User-centred product development takes us to where the work happens.
Our Zeroni product development team has invested purposefully in user-centred design throughout this spring. We have gathered customer insights through a variety of methods: remote interviews, digital feedback channels, satisfaction metrics, and broader questionnaires. Not all methods produced the desired results — but every test moves the development work forward.
A substantial amount of feedback was collected, but we recognised that something essential was missing: concreteness. To better understand our users, we decided to move out of the office environment and go to where our software truly meets its users — the construction site.
Immersed in the customer's everyday life
Our customer Lapti offered us an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the day-to-day reality of site operations in Myyrmäki, Vantaa, where painting and furnishing work was underway during our visit. The goal of the day was to deepen our understanding of site managers' daily processes and to identify concrete bottlenecks in the management of workers and contractors.
Key observations from the visit
The user research day kicked off at the site office with safety managers and site managers. We went through the practical steps taken by site management in handling documents and work permits, and in particular the management of foreign workers emerged as a multifaceted area.
We heard practical examples of how processing a Finnish worker in the system is considerably more straightforward compared to situations where, for example, a worker arriving from outside the EU holds citizenship of more than one country. The legislative requirements become more complex the further away the contractor or their worker is coming from — and managing these from memory alone is an unreasonable demand for an individual site manager. There is therefore a clear need for clear, situation-specific guidance on legal obligations.
In the course of the discussion, site managers also became enthusiastic about brainstorming solutions themselves: how the morning rush at the gate could be streamlined through digital means, and how the system could more proactively guide the collection of the correct documentation.
Fieldwork is invaluable in product development
Observing the interaction between a service and its users offers product development perspectives that are difficult to anticipate at the drawing board. Identifying hidden needs and understanding the user's true goals is best achieved through face-to-face encounters — and this visit confirmed that once again.
User-centred design and regular fieldwork are the cornerstones of Zeroni's product development. They are an essential prerequisite for our ability to build solutions that truly work where they are needed.
