Service Tag
App for LED lighting technicians in the field. A digital tool to help with the installation and maintenance of street or office lights, reducing service disruption and factory returns.
When
2018 to 2024
for Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting)
My role
Design lead
Interaction design
Information architecture
Visual design contribution
Learnings
Setting a way of working with a remote team
Tech challenges (eg. GPS)
Obstacles to app adoption
Responsive design
A pragmatic approach
As a general principle the app encourages repair and reuse, versus costly factory returns and component waste.
It's particularly useful for luminaires lacking Internet access and thus the capability to be remotely handled. Though cities around the world have accelerated their upgrade to connected technology, many older generation lights are still in service and need on-site maintenance.
After identifying the luminaire by scanning its QR code, the user gets a wealth of information and tools to help them execute tasks at all stages of the lifecycle, such as:
Installing
Late stage tuning
Troubleshooting
Planning a repair
Replacing a broken part
Design choices
Standard navigation and interaction principles make Service Tag intuitive and easy to extend with new features. As we prioritized outdoor usage, we limited the number of actions per view and paid attention to visual simplicity.
Mobile and web
The Android and iOS apps have much in common, being both based on the same design system, Signify Photon. A few UI patterns remain native, such as certain navigation and menu conventions. Branding matters, but it’s more important that the app feels at home on the device of the user.
I later worked on a web adaptation for a new category of users. Office-based managers, they wanted a better integration with their desktop workflow and a more comfortable way to visualize their installation team’s progress.
The app makes the most of each platform. On desktop it’s responsive, map-centric and with a flatter hierarchy. On mobile, it’s more decomposed and gets features that are only used in the field – like NFC and Bluetooth interactions with the hardware.
