Oil Tank Scanning Software

Oil and gas equipment manufacturer achieves 30% sales increase with user experience overhaul

Product improvements backed by human-centered design and user research allow MFE to recoup development costs within a year of sales

Now the most competitive tank scanner on the market

Project Goal

Create a new tablet app for MFE’s fourth-generation oil tank scanner, resolving critical user experience issues that had previously prevented MFE customers from experiencing the full time-saving impact of the first digitally-enabled scanner on the market.

Technology

Electron framework and Wrapper
Windows desktop application
Angular.js
D3.js

Services

User Research
UX design and prototyping
User interface design
Custom animation
Development

Sensitive software built for the people using it

Inside an oil tank, it is dark and damp. The atmosphere is susceptible to extreme temperatures: sub-zero in cold parts of the world and over 130 degrees Farenheit in the hot desert. Even after it has been thoroughly cleaned, hazardous chemical substances coat a tank’s inner surfaces.

Imagine climbing into one of those tanks wearing a bulky hazmat suit and gloves for the tedious yet critical job of scanning the floor plates to locate defects. Imagine fumbling with the tablet in extremely low light as you seek the exact positioning of every defect. The pressure is significant–mistakes could cost the tank owner thousands.

We did more than imagine it.

On a sunny Texas day, we drove down to Dripping Springs for a visit with MFE Enterprises. At the ranch, we got a firsthand experience of what it would be like to use a scanner and tablet app from the floor of a giant oil tank.

That’s what we like to call user research.

3 phases of operating a tank floor scanner

Our hands-on experience provided us with a long list of critical user requirements. In order to succeed in the market, the tool we were creating needed to be hyper-sensitive to the very human experience each operator would face at the bottom of a gigantic oil tank.

Map the tank floor

To use the scanner, a human operator must first equip the scanner with the data it needs to create a virtual map of the tank floor. This step requires the operator to manually enter data about the tank’s dimensions into the app on the accompanying tablet.

Position and move the scanner

The operator then pushes the scanner along each portion of the tank floor. Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) technology allows the scanner to read the volumetric loss of mass along each point on the floor and correlate the defect to the relative floor position in the tank via a velocity-adjusting algorithm.

Use the report to fix the defects

Using the dimensions entered by the operator, the scanner then determines the relative location of each defect and submits that data to the desktop application on the tablet. There, the operator can access a summary of defects and their locations so they can be found and treated.

User experience design for faster, easier, and more accurate scanning

MFE Enterprises designed and built a high-tech scanner for inspecting tank floor plates. The first digitally-enabled tank floor scanner, MFE’s third version of the Mark Tank Floor Scanner was revolutionary. Intended to help customers spend less time and labor fixing tank floors, it not only located defects but presented operators with a detailed report and a digital map of tank-floor deficiencies.While the Mark III Tank Floor Scanner was well received by customers worldwide (nothing like it had ever before been available), there were usability issues that MFE needed to address in its next version of the product.Re-working the original Mark III software was not a viable option, so we built brand new software from scratch for the Mark IV Tank Floor Scanner. Our custom solution fully resolved each of the usability problems customers were experiencing with the previous version.

UX Problem

An unnavigable user interface was leading to mapping errors and incorrect location reports.Operators made frequent errors during the mapping stage as they tried navigating the app’s confusing screen design in physically uncomfortable and poorly lit conditions.While it was still an improvement over former methods, operators were often spending 3-4 days in a hostile environment generating erroneous location reports.

UX Solution

Now, the new user interface allows operators to easily and accurately capture current locations and scanning direction on the first attempt.

UX Problem

Moving the scanner machine incrementally across the tank floor was strenuous and time consuming.To completely scan the tank, operators had to lift the nearly 300-pound scanning machine hundreds of times over rivets in the floor–a daunting task, even for two people.

UX Solution

We adjusted the software’s velocity calculations allowing MFE to make the scanner machine more than 200 pounds lighter. Now, the scanning job is far more efficient and far less hazardous.

Ux Problem

Operators were manually compensating for gaps in the technology.Upon discovering a defect, the operator had to rock the heavy machine back-and-forth several times, causing repetitive stress injuries over time.

UX Solution

Together with MFE, we created a new feature that eliminates the need to rock the scanner back and forth over a defect.

A Hefty Return on Human-Centered Technology

While the Mark III scanner was conceptually innovative, our improvements for the Mark IV version allowed customers to experience the full impact MFE intended to deliver.Eager to generate early interest, MFE Enterprises began exhibiting the new scanner app at trade shows prior to launch. They drew in dozens of pre-order sales, and after only one year of post-launch sales, MFE Enterprises had made enough money to cover the cost of development and start generating profit.