Safety Product – Shera App UX Case StudySafety, Health, and Environment (SHE) Management Platform in Mining Industry
UX ResearchMobile AppSafety Health EnvironmentUsability Testing

Safety Product – Shera App UX Case Study

Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) Management Platform in Mining Industry

2023
6 months
2 Designers, 1 Product Manager, 4 Engineers
Lead Product Designer

Overview

SHERA App is a comprehensive Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) management platform designed to optimize the performance, sustainability, and safety of operations in coal mining site area. Built from scratch, this project involved extensive UX research, usability testing with 10 participants, and iterative design improvements to create a user-centered solution for workplace safety management.

The Problem

Organizations struggle with managing safety, health, and environmental compliance across their operations. Existing solutions often have complex information architecture, unclear task flows, and poor usability that hinder effective safety management. Workers and safety officers need a streamlined, intuitive mobile app that allows them to report incidents, track safety metrics, and access critical safety information quickly and efficiently.

The Solution

To address these challenges, we conducted comprehensive user research — including usability testing with 10 participants across key user roles — to uncover the real pain points behind low task completion and slow incident reporting. The findings directly shaped a redesigned information architecture organized around user mental models, a streamlined incident-reporting workflow that cut form steps from eight to four, and a suite of field-ready features including offline mode, photo annotation, and quick-action shortcuts built for real-world site conditions. Every design decision was validated through iterative testing, resulting in a mobile SHE management platform that reduced reporting time by over 60%, raised task completion rates to 92%, and became a tool safety teams could actually rely on in the field, not just in the office.

Research Methodology

Conducted comprehensive usability testing with 10 participants representing different user roles including safety officers, field workers, and managers. Testing sessions included task-based scenarios, think-aloud protocols, and post-test interviews. All sessions were recorded and analyzed for insights into user behavior, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.

Key Findings: Information Architecture

Users experienced confusion navigating the initial information hierarchy. Safety categories were not organized according to user mental models, leading to increased task completion time. Key finding: Users expected safety reports to be organized by urgency and type rather than chronologically. This insight led to a complete restructuring of the navigation system.

Key Findings: Task Completion

Analysis revealed critical bottlenecks in the incident reporting workflow. Users struggled with multi-step forms that required excessive scrolling and data entry. Average task completion time was 4.5 minutes, well above the target of 2 minutes. Through iterative refinement, we reduced steps from 8 to 4 and introduced smart defaults and auto-fill capabilities.

Key Findings: Pain Points

Major pain points identified through usability testing:

  • Unclear error messages causing user frustration
  • Lack of visual feedback during form submission
  • Difficulty uploading photos from mobile devices in low-connectivity areas
  • Confusing terminology not aligned with industry standards
  • Missing quick-access shortcuts for frequently used features

Key Findings: Gain Pages

Discovered several 'gain pages' where users had unexpectedly positive experiences. These features were enhanced and promoted in the final design:

  • Dashboard analytics providing at-a-glance safety metrics
  • Photo annotation tools for marking hazards
  • Offline mode allowing field workers to submit reports without connectivity
  • Quick action buttons for emergency situations

Design Insights & Recommendations

Based on research findings, we implemented the following improvements:

  • Simplified navigation with user-centric categorization
  • Streamlined reporting workflow with progressive disclosure
  • Enhanced visual feedback and micro-interactions
  • Industry-standard terminology throughout the interface
  • Quick access toolbar for frequent actions
  • Improved photo upload with compression for low-bandwidth scenarios
  • Contextual help and tooltips for complex features

Success Metrics

Post-launch metrics demonstrated significant improvements across all key performance indicators:

  • Task completion rate increased from 65% to 92%
  • Average incident reporting time decreased from 4.5 to 1.8 minutes
  • User satisfaction score (SUS) improved from 58 to 78
  • Error rate reduced by 73%
  • Daily active users grew to 85% of total registered users
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score of 4.3/5.0

Design Iteration Roadmap

Ongoing improvements planned for future iterations to further enhance user experience and safety management capabilities:

  • AI-powered hazard detection from uploaded photos
  • Predictive analytics for safety trend forecasting
  • Integration with wearable safety devices
  • Advanced reporting and export capabilities
  • Multi-language support for global operations
  • Gamification elements to encourage safety compliance

User Feedback

Sample participant quotes from usability testing: 'The new workflow is much faster - I can report incidents while still on-site' - Field Worker. 'The dashboard gives me instant visibility into our safety performance across all sites' - Safety Manager. 'Finally, a safety app that actually works the way I think' - Supervisor. 'Photo upload is so much easier now, even with spotty coverage' - Site Inspector.

Design Output

The final design output showcases a comprehensive mobile interface optimized for workplace safety management. The design system includes intuitive navigation, streamlined workflows, and a clean visual hierarchy that prioritizes critical safety information.

Results & Impact

Reduced safety incident reporting time from 45 min to 5 min

98% adoption rate among field workers within 3 months

Improved safety compliance tracking accuracy by 85%

Enhanced user satisfaction scores through iterative design improvements

Successfully launched platform serving multiple client organizations

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