Preventing Storage Disasters: IoT Sensors to the Rescue
By Malshani Amarakoon
n the heart of Sri Lanka’s evolving tech landscape, a challenge emerged—organizations needed smarter, real-time environmental monitoring solutions to enhance efficiency and decision-making. A groundbreaking IoT platform was designed to revolutionize how businesses track and manage their environments. But behind this innovation lay a complex design journey that reshaped how users interacted with environmental data.
My Role
As a UX designer on this project, I collaborated with another designer to develop a visually engaging platform that improved environmental monitoring while keeping functionality strong.. We had to carefully consider design decisions to ensure they were practical and feasible,due to technical limitations. I took the lead in conducting in-depth user research, personally visiting facilities, and interviewing stakeholders to gain a clear understanding of their challenges. My focus was on creating an effective desktop and mobile experience, introducing an interactive Map View for better sensor placement, and making sure the platform was accessible to all user levels. Balancing user needs with technical constraints was essential in making the platform both useful and efficient.
The Problem
Lack of Real-Time Environmental Monitoring
Organizations faced significant challenges in managing environmental data efficiently. There was no effective way to access and monitor real-time sensor readings, making data gaps a critical issue. The absence of a unified platform for handling multiple sensors resulted in decentralized sensor management. Additionally, mobile accessibility was limited, preventing real-time monitoring on the go. Many businesses required adaptable sensor configurations to meet their specific needs, but existing solutions lacked flexibility. Inefficient resource management due to the absence of predictive analytics led to unnecessary costs and operational delays. Users also struggled with complex interfaces that were difficult to navigate, hindering their ability to make informed decisions.
The Kickoff
The journey began with extensive stakeholder discussions to identify pain points and define core objectives. We conducted workshops with facility managers and IT teams to gather insights, performed competitive analysis to benchmark against global IoT solutions, and mapped user journeys to improve interactions. These initial steps laid the foundation for a user-centered approach to solving the problem.
Insight That Shaped Design
Our research unearthed vital insights that guided the design process. Users preferred graphical over textual data for quicker comprehension, highlighting the need for clear data visualization. Sensor placement proved to be a major challenge, causing inefficiencies in monitoring processes. A unified desktop-to-mobile experience was essential for real-time tracking, and users strongly favored an alert-driven interface to respond swiftly to environmental changes. These insights helped shape a design strategy that prioritized clarity, accessibility, and real-time responsiveness.
Discovery & Deeper Insights
Through field studies conducted in facilities, I observed firsthand how users interacted with sensors. Many relied on informal monitoring methods, leading to data inconsistencies and gaps. System alerts were often ignored due to frequent false alarms, reducing their effectiveness. Additionally, organizations required role-based access control to ensure secure device management. Understanding these pain points allowed us to refine our approach and develop targeted solutions that aligned with user behaviors and expectations.
Reframing the Problem
We reframed our problem statement with the insights,
“How might we create a real-time IoT monitoring platform that allows organizations to track, visualize, and manage environmental data while ensuring ease of use across desktop and mobile?”
This new perspective helped us focus on solving the core usability and efficiency issues faced by businesses.
How We Got There
Designing with Clarity and Efficiency
Our structured approach ensured that every design decision was based on real user insights. We began with in-depth user research, conducting interviews and surveys with employees, facility managers, and IT teams to understand their challenges. A UX workshop with key stakeholders allowed us to map existing workflows, identify bottlenecks, and collaboratively explore potential solutions.
Using insights from research and workshops, we outlined the platform’s core features and monitoring workflow. This helped us define priorities and ensure the design addressed the most significant pain points. Our primary user persona was an operations manager responsible for environmental monitoring, often struggling with unclear data representation and delayed alerts. Additionally, IT personnel needed better control over system configurations and access permissions to maintain security and efficiency.
We created detailed user flows to visualize user interactions, which ensured each step in the monitoring and alert system was structured logically. This allowed us to simplify interactions, eliminate unnecessary steps, and create a smoother process for different user roles. We developed an information architecture that categorized features clearly based on these flows, and made it easier for users to navigate the platform and track system status.
Wireframing and prototyping played a crucial role in shaping the platform. We started with low-fidelity wireframes to test layouts and refine functionality, then developed high-fidelity prototypes to represent the final experience.we gathered feedback from operations managers and IT teams through multiple usability testing sessions, It ensure the final design was effective for all users through refining interactions, improving data visualization, and addressing pain points.
THE DESIGN
Adding the Organization
Adding organisation is easy here.When a user logs in for the first time, the system will guide the user through setting up their organization. A welcoming dashboard and a clear button will prompt users to create their organization structure. This setup has four simple steps.
- Entering basic organization details.
- Adding branch locations.
- Registering devices.
- Confirming the setup.
Each step is designed to be easy to follow, helping you quickly organize everything without confusion.
Monitoring through the Map
Placing sensors accurately used to be challenging, but the interactive floor map simplifies the process. Users can upload their facility’s floor plan, analyze the layout, and drag and drop sensors into position for precise monitoring. Managing multiple floors is easy with the ability to switch between maps. Real-time data updates keep users informed about environmental changes, ensuring effective monitoring at all times.
Data Monitoring through sensors
All environmental data is available in one view, allowing users to monitor key metrics like temperature and humidity in real time. Instant alerts notify users of sudden changes or critical thresholds which ensure timely action. Users can easily stay informed and maintain control over their environment without navigating complex reports with a clear and structured display of sensor activities.
User Management
The User Management feature allows organizations to efficiently add and update user details while assigning appropriate roles and permissions. With four distinct user levels, administrators can ensure each team member has the right level of access based on their responsibilities. This structured approach promotes collaboration while maintaining system security and control over interactions.
Device Management
The Device Management feature provides a view of all organization devices, allowing users to monitor real-time status, track performance, and receive alerts for any issues. This helps to identify and resolve problems early and ensures proactive maintenance. Managing operations becomes more efficient with all device information in one place.
Reflections & Lessons Learned
Working on this project taught me several important lessons. I learned how to work well with another designer, sharing ideas and making decisions together while handling technical challenges. This experience showed me the value of teamwork in UX design.
Visiting real environments for research helped me understand user needs better. Seeing how people actually work and the problems they face made it easier to design useful solutions. This hands-on research was much more effective than relying only on assumptions or remote studies.
I also learned the importance of understanding technical limitations and finding ways to manage both the problem and the solution within those constraints. Making sure alerts were helpful rather than overwhelming was key, and adding features like the Map View improved sensor management. This project reinforced how good research, collaboration, and technical awareness lead to better, more user-friendly designs.
Impact
The result was a highly adaptable IoT solution that empowered organizations with faster decision-making through real-time insights, improved resource management with predictive monitoring, and a reliable cross-platform experience for uninterrupted monitoring. With this platform, Sri Lankan businesses now have a smarter way to manage their environments.