HUNTSVILLE, Ala., June 1, 2015 — Intergraph Security, Government and Infrastructure (SG&I) has established Studio One, a user experience (UX) design and development lab that provides space for multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate on innovative, user-centered products and solutions.
Located at Intergraph SG&I’s headquarters, Studio One is an extension of the company’s strategic efforts to ensure its products are built to meet the needs of users, some of whom are in high-pressure environments.
“The methodologies and technologies of UX are maturing very quickly. For example, now we can accurately assess whether software raises or lowers stress,” said Amy Hawkins, UX team manager, Intergraph SG&I. “As we move information technology closer and closer to users, in the form of mobile and wearable devices, we need to be very sure that we are making people’s jobs easier, not harder. That’s why we established Studio One.”
Comprised of a distributed group of user researchers, designers, technical architects and functional designers, Intergraph SG&I’s UX team conducts customer site visits, ethnographic observation, interviews and surveys to understand customer workflows and environments. The UX team has traveled to multiple cities across the U.S., visiting a dozen different public safety agencies in four different metropolitan areas. In the Denver area, the team conducted approximately 47 ride-alongs with police, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.
The UX team works with product development teams to build usage metrics collection into Intergraph SG&I’s products so that strategists and design and development teams have the best possible data on which to base product direction decisions. The team also works with research groups at universities such as Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama in Huntsville to get independent perspectives on user mental models and emerging technologies.
“By working directly with users, we get a clear understanding of how to meet customer needs now and in the future as new technologies and challenges emerge,” Hawkins said. “Our customers are in the business of providing important public services. Studio One is all about, helping people help people.”
Intergraph SG&I’s UX team will meet with customers for UX assessments during HxGN LIVE, Hexagon’s annual international user conference, in Las Vegas from June 1-4.
