Swarmy
Swarmy is a desktop app that uses AI to analyze company data and provide real-time suggestions for more sustainable workflows.
Objective
A collaboration with SwarmCompute to design an AI service that uses unstructured data to provide real-time suggestions for improving business workflows.
My Role
UI/UX Design
Project Management
Tools
Figma
Procreate
Canva
Duration
Research - 3 days
Prototyping - 2 days
The Challenge
Most companies lack real-time analysis of their workflows.
This is particularly true in areas like climate change, staff engagement, and digital transition.
They are unable to effectively use their own unstructured data to identify key insights and optimize their workflows.
🕛 Time Constraints
Day-to-day operational demands leave little to no time for non-technical administrators to manually process and analyze data.
💰 High Financial Cost
Relying on external management consultants is an effective but expensive short-term solution that is not sustainable for many businesses.
🏠 Limited Expertise
Companies often lack the specialized skills required to analyze complex, unstructured data, forcing them to seek external help.
How might we design an AI desktop app that helps companies improve workflows in real time, cost-effectively, without consultants?
The Solution
Swarmy is a real-time 24/7 expert management consultant and business analyst.
It then provides real-time suggestions for improving current business workflows, particularly in the environment processes.
Swarmy
The system constantly seeks Improvements to the business operations, with a particular focus on climate change, carbon footprint, and energy usage.
Our Process
Research
Our Process
Since we followed a rapid design sprint process, we focused on conducting a competitive analysis to identify market gaps.
Our research revealed that while existing tools offered real-time workflow analysis, none addressed sustainability or green credentials.
How might we enable companies to perform real-time meta-analysis of their operations, specifically around climate change, in a cost-effective way—without relying heavily on external consultants?
Discover Contexts & Needs
Persona Development
We created “Non-technical Nora,” a persona representing overwhelmed administrators tasked with sustainability goals but lacking time and expertise.
Storyboarding Nora's Journey with Swarmy
We mapped Nora’s journey with Swarmy to visualize how she would encounter the problem and interact with the solution.
Product Discovery
Ideation
We used user journey mapping and a site map to shape the product structure.
This helped us translate abstract goals into concrete features, while keeping the experience focused on the needs of non-technical administrators.
Feature Requirements
We defined features based on client requirements and then streamlined them into just six screen pages.
This reduction ensured a faster, more intuitive flow, making the system less overwhelming for first-time users.
User Journey
To understand how Nora would achieve her goals, we mapped her journey step by step.
This process highlighted her actions, expectations, and frustrations, helping us design features that support her emotionally as well as functionally.
Because Nora works primarily on a desktop, we focused on a desktop-first wireflow for a smoother, task-oriented experience.
Site Map
The site map translated the journey into a clear page structure, showing how each feature connects.
By organizing features under key categories, we ensured that navigation felt logical and approachable, even for non-technical users.
Design
Our Prototyping Process
We moved from sketches → wireframes → high-fidelity prototypes, testing internally for flow and consistency.
Fonts
The chosen font & color align with the client's other website styles.
Colors
The color palette features a dark grey, chosen for its ability to convey a warmer and softer feel compared to black, while still exuding a sense of reliability.
Character Design
Friendly icons and illustrations made the interface approachable for non-technical users.
Reflection
Thorough project planning & early agreement with the client
It was great that we agreed with the client early on about the deliverables, which facilitated direction-setting and progress.
In addition, this project highlighted the importance of thorough project planning. We needed to ensure all necessary steps were taken, including defining and discovering stages, before moving on to the design and deployment phases.
Next Steps
More design iterations, more research…
One key takeaway from the project is the necessity for further research. For example, even though we decided to reduce the number of screens, it still seems challenging for users to navigate through them. The design requires initial guidance, suggesting that it might not be user-friendly for first-time users. More design iterations could be performed to simplify it.
Furthermore, the overall screen feels robotic, and some UI elements may not be clear. We could have conducted more research to explore how Swarmy could contribute more to the solution and assist users in achieving their goals.
