Bosch Infrastructure Management App for APLM
This document serves to illustrate my activities and services for the Bosch Group working as UX/UI-Designer and software engineer. Confidential information, including technical details, customer data, and personal data, has been removed to the best of my knowledge and has not been disclosed. If names should be found, they are fictional and used as an example. Please understand that I am unable to share any project-specific details, even upon request.
Bosch Active Parking Lot Management (APLM) is a smart, end-to-end solution designed to optimize the operation and efficiency of parking facilities. Utilizing a combination of sensors, IoT technology, and software, APLM provides real-time information on the occupancy and usage of individual parking spaces. The core value proposition of APLM lies in its ability to significantly reduce the time drivers spend searching for parking by providing accurate, live guidance.
I will focus on this page specifically on the design of the dedicated mobile application optimized for service technicians.
On-site service technicians require a dedicated tool to support their maintenance tasks within the scope of the broader Bosch APLM project. Tasks such as locating issues, fixing hardware defects, and installing new parking lot sensors cannot be performed efficiently or in a user-friendly manner using the existing APLM desktop application.
The goal is to design and develop an easy to use user interfaces to operate and manage parking lots equipped with Active Parking Lot Management from Bosch in order to make parking easier for car drivers.
For the mobile app my task was limited to create a design concept that is aligned with the APLM project. My responsibilities spanned the entire engineering lifecycle, including: gathering user requirements, ideating potential solutions, creating wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes, and finally collecting user feedback.
Design and implementation of the described mobile app was part of the Active Parking Lot Management App (APLM). Therefore the same process was applied.
By applying UX methods, I was not only able to create an intuitive user interface, but I also gained a deep understanding of user needs in the parking domain.
By performing a usability test on sensor installation with different devices we learned which devices is the most useful device for service technicians.
This led us in the direction of planning a mobile app for service technicians to locate and fix issues or install infrastructure hardware like new sensors on parking spaces.
As part of the APLM project, I identified and documented several key user groups. For the dedicated mobile application, the primary key user is the Service Technician, internally named 'Tech Titan', who performs maintenance tasks on-site.
For designing the mobile application, I was able to use existing resources I created for APLM, specifically the information architecture and user journey maps. However, I initiated the application design by creating new wireframes, user flows and prototypes to ensure we could gather feedback rapidly.
Driven by the already collected requirements and ideas from the desktop application I created wireframes for service technicians.
I created several user flows for the mobile application. My process began with paper-based wireframes, which I then transformed into digital wireframes and linked together to form interactive prototypes.
For example, the user flow for a parking space sensor replacement was particularly insightful, providing valuable feedback on the real-world operational procedures of the service technicians.
A key lesson learned was that different users often follow distinct workflows. For instance, some technicians preferred installing a sensor and registering it immediately, while others chose to physically install all sensors first before completing the registration process in bulk.
This insight led to a crucial design decision: providing multiple paths to initiate sensor registration within the UI (e.g., from the sensor details view and the parking space details view). Furthermore, careful consideration was given to intuitive navigation for moving both forward and backward within these complex workflows.
When I started creating the visual design there was no corporate design for mobile apps. To create the mobile app I tried to reuse as many components as possible and created variants to create a better user experience on mobile devices. Through my study of Computer Science and Media I already gained knowledge on how to design mobile HMIs. In addition Apples Human Interface Guidelines are a useful source for best practices and interaction patterns like gestures.
Mainly designed to support operation and maintenance in the field. The focus is on operating conditions, operational events, infrastructure and current utilization of parking garages and parking spaces. Due to the required camera support, the implementation was carried out as a native app.
I have put a lot of work, effort and passion into designing the mobile application. I did best to support the on-site service technician with system status information, warning and error events and guided maintenance tasks like sensor installation.
However, the concept of the mobile app was not realized or implemented. Nevertheless, there were many interesting and useful aspects that I was able to use in other projects.
