Using drones and artificial intelligence to transform an industry / Carter Digital

Using drones and artificial intelligence to transform an industry

“Having been on Skand for 7 years, I’m impressed Carter grasped it after only a couple of months.”

Brett Chilton, Founder at Skand.io

OVERVIEW

The worldwide explosion of data has created both opportunities and challenges for every business, even for those industries not accustomed to advanced analytics.

Capturing, presenting and analysing that data becomes challenging - businesses can become easily overwhelmed with information. The real question becomes, what data is relevant for the best decisions, and how is it presented?

This is a crucial design question to get right: businesses’ data is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.

Skand approached us with a problem. Utilising drones to inspect complex facilities, it required a digital platform to collate all the videos, images and data collected. Each asset is assessed by Artificial Intelligence, and the results needed to be displayed in a unique way for each of its various audiences and users.

Cracking that solution required typical design expertise, but more importantly: a fundamental understanding of how employees should interact with data to make informed, powerful decisions.

A single experience across desktop and mobile
More than just a responsive website, our team had a requirement to create new features and components in a framework with micro-interactions, transitions and other experiences to make viewing this data a delight, not a chore.

Making data easy to understand
Data needed to be in the right context and work for its users, whether they were looking for a deep-dive or just high-level content.

Tailored specifically for video management
Aerial imagery capture and video management had to be paramount: easy uploads, machine learning integration and the ability to collaborate, share and scrutinise issues identified on camera.

Creating a hero from a new brand
Possibly the most important goal: ahead of the launch, something to announce their strong presence and personality in the market.

CHALLENGE

Step 1 — Start with the users
Qualitative research and workshops. We identified each user group, their wants, and needs: from drone operators, asset managers, inspectors, engineers through to executives.

Step 2 — Map out the journey
Take those user groups and map out tasks they would do on the platform, like uploading images, analysing data or reporting. The key here was coming up with a personalised approach so each user only sees what’s relevant to them - like data or notifications.

Step 3 — Bringing it all together
Work with design, development and the client to produce wireframes, iterate and test until we were sure users’ needs were satisfied. We worked in sprints to deliver an MVP in a short time.

Step 4 — Developing a unique brand
The finishing touches: work with an illustrator to create a truly unique experience. We didn’t want this to look like anything else, and above all - it needed to be fun.

SOLUTION

The platform stitches hundreds of drone photo's together for a beautiful overview. This allows us to see a complete picture quickly. You are able to pull up scans, locations, assign a manager, calculate costs and make a booking - the platform gives full autonomy and power to make whatever decision they feel appropriate at the time.

Users can even use a drawing function to highlight particular features of a picture, then share it with others, reducing the time between feedback, and queries to enable more precise handling of potentially dangerous issues.

Uploading photos is drag and drop, and the platform automatically determines the placement of images. This increases the quality of the platform and means work gets done faster in the process.

A personalised experience

Different users need different things. An executive wants high-level information, while ground inspectors want in-depth analysis. They get what they want.
When joining the system, users get a simple onboarding experience so they can jump in straight away with full control
Users can break down data across sites, managers and organisations - and they can even add shortcuts to personalise it more

Take advantage of the fully comprehensive and personalised reporting system that tackles your needs: See high priority risks across all sites, or break it down into individual materials. Not only that: Share and download reports in PDF or CSV files, giving you and your team easy access anywhere.