Fire Suppression Design Center replaces a fragmented, Excel-based handoff between site contractors, installation engineers, and sales teams with one connected workflow platform. .
Role
Lead UI UX Designer
Scope
0 to 1 - Web/Tablet - B2B
Timeline
6 months
3-5
days to
1
day
Faster quotation time
75.6%
to
94.9%
Material calculaton acuuracy
Summary
The Product
Fire Suppression Design Center
Fire Suppression Design Center replaces a fragmented, Excel-based handoff between site contractors, installation engineers, and sales teams with one connected workflow platform.
Scope
Automated Centralized Platform
A platform that enables site contractor to upload structured Excel measurement data and automatically receive engineering calculations (pipe lengths, sensor counts, suppression agent, volumes) alongside a client-ready quote.
My Role
As lead product designer, I ran end-to-end discovery with all three roles - auditing real site-survey sheets, shadowing contractors on-site, and interviewing engineers and sales staff - to design FSDC.
Delivered role-based workflow platform built on one shared data-set instead of three disconnected files.
Result
Reduced quote generation time from 3-5 days to under 1 hour. Eliminated manual calculation errors. Standardized site survey data collection across 150+ site contractors. Improved quote accuracy by 85% in pilot testing..
Situation
One building, Three disconnected spreadsheets
Fire safety installation runs through three roles in sequence - site contractor, installation engineer, and marketing. Every handoff between them happens through a re-typed, reformatted Excel file, with no shared source of truth and no way to track where a project actually stands.
Site Contractor
Capture room, floor and load data
Installation Engineer
Room grouping, material quantity calculations & generate BOM
Sales Team
Face the client with Quotation
3 Roles
3 Spreadsheets
0 Shared Source of Truth
The existing workflow with all three users
Paper notes, later re-typed into Excel
2-3 hrs spend to reformatting data
Repetitive call/emails to confirm quantity
Site Survey
Contractor gathers building details
Verify floor plans
Identify fire risks
Grouping & Calculation
Engineer make calculation & generate quotation
Make grouping of rooms
Make calculation & identify needed equipments
Generate quotation
Proposal & Pricing
Marketing team create the proposal based on quotation
Convert equipement list to BOM
Calculate labour material price
Add discounts
Review pricing
Agreement
Sales team deal with client with proposal
Present / send proposal to client
Handle objections & negotiations
Sign agreement
Every handoff is a chance to loose data
Task
Speed
Capture room, floor and load data
Accuracy
Capture room, floor and load data
Single Platform
Capture room, floor and load data
Success metrics defined with the PM
Site-visit-to-quotation time (baseline: 5-10 days), Target ~1 day.
Material estimation and calculation errors caught post-installation (baseline: ~25%), Target ~5%.
Site contractor data submission ~3 hrs, Target ~15 min
Engineer adoption rate at 45-60 days post-launch
Action
Discovery
Emphatise with users
Define
Three roles - one shared job
Jerry Helfer
Site Contractor
I need to capture accurate data quickly, so the installation engineer doesn't come back with questions.
Goal: Finish site work and submit data quickly so he can get to the next site.
Stephanie Nicol
Installation Engineer
I need to add all received excel data into system and group rooms to calculate material confidently.
Goal: Receive clean, complete data and produce accurate material estimates without back-and-forth.
Kathy Pacheco
Sales Manager
I need a ready quotation fast, so I don't lose the deal to a slower competitor.
Goal: Close deals faster with accurate, competitive quotes that arrive before the client talks to a competitor.
User Journey Mapping of Site Contractor
Contractor visit the site
Does
Verify the building floor plan. rooms measurements, no. of floors & rooftop load capacity
Think
Get it right in 1st time
Doesn't have much information about project/client
Search client/site to capture data
Confident
Measurements of rooms
Does
Take the measurements of rooms floor wise on papers
Think
Written data should be clear
No structured place to log data on the spot
Captured data digitally as it’s measured
Focused
Create a spreadsheet
Does
Back to office and create spreadsheet with client's information and enter all the measurements in sheet
Think
Loosing time due to repetitive work
Data rentry increases the risk of transcription errors
Don't want data entry again
Concentrating
Send to installation engineer
Does
Review once, save the spreadsheet and send it to the installation engineer via email
Think
Did I capture everything needed?
No confirmation that all data has captured
Completion checklist + all data captured
Relieved
Applied Design Principles
Design Principle
01
Match real-world mental model
Real terminology used: Rooms, Systems, Pipes, Sensors, Fitting etc
Design Principle
02
Error Prevention
Predefined Excel template uses header locks, dropdowns and number ranges. Portal validates file structure with specific instructions.
Design Principle
03
Progressive Disclosure
Initial high level summary. Detailed material breakdowns on one click and downloadable in required format.
Design Principle
04
Feedback & Transparency
Status indicators for every step. Alerts and email notifications for completion.
Design Principle
05
Consistency & Standard
Used design system to assure the consistency across the platform. Output quote matches Johnson Control’s brand guidelines precisely.
Design Principle
06
Accessibility
Portal meets WCAG 2.1 standards. Font sizes minimum 14px. Keyboard navigation supported.
Ideate
Design workshop with stakeholders
The ideation stage brought together a cross-functional team of product manager, business analyst, developers, site contractors, installation engineers, and sales managers.
Three design workshops were held over 5 days to get the simple solution.
Grouping of rooms in system
inspired by Kanban and Trello
Design
Wireframes - Rough Sketches
Validate
Test and Iterate
Testing was conducted in three phases:
Internal usability testing
Controlled pilot with real project, and
Phased production rollout with feedback loops built in.
Issues found & fixed
Load capacity field missed
Sat below the fold on tablet, moved into primary flow, marked required.
Engineers distrusted auto-calculation
Added an expandable “how this was calculated” breakdown per line item.
No filtering for marketing
Added region + status filters
Impact
Reduction in post-installation material errors
Faster site-visit-to-quotation time
Faster material estimation
or calculation accuracy
Engineer adoption rate
