SiteSmart
Sector: Non-profit, Construction, Farming, Health and Safety, Subscription-based Application
Skills: UX and UI design, User Research and Analysis, Wireframing, Requirements Gathering, Stakeholder Engagement, Information Architecture, Documentation and Technical Writing, Agile Methodologies
Tools: Figma, Miro, project management applications, Wix, Google Analytics
From Farms to Construction Sites: The Evolution of SiteSmart
SiteSmart, initially known as Zero Harm Farm, is a health and safety management app originally designed for farmers. Site Safe New Zealand's leading not-for-profit membership association for health and safety in construction acquired Zero Harm Farm in 2020. There goal was to create an app that helps small businesses enhance their health and safety practices and foster a culture of worker participation in site safety. The transition from farming to construction marked a significant pivot in its target market and functionalities.
Before: Zero Harm Farm
After: SiteSmart
My Role: Pioneering UX Design
Health and Safety is a hard sell as people only understand its value after incidents happen. We aimed to change this perception by emphasizing prevention and the importance of returning home safely at the end of the day. I was onboarded to help the team pivot to a completely different target market, dealing with constant changes, technical constraints, and evolving stakeholder needs.
As the first and sole UX designer on the team, I championed design best practices throughout the product lifecycle. I introduced user research, user testing and acceptance testing to the team workflow and ensured a high-quality user experience. Working with both legacy and new code bases, I faced complex challenges that required innovative solutions, allowing me to be deeply involved in all stages of design, from product and market research, new feature conceptualisation, to their live deployment.
Thriving in a Startup Environment
SiteSmart product team of 6, consisting of a product manager, four developers, and myself, operated like a startup within a non-profit organisation. This dynamic environment demanded flexibility, quick adaptation to changing scopes, strict timelines, and high expectations. I excelled in prioritising feedback under time constraints, ensuring critical points were addressed promptly and creating rapid design artefacts.
Emphasising Accessibility and Inclusitivity in User Research
Our diverse user base are small business owners from farming and construction industry, who has English as a second language (ESL) and limited computer literacy. Leveraging my background as an accessibility specialist, I ensured inclusive design was a priority.
Read my blog post "Incorporating accessibility into user research" on LinkedIn.
Pivoting to the Construction Industry
With the acquisition by Site Safe, Zero Harm pivoted to the construction industry, targeting small to medium construction companies and sub contractors. Initial assumptions about user needs were based on advice from business and health and safety advisors. To validate these assumptions, I created low-fidelity wireframes and conducted user research and UX testing. These findings were crucial in reshaping our priorities and refining our approach.
Engaging with Users: From Farms to Construction Sites
I traveled across New Zealand, visiting agriculture shows, farms, construction sites, and customers' companies to gather insights. These interactions allowed me to translate real world' needs into actionable designs and requirements, ensuring our product genuinely addressed their challenges.
My Involvement in Transforming Zero Harm to SiteSmart
The shift from serving farmers to construction companies meant we had to completely reshape how Zero Harm functioned, ensuring it met the needs of our new target market while keeping our existing customers satisfied. This transformation required a strategic approach and a deep understanding of both industries.
Adapting to New Market Needs
Initially, Zero Harm's users, primarily farmers, paid per site, as they typically owned only a few lands. However, construction companies and subcontractors operate across multiple sites, necessitating the development of new company-level features.
I spearheaded the introduction of six key functions on company level:
Company Details: All company-related information.
Managing Company Sites: Tools for company admin to efficiently oversee multiple construction sites.
Managing People: Features to track and manage workers across various locations.
Master Hazard Register: A comprehensive list of potential hazards applicable to all sites of a company.
Hazardous Substances: Guidelines and management tools for handling dangerous materials.
Site Inspection Checklist: A standardised checklist to ensure consistent safety inspections across different sites.
These new layers of features also required a thorough rethinking of user roles and permissions, defining what each user could and could not access. This was crucial to maintaining a secure and efficient system as we expanded our functionality.
Evolving the Subscription Model
The transition also involved revamping our subscription model. Moving away from a per-site payment structure, we developed different subscription tiers tailored to the varying needs of construction companies. This flexibility allowed us to cater to small businesses as well as larger enterprises with complex operations.
Rebranding project alongside product development
One of the significant milestones was the rebranding from Zero Harm to SiteSmart. I played a pivotal role in this project, working closely with the contact centre, marketing team, and graphic designers to ensure our new brand accurately reflected our expanded capabilities and commitment to our users.
This involved:
User Communication: Ensuring that our users were informed and comfortable with the changes.
Visual Identity: Collaborating on the new logo, color schemes, and overall brand aesthetics.
Marketing Strategy: Aligning our marketing efforts to highlight the new features and benefits of SiteSmart.
User research for mobile app MVP
Many users and stakeholders have been asking us about developing a mobile app for SiteSmart. We brought in an intern developer for 3 months to work on our MVP for workers to induct on-site. This is also his final project for a computer science course. I was leading and supporting him in his user research and user testing for this project.
What we learned from these testing sessions was used to inform our future UX consideration.
A Story of Transformation and Impact
The journey from Zero Harm to SiteSmart is a testament to the power of adaptability, user-centric design, and strategic thinking. I've learned and grow a lot during my time at Site Safe and had chance to work on different aspects of product development and rebranding. By deeply understanding the unique needs of both farmers and construction workers, we were able to transform a niche farming app into a comprehensive health and safety solution for the construction industry.