GroundHog App

Fleet and Mining Management Apps for Underground Miners 

OVERVIEW

GroundHog app is the first-ever state-of-the-art Underground mine digitization project. A 10000+ feet deep Underground Gold mine is the workplace of this app. 

24 activities like Drilling, Blasting, Mucking, Bolting, Shotcreting, etc., were digitized as a part of this initiative. Each activity required a unique app. 

The project was done on-site at the mine in Nevada, USA, where user studies were conducted, The apps were designed, tested, and delivered.

TEAM
Independent Contributor

ROLE
Product Designer, GroundHog Apps

PROJECT DURATION
6 Months (Feb - Aug 2017)

SCOPE OF WORK
User Interviews, Focus Groups, A/B Testing, UI Research, Interaction Design, Visual Design.

Underground Mining process

Before getting to know our users and kicking off the project, we reached the mining site in Nevada, USA
, and learned how mining happens. We passed a Mining license exam (a mandatory one) in which the mining
process and Health & Safety Administration in Underground mines were explained.

A Mining Operators spraying concrete to reinforce the tunnel walls at 8000 feet below the surface level

That's me in my safety gear!

The Problem and the need for digitization

GENERAL CHALLENGES

— Mining efficiency is low 

— Mine Production couldn't be tracked accurately

— Admin fatigue from communicating over the radio

— Work Progress and support couldn't be addressed timely

— Navigating inside an underground mine is difficult

— Communicating to operators via radio is challenging

— Operators getting lost underground

TEDIOUS INSPECTIONS AND SAFETY CHECKS


Workplace Inspection used to be conducted using the cards shown in the picture. Miners carry these cards along with a pencil. The drawbacks of the inspection cards are:

— Cards are small in size

— The font sizes were too small to read on Inspection cards

— Poor lighting conditions inside the tunnel

Understanding the Users

Mining Operators

  • 24 - 60 years of age

  • Works on Day/ Night shifts in alternative weeks

  • Operates different pieces of equipment that have different workflows

  • About 20% with Visual Impairments like color blindness 

  • Safety above everything else, One accidental death can shut down the mine.

Operations Admin 

  • 40 - 60 years of age

  • Works on Day/ Night shifts in alternative weeks

  • Produces Mining plan

  • Supports Miners who are working underground with Supplies and information

Primary Research

We started observing and documenting about 20+ mining activities that happen 10000 feet underground at the Gold mine in Nevada, USA. 

User interviews and Focus Group interviews were conducted after the initial observation. Concepts were made along with the actual users' involvement. 

Underground mines are very dark environments that need a specialized UI with low color contrast. Users are miners who wear safety gear and gloves all the time. Conventional usability guidelines like buttons with 48 px height wouldn't work in this scenario. I developed a new set of UI guidelines for underground environments that are later published as scientific papers in conferences.

Underground Mine as a workplace

Samples of Equipment and Workplace Inspection Cards with about 30 Boolean questions

Conceptualization

We validated our concepts with various focus groups and stakeholders and course-corrected
few workflows. We have also created UI to check the usability of our app in an underground environment
followed by a series of A/B tests to validate the interfaces.

The Solution

Webtool for Admins

User friendly Equipment and Workplace Inspections 

Miners use an iPad to log in and start their work by inspecting their Equipment and Workplace. Compared to Inspection cards, our solution has better readability, accessibility, and spontaneity.

User's view their Work schedule and navigate to an Ore Heading using in-app mine maps

Users can plan their work schedule and Navigate to their workplace from the app.

User's Mining activity with all needed information

Task screens are unique to the operation. This is an example of Mucking operation where the iPad is docked to the equipment's dashboard. The user sits two feet away from the dashboard. 

User can request Supplies without calling the admin over the radio

All consumables can be requested on the fly without calling the Admin over the radio. The balance amount of consumables can also be seen in the app.

As a part of the solution, Work Scheduler, Map power Utilization Dashboards, and Request Approval Dashboards were designed for Supervisors and Admins who operate from the office space located on the surface (not underground). 

Usability Testing

Usability testing is an essential task as mine safety was a prime concern. Tests were conducted with the Focus groups on the below aspects:

  • The intuitiveness of the application

  • The color contrast of the UI

  • Usability of Elements like buttons and controls 

UI Guidelines for underground environments were formulated which was later published as a research paper at a conference.

Research Paper: User Interfaces for Safety Inspections in Underground Mining

Andukuri S.H., 7th International Conference on Research into Design, ICoRD’ 19

Product Reception

Seeing Results

Digitization helped Barrick Gold in bringing effectiveness to the mining process. Below are a few key results: 

  • 8.4/10 CSAT score from the Mining operators 

  • 7/10 CSAT score from Admin 

  • Improved production planning and work allocation

  • Better Communication and faster turnaround times 

And, about 2% increase in Gold production (Annual production is ~ 500 Kilo Ounces)

Project Learnings

Design intervention where no research reference exists

  • How to perform Focus group interviews

  • Understanding the value of primary research in creating a new product

  • Understanding a different set of users and their pain points

  • The purpose of interfaces and how to break the standard rules

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