Improving Efficiency in the End-To-End Operations of the Mining Industry

I initially started working on this project as a contractor but was eventually hired full-time as the company's lead designer. In this role, I played a key role in redefining the user experience, interaction design and maintaining the design system for the back office and other related products.

I worked closely with front-end developers, product owners, the CEO and an external QA team, Assurdly.

My responsibilities included:

• Conducting user and product-related research
• Defining problems and success criteria
• Documenting the design system
• Product design
• Creating UI designs and mockups
• Developing prototypes
• Performing testing and QA

The mining industry, despite its global significance, has been grappling with inefficiencies and waste. Businesses in this sector often find themselves racing against the demands of a rapidly evolving market. Daniola was built to solve this problem.

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When I took on the project, I was stepping into unfamiliar territory. The mining industry was new to me, so I immersed myself in research, learning the key terms, processes, and challenges unique to the sector. This helped me understand the platform’s main users better and the problem being solved.

Daniola serves as a collaborative hub where miners and other key stakeholders can connect and conduct mining-related transactions seamlessly. Businesses can showcase their offerings, gaining visibility and extending their reach far beyond local boundaries.

The project aimed to build a digital platform that would revolutionize collaboration and operations in the mining industry. The key objectives included:

After identifying the stakeholders and breaking down the process flows, my next move was to document the platform's structure and interactions. I used information architecture and user flow diagrams to map out the interactions, which was crucial for planning navigation and simplifying complex data into intuitive touchpoints.

This careful planning helped me anticipate user interactions and identify potential roadblocks early on. While the details of the user flows are confidential due to an NDA, their impact on the project was significant, guiding my design decisions throughout the project.

I knew I needed a design framework that could seamlessly adapt across both web and mobile. Because of time and resources, I opted for an exisitng design system that I could modify to fit the requirements for the project. I ended using Vaadin Design System as the base because it struck a balance between simplicity and robustness.

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With this, I was able to weave in crucial design elements like typography, color and other design patterns easily, effortlessly and save alot of time. It would also serve as the basis for any new features or updates that needed to be made to the main designs down the line.

For complex SaaS products, it is very crucial the keep simplicity as top of mind. I designed the onboarding process to be as straightforward as possible so users can quickly create an account by choosing a profile; be it as a miner, off-taker, or vendor, and submitting the necessary documents for KYC verification.

Once inside, the platform offers the flexibility to switch between profiles, granting users full access to its range of features and functionalities.

Diving into a new platform especially one particularly niched can be overwhelming. Daniola aims to help businesses hit the ground running and start benefiting from the features as quickly as possible. This factored heavily into the decision of adding an intuitive walkthrough for new users on the app.This guide offers a quick tour of how to navigate the platform, access its key features, and unlock its full potential. It is also available anytime, allowing users to revisit it whenever they need a refresher.

Working onthis project felt like stepping into a new world. The mining industry was a maze of complexities and jargon that I initially found daunting but I was committed to breaking down these barriers and I carried out extensive research to understand a number of things about the mining industry. Doing this really helped because it equipped me with the insights needed to design a platform that was not just functional but also intuitive and user-friendly to the stakeholders involved. More importantly, it opened my eyes to the transformative power of digital solutions in industries that are often overlooked.

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In summary, for me this was more than any other project; it was a journey of discovery and growth, revealing the untapped potential of digital solutions like this in underserved sectors like mining.