ADDY RUTHA desktop application could contain the right information and still be the wrong experience for the moment someone needed it.
Jetson primarily lived in a desktop/browser environment. Its users worked on warehouse floors, around equipment, in control rooms, during training and through live operational events.
Some needs belonged in software. Others were better served by a light, a printed guide, a large display, a mobile view or concise training. I treated physical context, timing and communication channel as part of the product experience.
IMPLEMENTED WORK · COMMUNICATION ARTIFACTS · CONCEPT
A map of decision environments and possible surfaces. It includes implemented touchpoints and explored channels; their statuses are separated below.
The product was the system of touchpoints around the work.
Users were walking the floor, inspecting equipment, supporting workers, troubleshooting and responding to alarms. Returning to a computer could interrupt both the physical task and the context they had just observed.
Access to information was not the same as access at the right moment.
| Need | Useful surfaces | Question to support |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate awareness | Physical lights, alarms, glanceable displays | Where does attention need to go? |
| Investigation | Desktop, reports, drill-down views | What explains this condition? |
| In-field reference | Handheld, mobile, QR access | What is useful beside this equipment? |
| Learning | Training, one-sheets, FAQ, guidance | What does this mean, and how do I use it? |
| Shared understanding | Wall displays, explainers, diagrams | How do we build a common picture? |
Channel-selection model, not an inventory of shipped features.
I owned visual structure, layout and production of four printed pieces explaining Jetson, its capabilities and emerging direction.
A concise guide to a complex operational metric.
My contribution: visual structure, hierarchy, layout and production / printing. Technical wording came primarily from existing materials and PM input.
OEE interpretation story →Explain what Jetson was, who it served and why it mattered. Research showed a broader audience than the perception of an Engineering-only tool.
My contribution: visual design, structure, layout, copy / wording and production.
Communicate why operational perspective needed to reach users away from a desktop.
My contribution: visual design, layout, copy / wording, mobility framing and production.
Explain concepts and pilots across teams and sites as ways to learn which needs could become supported capabilities.
My contribution: visual design, layout, copy / wording and production.
The printed materials were produced. The mobility and proof-of-concept directions they described were not evidence of completed rollout. Internal collateral is not reproduced here.
Large-format / TV-style concepts offered a glanceable layer: is the area healthy, is a condition isolated or systemic, and where should attention go first?
Glance → orient → investigate. A larger display needed a different information hierarchy, not a stretched desktop dashboard.
The field-access direction focused on what helps beside the equipment: location, current state, basic diagnostics, active issues, ownership, recent history, contacts and documentation.
The question was what belongs in that moment—not simply how to put Jetson on a phone.
A physical location or device could link directly to its digital context: identification, diagnostics, documentation, training and support knowledge.
Sometimes the shortest path through software starts in the physical world.
These are explored directions. Mobile, QR and large-format concepts are not presented as implemented capabilities.
Questions about OEE, definitions, terminology, system behavior and finding information exposed design opportunities. One-sheets, short explainers, orientation materials and role-relevant summaries could meet the immediate need while revealing what the product should explain better itself.
SICK signaling connected a worker’s observation to a physical stacklight and then digital location / state. The immediate request stayed where work happened instead of forcing a software task at the wrong moment.
Physical systems already communicate. UX can make that language intentional.
Human-Generated Signals / SICK →Channel choice is an interaction decision.
Operational users needed information while moving, supporting workers or standing beside equipment.
Treat physical signals, mobile, displays, print and training as parts of one experience.
More channels introduce more consistency, maintenance and governance work.
The direction was to meet users closer to the context of their decisions.
Target Together materials, OEE education, training / explainers, product communication and physical SICK signaling work.
Mobile / handheld access, QR navigation, large-format glanceable displays and broader field-access concepts. Implementation claims require an artifact audit.
Original work: field observation → context mismatch → surface selection → Figma / visual design / print / prototype → training, field use and feedback.
Current reconstruction: recovered cross-channel patterns → connected physical/digital touchpoints → AI-assisted exploration → Codex Smart Warehouse prototype.
Current methods remain separate from the historical work. This is a summary of different delivery paths, not a claim that every concept completed every stage.
Useful anywhere work happens beyond the screen where the software was designed.