Empowering Manufacturing at the ARM Institute
The Master of Human-Computer Interaction program at Carnegie Mellon is ramping up as we go further down our journeys in our capstone projects. Our team is making exciting new ventures into the world of manufacturing with the ARM Institute, diving deep into manufacturing factories and the work culture that revolves around this industry.
ARM Institute has been an excellent host, providing us with a wealth of information that we previously did not have through secondary research alone. Their headquarters, a spacious facility in Pittsburgh, has been an amazing place to explore and ideate in. We’re constantly amazed by the gorgeous steel structures, the echoes of footsteps in the wide halls from presidents and other notable visitors that have explored the offices before us.
Now that we’ve stepped into this capstone project and begun our research and contextual inquiries, we have a better idea of the domain in which we are in. During our kickoff meetings, we were able to gather important information from our clients through activities such as discussing our stakeholder maps and talking about pain points in their processes. We had so many great conversations with our clients and felt like we had a much clearer insight of the struggles that ARM faces and places where we can help them. With the newfound information we gathered from them during our kickoffs, we were able to synthesize key insights. With the help of our wonderful faculty mentors, Laura Vinchesi and Ben Tsai, we were able to narrow down some key insights while still in remaining in a broad space. The ambiguity is exciting; it’s a place for us to explore, for us to reframe. Our key insights that we gathered were:
1. Improving efficiency of matching the correct robot in the right place in the manufacturing process is a key way we can help ARM.
2. We can help ARM by creating a standardized onboarding system for clients to save everyone’s time.
3. Bridging the knowledge gap between ARM and their clients will increase overall acceptance of the use of robots and advanced tech in the manufacturing space.
4. ARM needs to communicate and convey what their purpose is to gain a wider network of clients who may not understand what they are about.
At the center of the issues that we’re trying to discover are the people. Our team is beginning to reframe our initial views. We gathered around and asked each other many questions, finally getting to a key point:
What if this isn’t really much of a technological issue at all — what if this is entirely a people issue, a social issue, a communication issue? What if we can help the ARM Institute better communicate their value proposition to expand their outreach to manufacturers in need to help?
As a team, we will be conducting some site visits facilitated by our client. Doing some research in context and observing the processes of manufacturers in their normal day-to-day lives will help us see more clearly into their daily work and will guide us through their processes. At MHCI, we seek to not only solve problems but also to empathize and truly understand the people with whom we are working with.
We’re just at the tip of the iceberg, and we’ll be diving into the depths soon with more research.
We’re sharing our Capstone journey to give you a sneak peek into what the MHCI Capstone experience is really like. It’s our way of offering an insider’s perspective on the path to breaking into the UX field. Whether you’re a fellow student, a seasoned professional, or just someone curious about the world of human-computer interaction, we want to invite you to join us on this rollercoaster of creativity and problem-solving. Follow us for regular updates, and if you’ve got thoughts, questions, or just want to chat about UX, we’re all ears!
Note: This project is not intended to contribute to generalizable knowledge and is not human subjects research.
