Dashboard for oil refinery plant process monitoring

Objective:

To design and develop an enterprise-level product for a refinery plant in Bahrain to optimize the monitoring of:

1. Extraction Process

2. Testing

3. Transportation

4. Storage

5. Logistics

6. Quality Management

7. Tool Maintenance Schedules

8. Oil Quantity Verification at Desired Locations

This UX research study outlines the methods, plan, execution, analysis, and results for developing the proposed tool.

Research Plan

Step 1: Define Research Goals

• Understand User Needs: Identify pain points and requirements for each stage of the refinery process.

• Validate Current Processes: Gather insights into existing workflows and tools.

• Pinpoint Gaps: Uncover inefficiencies in current systems.

• Ensure Usability: Establish usability benchmarks for the enterprise product.

Step 2: Stakeholder Involvement

• Participants: Refinery workers, quality inspectors, logistics coordinators, and management.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Define high-level business goals and desired outcomes for the product.

Step 3: Research Methods

1. Contextual Inquiry

• Observe refinery operations directly in Bahrain.

• Conduct shadowing sessions with operators and managers.

• Document workflows for the entire process.

2. Surveys and Questionnaires

• Distribute surveys to gather qualitative data on pain points and user preferences.

3. User Interviews

• Conduct in-depth interviews with different user groups (operators, quality testers, logistics managers).

4. Usability Testing (on Competitors' Tools)

• Identify existing tools being used and evaluate their usability.

5. Personas Creation

• Develop personas to represent key user groups.

6. Journey Mapping

• Map the journey of oil from extraction to storage and identify critical touchpoints.

7. Card Sorting

• Organize features into categories to ensure logical information architecture.

Research Execution

Phase 1: Contextual Inquiry

• Spent two weeks on-site at a Bahrain-based refinery.

• Observed and documented real-time processes (e.g., extraction monitoring, oil testing labs, logistics coordination).

• Photographed workflows and tools in action.

Image Placeholder: A refinery worker monitoring the control panel with graphs and gauges displayed on multiple screens.

Phase 2: Surveys

• Distributed online and physical surveys to 50 participants. Key questions:

• What are your biggest challenges with the current tools?

• Rate the ease of scheduling maintenance tasks.

• How often do delays occur in logistics coordination?

Phase 3: Interviews

• Interviewed 20 stakeholders, including:

• 5 Extraction Operators

• 3 Testing