Interactive Parts System
Reducing equipment faults by 95% through improved assembly guidance and information design
Context
Q-Bot’s installation teams rely on a spray nozzle composed of a complex multi-part assembly, used in real-world field conditions.
Installers had limited and fragmented reference materials:
- Small printed exploded diagrams attached to toolboxes
- A 90-row spreadsheet used to identify and order parts
This created a disconnect between:
- The physical assembly process
- The way information was structured and accessed
As a result, mis-assemblies and incorrect part orders were common, directly impacting operational performance.
My Role: Solo Product Designer / Product Lead (end-to-end ownership)
Challenge
Frequent nozzle faults were not isolated issues, they were the result of a negative reinforcing loop:
errors → downtime → incorrect fixes → repeated errors
The core challenge was not just improving instructions, but breaking this cycle by redesigning how information supports the task.
Understanding the system
I mapped the two reinforcing loops that drove faults and the points where we intervened:
Approach
Research began by looking outside the industry: studying how IKEA and CAD modelling tools handle complex assembly guidance for non-expert users. This surfaced a key insight: the problem wasn’t installer capability, it was the information environment. The existing diagrams asked users to remember too much at once.
I mapped the full onsite equipment ecosystem to ensure any solution would scale beyond the spray nozzle, then ran a value/cost prioritisation with the team to focus development on high-impact and low-complexity features first.
Solution
Rather than building a full 3D viewer, which would have required complex API integration, I simplified navigation to 3 fixed perspective views (front, bottom, top), ensuring all components remained visible while staying within Flutter’s constraints. This constraint actually improved usability: fixed views are faster to navigate than free rotation for task-focused assembly work.
As a result, I designed an interactive parts diagram system that:
- Aligns digital representation with the physical assembly process
- Breaks down complex assemblies into clear, navigable components
- Links each part to relevant information (identification, ordering, usage)
- Reduces reliance on memory by structuring information progressively
Impact
- 95% reduction in equipment faults
- Improved accuracy in part identification and ordering
- Reduced downtime and operational friction in the field
- Broke the cycle of repeated errors caused by fragmented information systems
Key Takeaway
Designing the right information environment can significantly reduce errors without changing the underlying task.