ravi morbia

Mobile Service

Powering outdoor events with wind turbines.

Don't have time to read everything? Skim colored text to get the gist.

Inefficient 

Noisy

Pungent

Costly

A local company, WindStax, produces wind turbines that are safe and portable. WindStax mainly operates as a product oriented business. We think WindStax and their customers would gain more by shifting to a service-based model.

WindStax turbines. Ph9to credit: windstax.com

Chongrui, Linda, and I whiteboarding stakeholders,

HOW It Works

There are 5 unique steps in our service design concept.

Step 1 Enter Venue

Search your venue by using the quick reorder from a previous event, or enter the name or address of a new place in the search bar.

Step 2 Venue Boundaries

The system automatically draws the boundaries around the selected venue., which can be edited by dragging the vertices. The maximum number of people that can fit in the bounded area is also shown, which carries over to the next step.

Step 3 Event Details

The user enters details relevant to the type of event (e.g. music festival), which are used to calculate the necessary number of turbines.

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We reached out to the CEO of WindStax, Ron Gdovic, to find out what information is critical for determining the the appropriate amount of power for any given event; however, Ron was unavailable to speak with us.

Step 4 Place Turbines

The event planner can adjust the placement of the turbines. Using data from a weather API, we can highlight areas that have consistently higher wind speeds.

Step 5 Review Order

Before confirming the order, the number and cost of the turbines and batteries are shown, along with the scheduled delivery date and time.

Chongrui and I went on an adventure to seek out WindStax turbines in Pittsburgh.

HOW WE GOT THERE

Stakeholder Map

We first compiled a list of all the stakeholders involved with the company (WindStax), its affiliates, and customers. With the list we were able to create a stakeholder map that represents all entities involved and the relationships among them. Using the stakeholder map as a tool, we identified opportunities for introducing a service into WindStax's business model.

Our Approach to Problem Solving

Before jumping into solving anything, we identified multiple potential problem areas that could be improved by a service. We then employed 3 methods to reach a collective understanding and explore ideas.

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• Reverse Assumptions

• 20 Questions

• Collaborative Sketching

We each took a whiteboard and started sketching ideas, rotating every few minutes to build on each other's designs.

Defining the Concept and Scope

With only 3 weeks total for the project, we narrowed down the scope of interface to a handful of screens that would show the core concept of our design. Next, we starting mocking up our ideas digitally.

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Our final concept is focused on estimating power needed for music festivals, and planning the placement of the turbines.

 Our original concept included an AR diagnostic tool, which we later removed. 

Design & Iteration

Collaborative Design

We used Figma to mock up the main task flow for the service, from selecting the venue space to ordering generators. With the project's short timeline, we made sure to mock up the screens that were most important and unique to our concept.

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Each step was designed to be as quick and painless as possible, minimizing the burden placed on our users (event planners).

First Iteration

Second Iteration

Third Iteration

Final Design + Interactive Prototype

 Using Axure, I programmed an interactive prototype of our concept. 

Next Steps

The team and I outlined next steps to grow the service and establish permanent relationships with key strategic partners.