dashboards: for approvals and exception handling.
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Reduced clock-in wait times.
Transparency into balances → fewer supervisor calls.
Efficiency gains for admins and managers.
Human result: Adela focused on her shift and health, not paperwork.
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Small inefficiencies — a line at a clock, a missing balance — multiply into real frustration at scale. Listening to Adela showed how design can restore respect for workers’ time.
Designing for Case Workers on the Frontlines of Child Welfare
Meet TERRY
Terry has been a case worker at RICHIST for 5 years. With a Master’s in Social Work and past experience in Virginia, she spends her days visiting families, documenting children’s wellbeing, and representing cases in court.
Her meticulous notes matter — but with only pen, paper, and dictation, she spent long evenings retyping everything into the office system.
“Case notes entered in real time — freeing hours each week for protecting children.”
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The legacy system was:
Desktop-only, inaccessible in the field.
Poorly documented and outdated.
Disconnected from actual case work.
The result: delays, rework, and stress. Every hour of paperwork was an hour not spent with families.
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We shadowed Terry and her peers across site visits and post-visit reporting.
Prep pain: workers unsure if files were updated or organized.
On-site friction: dictation + handwriting slowed documentation.
After-hours burden: data entry at night caused stress and delays.
Quote: “Being able to enter my notes while conducting a site visit would reduce my workload tremendously.”
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Multi-device support (laptop, tablet, smartphone).
Integration with dictation, file uploads, and legacy data.
Strict confidentiality and compliance.
Secure sharing across case workers and supervisors.
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Mobile-first case notes with text, photos, and audio in the field.
Media uploads (photos, videos, docs) tied to case files.
Voice integration for dictation → digital transcripts.
Collaboration features for secure supervisor review.
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Reduced after-hours work → documentation done during visits.
Improved accuracy → less reliance on handwritten notes.
Faster collaboration → supervisors accessed updates in real time.
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Designing for child welfare reminded me: stakes aren’t abstract. Every hour Terry spends on paperwork is time away from children’s safety. Good design gave her that time back.
How I helped Vecna’s support staff get real-time insights to keep robots moving.
Meet genta
Genta works in a logistics center where Vecna’s autonomous robots move carts for FedEx and other clients. Her job: keep throughput steady. But existing reports were monthly, inconsistent, and too late to fix real-time issues.
“From waiting a month to seeing issues same-day — real-time robot fleet visibility.”
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No real-time metrics — only monthly rollups.
Event logs cleared after 3 days, limiting root cause analysis.
Reporting formats varied, frustrating both staff and directors.
Slow data meant slow problem solving.
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We interviewed support staff like Genta.
Throughput clarity: needed trips/hour metrics.
Speed: navigation times were critical.
Event history: 3-day logs weren’t enough.
Quote: “Waiting for monthly reports doesn’t help me fix what’s happening right now.”
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Large robot fleet generating thousands of daily data points.
Need to capture navigation time, throughput, exceptions.
Different reporting needs (support staff vs. directors).
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Centralized fleet performance dashboard.
Daily + real-time reporting (speed, throughput, trips).
Persistent event data storage beyond 3 days.
Standardized templates for stakeholders.
Drill-down capabilities for troubleshooting.
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Faster problem-solving → same-day response.
Visibility into throughput + robot speed.
Less firefighting → more root-cause fixes.
Human result: Genta felt empowered, not blind.
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Better data = better confidence. By giving Genta daily visibility, we didn’t just make a dashboard — we gave her the ability to prevent issues before they cascaded.