Enhancing the reach and consumption of expert content with generative AI.
Konecranes Corporation, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland, is a global leader in lifting equipment and services. With approximately 16,500 employees and operations in over 50 countries, the company reported €3.3 billion in revenue in 2022. Konecranes specializes in industrial and port cranes, hoists, and smart lifting solutions, emphasizing innovation, safety, and sustainability.
Products: Konecranes Discover Hub
Type: B2B, B2C
Role: UX Lead
Duration: 2024
Expertises: Product Design, UX Design, Design Workshop, User Research
Outcomes: New konecranes.com/discover is scheduled for development in early 2025
Key Features in the Design
Generative AI Chatbot:
Summarizes articles, answers user queries, and suggests related content.
Dynamic Exploration Paths:
Allows users to navigate through related topics intuitively.
User-Centric Interface:
Clean, conversational design tailored for quick access to expert content.
Intro
The Konecranes Discover Hub serves as a cornerstone of the company’s digital knowledge-sharing platform, hosting over 500 expert articles across over 20 industries. Despite its breadth, the Hub attracted only around 1,000 monthly views, signaling a need to improve its accessibility and user engagement. This project reimagined the Hub using a generative AI-powered chatbot and a modernized content exploration journey to better serve users’ needs.
Problem statements
The Discover Hub faced several challenges:
Content Navigation Difficulties: Users struggled to locate specific information in the extensive library.
Limited Interactivity: Static content lacked engaging elements to retain users.
Suboptimal Search Experience: Existing search tools did not cater to diverse user intents or preferences.
Goals
Revolutionize Content Discovery: Enable users to explore the vast content repository intuitively.
Enhance User Engagement: Introduce interactive features powered by generative AI.
Lay the Foundation for Development: Develop wireframes and actionable concepts to guide future implementation.
Process Overview
1. Workshops and Collaborative Ideation
Organized workshops with cross-functional teams, including stakeholders, designers, and developers, to:
Align on project goals and vision.
Gather insights into user pain points and expectations.
Brainstorm innovative solutions, focusing on chatbot and AI applications.
2. Understanding Users and Content
User Research:
Interviewed industry professionals, including engineers and procurement managers, to identify needs and preferences.
Questionnaires and surveys
Content Mapping:
Analyzed existing articles to identify patterns and opportunities for AI to enhance exploration.
3. Design Development
Wireframe Delivery:
Designed and presented wireframes illustrating the chatbot’s interface, article navigation, and personalized recommendation system.
Chatbot Experience Design:
Developed conversation flows for:
Query-based article retrieval.
Personalized content suggestions.
Industry-specific trend summaries.
4. Feedback and Iteration
Tested wireframes and interaction flows with stakeholders and potential users.
Iteratively refined designs based on feedback to ensure alignment with user needs and technical feasibility.
Status as of Autumn 2024:
Workshops conducted successfully to align vision and gather insights.
Wireframe designs delivered, detailing the proposed solution.
Product development is pending, awaiting approval and resource allocation.
Next Steps:
Secure stakeholder buy-in for development.
Build and test the chatbot and AI functionalities.
Measure engagement metrics post-launch to refine the solution further.
This project provided valuable insights into designing AI-powered experiences for industrial users. By fostering collaboration through workshops and delivering actionable wireframes, the team established a solid foundation for transforming the Konecranes Discover Hub into a state-of-the-art knowledge platform.