3YOURMIND
MES + MES Mobile
An MES for Additive Manufacturing
Company
3YOURMIND
Role
Product Design (UX/UI)
As the lead designer at 3YOURMIND, I was tasked with a key customer problem: to redesign the company's MES (Manufacturing Execution System) to be more user-friendly and accessible on the shop floor of companies using Additive Manufacturing.
The existing platform was primarily designed by engineers and lacked consideration for mobile use cases, which led to inefficiencies in workflow management. My goal was to transform this system into a tool that could be used seamlessly across both mobile and desktop platforms, ultimately enhancing the user experience and operational efficiency.
Problem Definition and Initial Challenges
The project’s initial challenge was clear: the platform, built with an engineering mindset, was not optimised for the realities of shop floor usage. Workers had to return to stationary computers, often located in separate rooms, to update part details, leading to disrupted workflows and even skipped steps—this was highlighted by a customer quote: “Through necessity, we sometimes skip steps entirely, leading to bad order management.”
Furthermore, the design system in use, called Kotti, was outdated and had been heavily modified over time, making it difficult to adapt for mobile use without significant rework.
Establishing a Design Process
Given that the company had no established design process, my first step was to introduce one. I visually outlined a general design process that could be adopted across the company for solving design-related problems. This included educating the team on the importance of user journey mapping, which helped us challenge assumptions and identify opportunities. We created these maps based on conversations with users from the three largest companies using our system, ensuring that our design decisions were grounded in real user needs.
Collaborative Redefinition of the Problem
With insights from the user interviews and user journey mapping, we redefined the problem in collaboration with product management. We identified key requirements: the solution had to respect current workflows, be mobile-first, and work seamlessly across both mobile and desktop platforms. We then worked closely with developers to ensure the feasibility of our proposed solutions, using basic prototypes to review and iterate on our designs. These prototypes were also tested with users to ensure their requirements were met and that the adapted workflows made sense in real-world scenarios.
Before redesign
UI Iterations
Implementation and Roadmap
Due to contractual obligations with one of our customers, we devised a phased implementation roadmap. Our immediate priority was to deliver a mobile version of the MES system, which would then serve as the basis for redesigning the desktop version. This approach allowed us to address the most pressing needs quickly while planning for more comprehensive updates later on.
Reflections and Learnings
This project underscored the importance of a structured design process and the value of close collaboration between design, development, and product management. By grounding our design decisions in user research and iterating based on real-world feedback, we were able to deliver a solution that met both business and user needs. The success of this project has laid the groundwork for future design initiatives within the company, ensuring that user-centric design becomes a core part of 3YOURMIND’s product development process.
Further screen development