Overview

AirMethane is a methane detection service offered by FlowCo, enabling timely detection and reporting of methane leaks on oil and gas sites. The application aims to equip drone pilots with a scalable tool to manage and oversee their inspections while supporting customers by helping them meet compliance standards and reach higher operational performance.

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Problem

Methane inspections are performed in remote areas, requiring travel cost, time, and a team of drone pilots. Customers require multiple inspections a month, and pilots and administrators relied on multiple systems to complete an inspection, and customers had no way to access their inspection data quickly and easily. We wanted to build a workflow to bring inspections in-house. By building an inspection form and capturing data directly in the application, we would save the business operational costs, reduce the hassle for pilots and deliver transparency to our customers.

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Role

I was the product designer and manager overseeing this project, while working with the Director of Business Solutions and Director of AirMethane to gather compliance standards and ensure requirements matched what pilots were required to collect. I inherited previous designs, and was asked to redesign the flow. To understand our users better, we conducted user journey maps to identify user needs, motivations, and pain points. Additionally, we went on-site with pilots to synthesize the inspection process, what tools they were juggling, and where friction showed up.

Process

In the old workflow, pilots recorded inspection details in an Excel spreadsheet and passed them along to an administrator, who used that data to quantify methane leaks on a seperate platform. Uploading drone footage was also a challenge, since it led to long upload times. Pilots would capture inspection videos in the field, then return to their desk to upload captured footage, and the process could take hours. We redesigned the flow so that pilots could upload everything inside AirMethane and allow administrators to view and pick up in real-time.

The first attempt was a multi-step form, split into sections that mapped to each part of the inspection. We ran into state management issues that pushed our deadline back, and feedback revealed that it simply had too many steps for our pilots in the field. Navigating between pages slowed their workflow down, requiring more time to complete an inspection. Beyond reducing the number of tools they used, we also wanted to minimize the number of steps as much as possible, so it led us to pivoting mid-way through the project.

We also expanded the application to work offline so that pilots could access essential features because offline usage was necessary for pilots to do their jobs in remote areas. Along with these efforts, we ran into the challenge of the application processing large files while offline. Between changing UX directions and enabling offline capabilities, our timelines changed more than once, forcing trade-offs like leaving out certain features such as Scheduling Inspections to focus on the core product areas.

Results

For the final design, we divided the inspection into cards displayed on a single page, eliminating the need to navigate between screens while pilots worked. Since pilots often need one hand for flying the drone and the other for data entry, we designed the flow to support tab navigation. We kept a consistent feedback loop with both user types and tested ideas against their workflows, validating that our designs were impactful. Throughout this period, we also built out workflows for every EPA-required category, such as OOOOa and OOOOb inspections.

Rollout

For the rollout, I recorded product demos using Loom and shared them to the AirMethane team via email along with a user how-to guide. I created a demo for every workflow, and used Pendo's resource center within our application to make it easy for users to provide feedback.

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Impact

We validated our designs through on-site testing, traveling to and from various locations to test flows and offline capabilities. Bringing inspections in AirMethane reduced pilot time from multiple hours down to minutes, eliminated multiple systems in their workflow from many to less than four, and brought data transparency to customers.

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‍Reflection

I gained hands-on experience tackling a complex workflow, driving process adoption, and learning EPA compliance standards. It taught me how to stay effective under pressure while managing stakeholder relationships, trade-offs, and changing timelines. Despite the obstacles, the end result made every moment of scrutiny worthwhile.