Sonim Technologies

UX RESEARCH | 2017

Guiding Sonim's design directions by understanding the needs of an extreme user group

Overview

Sonim Technologies is a provider of ultra-rugged mobile devices specifically designed for workers physically engaged in their work environments—in construction, manufacturing, energy and utility. As part of the Needfinding class in the product design program at Stanford, I worked in a team with three students on a three week UX research project for Sonim.

The Challenge: conduct ethnographic research with an extreme user group and suggest designs for a new product line that speaks to the needs of Sonim users.

User Interviews

We conducted ethnographic research to learn more about our users, choosing to focus specifically on roofers.
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Over the course of two weeks, our team spent copious amounts of time with local roofers, conducting in-depth interviews, visiting worksites, and observing their work in order to gain an understanding of who roofers really are and what makes their profession extreme. After collecting many stories, we noticed a pattern and came up with the following finding:
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Roofers often injure themselves by using their tools in dangerous ways, but they say they won’t change the practices that led to those injuries.

“No, I never cut myself like that. You know, the only ones who cut themselves, they’re inexperienced. They don’t know how to use to the tools. Once you know how, you won’t cut yourself.”

Insights

Using anecdotes from interviews as well as onsite observations, we created a framework to map our subjects’ years of experience and their confidence using their tools:

Using whiteboards and journals proved to be a useful tool in helping me think through these ideas and make connections between our observations and insights.

This helped us understand why roofers don’t change their methods despite repeated injury:
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The way roofers use their tools is an expression of how confident they are with roofing, which is in turn earned and honed through years of experience. It’s like riding a bike without a helmet.
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For example, using a motorized saw dangerously—as we saw one roofer use it, standing on a slanted roof, without the use of a worktable, and while holding the workpiece in the air—is a way for them to prove their experience.

Needs

Gaining insights into the relationship between roofers’ confidence in their tools and years of experience, our team spent time ideating needs before coming up with the following three actionable needs:

With these needs as a basis, we brainstormed three design principles that Sonim products should adhere to. Our suite of solutions should do the following three things:
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• Help users feel comfortable using new tools by making new tools feel broken in,  right out of the box.
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• Help users have confidence in their progress by celebrating key milestones.
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• Help users respond to injuries by integrating discreet safety features into  tools/equipment they already use

Solutions

Our suite of solutions we presented to Sonim includes three new product features that speak to the specific needs of Sonim users.

Sonim users interact with tools on almost a daily basis. They need to feel comfortable using new tools in the same way that they are familiar with their old ones.

Sonim Start allows users to select their profession when setting up their new Sonim phone. After selecting their profession, the phone will automatically populate the home screen with tools and utilities that the user will most likely need on the job.

Users can then further customize which applications appear in their toolbox, making the user feel like their phone is already broken in and knows who they are.

Sonim users are used to working under extreme circumstances and need to respond to injuries without compromising the way they use their tools.  

Sonim Signal is a bluetooth earpiece that uses an accelerometer to detect when the wearer has experienced either a long fall or blow to the head. When this is detected, Sonim Signal will call 911, alerting emergency assistance automatically to the location of the paired Sonim phone unless the user overrides the call.

By integrating a safety feature into a device that many people already use, Sonim users can discreetly respond to their injuries without changing their ways.

Sonim users have careers that require tireless effort. They need a way to build confidence in their progress and be valued for their experience by celebrating key milestones.

Sonim Rewards is a loyalty program that, unlike other programs, rewards longtime Sonim users with Sonim accessories for every 10,000 hours of battery life used. Additionally, Sonim will suggest devices for these milestone rewards to a user based on that user’s customer profile. Devices included in the rewards program include current Sonim accessories as well as Sonim Signal.