Enhanced network geospatial digital twin
Overview
Problem
A global telecommunications company was seeking to create a digital twin of its physical network that would drive the next generation of collaborative user enablement for external & internal users, technological innovation, and new revenue opportunities.
My team at Slalom was engaged to conduct customer and market analysis to validate the possible benefits of a digital twin and to identify the size of addressable opportunities within hyperscalers. The analysis would be the foundation to start visualizing the most valuable use cases to be considered for MVP. The deliverables were an essential aspect of the company’s evaluation for securing additional funding to continue building this powerful solution.
Approach
Our human-centered design approach ensured the proposed solution addressed the most critical user needs and pain points.
We started our initial market research by focusing on key questions around the problem space, the competitive environment, and the proposed solution. Equipped with a strong basis, we conducted user interviews with key stakeholders from the company and one of their top hyperscaler customers to identify opportunities that would deliver the most value.
Outcome
The team delivered a story that highlighted the key opportunities to fuel business growth, increase operational efficiency, enable the right technology solutions, and enhance experiences.
The research insights were brought to life through a detailed final readout, storyboards, and a mid-fidelity prototype. The proposed solution will enable real-time collaborative environment, holistic network visibility, operational efficiency, performance simulations, shortened sales cycle, and more. We also collaborated with the client to co-create a roadmap and backlog for MVP to kick-off the next phase of work.
Roles
I assumed the following roles for this engagement:
User Researcher
User Experience Designer
User Experience Strategist
User Interface Designer
Deliverables
Some details and deliverables have been omitted for client confidentiality.
Market assessment
Competitive assessment
Key drivers of benefits
User interview postcards
Future state storyboards for two personas
Future state mid-fidelity prototype
Mockups have enough detail to highlight capabilities but with lower-fidelity elements to give space to imagine the solution’s potential without getting caught up on small details.
The purpose is to serve as an inspiration for transformation.
Project specifications
Duration: 13 weeks
Tools:
Figma
Miro
Team members:
Solution Owner
Customer Strategist
Sales Executive
Research
Primary
We conducted 12 one-hour long video interviews with stakeholders from the global telecommunications company and one of their top hyperscaler customers to capture their needs, goals, pain points, and reactions to the digital twin concept.
Secondary
We researched industry trends, top competitors’ offerings, market activity, and industry-wide investments.
Interview Postcards
Affinity Mapping
Key findings
-
Operational Efficiency
Hyperscalers strive to optimize the efficiency of their data centers and services this involves limiting costs, leveraging scale, reducing energy consumption, minimizing latency, and improving resource utilization.
-
Network Reliability
Hyperscalers must ensure that their services are always available and reliable. This requires redundant systems and failover mechanisms to prevent downtime and data loss.
-
End to End Visibility
The company’s solution is one of many, and the ability to see many a holistic solution is critical to effective coordination. We also heard the desire to see how quotes progress and status of solutions as they move through the lifecycle.
-
Actionable Data
Actionable data for real-time decision-making came up as a recurring theme across our interviews. Data sets about the customer needs, route, building site, current assets and planned assets exist to varied degrees across multiple sources.
-
Collaboration
Communication in planning networks is often done over calls and emails and tracking the many changes is difficult. Collaborating across parties and data sets is difficult, leads to re-work, and is time-consuming.
Personas
Key benefits & use cases
-
Employee productivity
Improved task productivity
Reduced training time due to improved training effectiveness
-
Customer self-service
Self-service ordering and provisioning
Shorter sales cycle
Larger network buys
-
Customer retention
Improved performance
Increased satisfaction
-
Task Automation
Automate install and change orders
Preventative maintenance and operations
-
Network throughput
Enhanced research and planning
Improved use of capital for network expansion
Disaster scenario planning
How might we…
Create new revenue & operational capabilities to drive forward enterprise transformation, empowering workforces with digital twins of their physical infrastructure assets & data while creating the next generation of employee experiences and laying the foundations of an immersive 3D geospatial metaverse for expressing customer opportunities.
Storyboards
Imagine a world…
A network digital twin solution drives the next generation of collaborative customer enablement while unlocking industry-leading innovation opportunities.
The new experience optimizes the end-to-end workflow of planning, quoting, delivering, and managing a network. It enables a holistic and centralized environment for both internal and external users.
With enhanced visibility, unified multilayered data, and cohesive product offerings, the solution empowers the automation of manual tasks and the delivery of self-service capabilities.
Enhanced dashboard
Sasha, the hyperscaler network planner, signs into the digital twin tool using her personal information that is seated under her company’s account. She reviews her personal dashboard which is informative and actionable to drive optimal performance.
Unified data sources
Sasha begins by reviewing her secure data sources which include proprietary, telecommunication company, and third-party data. With all the correct data imported and active, she is now ready to visualize her network in the digital twin.
Multifaceted network views
Sasha enters the digital twin viewer with the ability to review her network from the desired perspective, including global, continental, and 3D renderings of cities. She can easily control the level of detail she needs by manipulating the data layers in the left-side menu.
User controlled layers
Manipulate data layers to visualize 3D renderings of the environment, construction rules, network services, and usage heat maps. The centralized location with all applicable data empowers the most accurate digital twin.
Seamless collaboration
Constant change presents ongoing challenges, but the digital twin’s collaboration features ensures alignment across teams. The dynamic tool updates in real-time giving users the confidence they are viewing the most up-to-date version of the digital twin.
Emergency response simulations
Sasha runs a simulation using an alternative path recommended by the digital twin that is outside of the expected path of the severe storm. The digital twin solution also assesses the probability and magnitude of each service being impacted. The digital twin unifies teams to accelerate response and resolution time.