2023Agri-Tech / SaaS
Aotomatic
Aquaculture data entry — 16 steps down to 4. Same backend rules. Completely different experience.
- UI/UX Design
HMI for a Wafer Grinding Machine — Where Precision Is the Only Metric.
Product designer responsible for translating complex hardware specifications into a clean, operator-grade HMI. Designed for gloved hands, strict accuracy, and a zero-error environment.
[01]IMPACT & SUMMARY_
ZERO-TOLERANCE HMI FOR NEXT-GEN WAFER GRINDING.
Project Status
Ongoing
Active Product Designer
Year-3 Entry
Onboarded into a mature, multi-year R&D cycle
Strict NDA
Classified visual assets & core hardware IP
I joined this project three years after it started — with no brief, no UX docs, and a requirement that nothing could be wrong.
Operating within a tripartite software consortium to engineer the HMI for a next-generation wafer grinding machine. Joining the initiative three years into its R&D lifecycle, my ongoing role requires flawless technical translation to bridge legacy hardware logic with modern frontend execution.
Executive Summary
- The Challenge: The engineering team had spent 3 years building the next-generation machine hardware. The challenge was translating years of accumulated, highly technical Confluence documentation into a zero-error operator interface.
- The Solution: Established a rigorous spec-validation loop, acting as the bridge between Japanese hardware engineers and local React frontend teams.
- My Role: Active Product Designer & System Translator. Decrypting 3 years of legacy hardware specs and sensor logic to design touch-optimized, fail-safe screens for cleanroom environments.
[02]THE PROBLEM_
THE PROBLEM
INHERITING 3 YEARS OF HARDWARE LOGIC.
I joined this project three years after it started — with no brief, no UX docs, and a requirement that nothing could be wrong.
Stepping into a deep-tech hardware project in its third year means you don't start with a blank canvas; you start with a mountain of legacy engineering specs. A visual bug here isn't just a UX inconvenience—it causes catastrophic material loss.
[03]DISCOVERY & APPROACH_
DISCOVERY & APPROACH
DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE OVER DESIGN TRENDS.
Under heavy NDA, standard UX research methods are impossible. Discovery meant spending my initial months decrypting years of engineering documents before opening a design tool.
Spec-Driven Execution
- Sensor & State Mapping: Analyzed dense Confluence manuals, sensor locations, and backend status returns to map out every possible physical machine state on the interface.
- The Validation Loop: Enforced a strict workflow: Read Spec -> Design State -> Cross validate with Hardware Engineers. No design-dev handoff occurs without hardware sign-off.
- Cross-Vendor Alignment: Synchronizing UI logic across multiple outsourced software teams to ensure the final build flawlessly matches the manufacturer's hardware expectations.
[04]Key Design Decisions_
Key Design Decisions
ENGINEERED FOR THE CLEANROOM.
WHAT I AM DESIGNING
Glove-Optimized UI
Scaling tap targets (>50px) and maximizing contrast to eliminate mis-taps for operators wearing heavy cleanroom gear.
Hierarchical Alarms
Hierarchical Alarms: Translating raw hardware status codes and sensor data into human-readable, prioritized action steps, preventing operator panic during machine faults.
React-Ready Specs
Delivering highly structured component states, ensuring the Vietnamese front-end teams can implement machine logic without misinterpretation.
[05]Reflection & Lessons Learned_
Reflection & Lessons Learned
01
Precision > Creativity: In industrial HMI, "innovative" UI is dangerous. Familiarity and accuracy are the only metrics that matter. The screen must safely reflect the machine's state.
02
NDA is a Design Constraint: When strict NDAs prevent you from showing actual visuals, you are forced to communicate your value entirely through your logical process and system understanding.
03
Design as Translation: The true value of a product designer in deep tech isn't drawing interfaces; it's translating years of Confluence specs and strict hardware constraints into operational safety.
