- 1. The Situation
OptiworX (Goodly Innovations) is an enterprise Augmented Reality (AR) guidance system designed for pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging facilities. The product’s core objective was to replace static paper SOPs and desktop terminals with real-time, hands-free spatial guidance for cleanroom operators.
I was brought in during an early, foundational phase when the organization was operating without established product management infrastructure, standardized delivery frameworks (such as Scrum), formal design briefs, or centralized documentation.
- 2. What Made It Difficult?
High Operational & Strategic Ambiguity: The platform lacked clear user or business requirements, formal feature roadmaps, or documented release tracking.
Divergent Executive Visions: Key executive stakeholders held fundamentally different priorities – one focusing heavily on high-end visual aesthetics, the other on strict algorithmic and mathematical functionality. Without a unified product vision, design direction risked becoming fragmented.
Restricted User Access: Operating within highly regulated pharmaceutical environments meant direct, ongoing access to cleanroom end-users was initially restricted, requiring creative proxy validation methods.
Absent Product Operations: In the initial months, cross-departmental communication was siloed, and development proceeded without formal project management or agile rituals.
- 3. My Role
As Lead Product / UX Designer, I stepped beyond traditional UI design to act as a catalyst for product structure. I self-directed spatial research, and introduced prototyping to bridge stakeholder alignment, and actively helped establish foundational product management practices.
- 4. What I Noticed
In a greenfield environment without direct user access or an agreed product vision, waiting for a formal brief was a dead end.
- I recognised that my core value lay in introducing structure, maintaining objective neutrality between competing internal perspectives, and creating a pragmatic bridge between technical feasibility, aesthetic expectations, and real-world usability.
- 5. How We Moved Forward
Proactive Skill-Building & Self-Directed Sprints: Recognizing the lack of established guidelines for emerging hardware, I initiated self-directed research and hands-on spatial prototyping for Microsoft HoloLens 1 and 2 to build a robust internal knowledge base.
- The "Three-Path" Stakeholder Alignment Strategy: To navigate competing executive priorities constructively, I established an iterative review framework for key features:
- • Path 1: Scaled to meet high visual/brand expectations.
- • Path 2: Tailored to strict technical/logic parameters.
- • Path 3 (Recommended): An objective, user-centered middle ground anchored in spatial ergonomics and industry best practices.
- This approach allowed leadership to feel heard while visually demonstrating the most viable path forward, effectively building consensus and unblocking development.
Advocating for Delivery Infrastructure: Identifying the operational bottleneck, I actively advocated for and supported the onboarding of dedicated Project Management, helping institute Jira tracking, clear user stories, and structured design-to-engineering handoffs.
- 6. The Design Work
Spatial AR HUD & Step Guidance: High-contrast spatial interfaces optimized for HoloLens field-of-view constraints and glanceable cleanroom legibility.
Multi-Device Enterprise Dashboards: Web and tablet management tools for batch setup, live operator monitoring, and compliance logging.
- Design Systems & Developer Handover Specs: Component libraries, icon sets, and spatial interaction rules defined for Unity engineering teams.
Concept Sketch
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Prototype visual
Hololens2 task node sketch
Hololens2 collapsed task node sketch
Tablet task node sketch
Design iteration
Design iteration
Design iteration
Design iteration
Visual designs for Tablet
Realwear UI design
Realwear UI design
Realwear UI design
Realwear UI design
Sitemap for Operating app
UI for operating app
Styleguide
Styleguide
Styleguide
Design specifation
Design specifation
Design specifation
Design specifation
- 7. Outcome & Professional Learnings
Delivered a Scalable Platform Foundation: Successfully defined and handed off the core multi-device UX and spatial interface models, transforming undocumented ideas into a functional, deliverable AR enterprise product.
Established Operational Discipline: Transformed a fragmented workflow into a structured design and development pipeline with clear tickets, specification docs, and repeatable sprint rituals.
- Key Leadership Takeaway: This project reinforced the importance of resilience, self-direction, and diplomatic stakeholder management in early-stage ventures. It taught me how to create clarity out of chaos, maintain momentum without formal briefs, and advocate for the structural frameworks necessary for long-term product success.