IBM Visual Inspector takes complex computer vision models developed on IBM Visual Insights and performs inferencing using an iOS/iPadOS device and its integrated camera. This allows users to dramatically improve production quality and speed so as to error-proof manufacturing.
IBM Visual Inspector takes complex computer vision models developed on IBM Visual Insights and performs inferencing using an iOS/iPadOS device and its integrated camera. This allows users to dramatically improve production quality and speed so as to error-proof manufacturing.
IBM Visual Inspector takes complex computer vision models developed on IBM Visual Insights and performs inferencing using an iOS/iPadOS device and its integrated camera. This allows users to dramatically improve production quality and speed so as to error-proof manufacturing.
IBM Visual Inspector takes complex computer vision models developed on IBM Visual Insights and performs inferencing using an iOS/iPadOS device and its integrated camera. This allows users to dramatically improve production quality and speed so as to error-proof manufacturing.
Role
When
Where
UX & UI
2019, 90-day incubator
IBM
The problem space
Business leaders need an easier way to reduce manufacturing errors, and Visual Inspector works together with data management and training hardware to provide real-time computer vision quality inspection with high-definition images.
My role
I brought my experience with Visual Inspection and its UX to the team in order to create a seamless experience between the two applications. I also envisioned what the end design should be with an version of the Carbon Design System on mobile.
Initial UI concept
I collaborated with the consulting arm of IBM (IBM Services) to make some early UI concepts for the iOS app Visual Inspector.
This work started at the wireframe level where the team and stakeholders rapidly spun up a flow together, while adding assumptions and questions directly on the flow. I've found this is the easiest way to get everyone talking the same language around an abstract subject. To quote my friend and colleage Gabriella Campagna Lanning, "no prototype, no meeting". Having a prototype, even at the wireframe level, gives cross-collaborative teams an anchor point to talk around.
WIth no official standards for iOS applications, it fell upon me to imagine what IBM's design system, Carbon, would look like and function inside of a mobile app.
I collaborated with the consulting arm of IBM (Global Business Services, GBS) to make some early UI concepts for the iOS app Visual Inspector.
This work started at the wireframe level where the team and stakeholders rapidly spun up a flow together, while adding assumptions and questions directly on the flow. I've found this is the easiest way to get everyone talking the same language around an abstract subject. To quote my friend and colleage Gabriella Campagna Lanning, "no prototype, no meeting". Having a prototype, even at the wireframe level, gives cross-collaborative teams an anchor point to talk around.
WIth no official standards for iOS applications, it fell upon me to imagine what IBM's design system, Carbon, would look like and function inside of a mobile app.
Post-implementation Branded Concepts
In efforts to get the app out as soon as possible, we leveraged Apple's native UI kit for the initial launch of Visual Inspector. Having the wireframes and initial UI explorations enabled us to match up the early ideas with the native mobile kit components and get the app published within 90 days.
Further down the road, I explored how we could further brand this app as an IBM product and give the sense that this application was an extension of Visual Insights. I supplied some updated screens to show how we can adapt Carbon to suit mobile apps. Putting myself in the shoes of the primary users, the manufacturing floor supervisor & on site QA lead, I set to make the app expressive to the needs of getting their work done in a way that empowered them. We knew first hand what these users were searching for through our partnership with the client, which gave us the means to identify these growth areas.
App icon
I worked with internal art directors to contribute a branded app icon for Visual Inspector. The icon needed to adhere to IBM brand guidelines while also meeting Apple Store guidance for submission. It was important to the product design team that we carried the spirit of the mobile app through the entire experience, even down to the app icon. Through a cross-collaboration with the markteing team we landed on two concepts revovling around a magnifying glass. A bold yet abstract concept to convey the core function of the app. We used the color scheme to also tie into IBM's branding around AI.
On the line
Verizon recently showcased how Visual Inspector and 5G Ultra Wideband are enabling Toyota to reduce unplanned downtime, unnecessary maintenance and identify defects faster.
Teammates
Teammates
Design lead
UX design
UX design
Gabriella Lanning →
Ellen Chan
Russel Davey
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