Co-founder
Startup
SaaS
Strategy
User Research
Product Design
Business Model
Challenge
Safety managers in shipping companies have little to no reliable and timely data on the wellbeing of their crews
This lack of data means they effectively drive blind when it comes to the key cause of accidents at sea: people.
Solution
Together with my co-founders, I designed and created a product from initial idea all the way to implementation.
Our crew feedback platform Scoutbase collects realtime data directly from seafarers and shows relevant insights to seafety professionals.
Impact
Built a highly engaging product with over 90% daily engagement rate from seafarers
Helped raise over $1m
Built partnerships with key player in the industry
Secured the first major sale, Shell
Context
Accidents at sea happen frequently - often with disastrous consequences.
A staggering 87% of these accidents happen not because of engines or IT - but because of the people on board
Yet there is very little data on the mental and physical wellbeing of crew on board - leaving shipping companies to operate blindly and risk costly accidents.
That is the problem Scoutbase set out to change.
Discovery & User Research
I started the product discovery with extensive user research on ships and in the HQ on land. This allowed me and my co-founders to deeply understand the problem from the users’ point of view and identify opportunities for a potential product.
Qualitative Interviews
Journey mapping
Understanding live at sea, including daily work routines, processes, leisure, social life, IT, and social dynamics.
Designing & Prototyping
Based on the research findings I iteratively designed prototypes, tested and refined them. The challenge was to find the right technology channel to ask crew for feedback in - and to make the data actionable for safety managers.
Ideation and design
Testing with seafarers
Testing with captains and safety managers
Rollout & Pilot
After developing and iterating the MVP, me and my co-founders successfully ran a 6 month pilot phase on 60+ ships. This pilot phase allowed us to test at scale and document the difference our data makes.
Pilot planning
Installation on ships
Onboarding communication
Crew Feedback
• Every 48 hours, when crew go online after work they are asked a question or two.
• The question simply pops up on their device as they connect to the WiFi - no app required
• Crew are being asked about different topics, such as workload, communication or stress.
• The only thing they have to do is answer the questions by tapping one of the buttons - it takes only seconds.
Thanks to the simplicity and design we managed to get a average daily response rate of 90%.
Data Dashboard
• Safety professionals on land now automatically collect anonymous feedback from seafarers on safety-critical issues from mental health to the effectiveness of training.
• They get responses in real-time and can track developing issues, why they happen, how often in real-time across the entire fleet
• With this data Scoutbase helps inform proactive, data-driven decision making and accident prevention.
For the first time safety managers now have a finger on the pulse of the wellbeing of their crews.
Build and grew a product from an idea to several successful pilots on 80+ ships collecting tens of thousands of data points form seafarers.
We attracted investors, major partnerships and our first customers, among them Shell shipping.
Achieved a consistent crew response rate of 90% - through user-centered design
“The key difference working with Scoutbase is knowing instantly if we have a potential issue on board.
If I would not have that data - now that I am used to it - I would be a little bit lost."
Capt. Dave Cudbertson
Manager, Fleet Operations, Shell, Shipping & Maritime,
My Role
As one of the co-founders I was instrumental in the idea and concept of Scoutbase.
I was responsible for the user research, prototyping and design of our product.
I represented Scoutbase in investor pitches, conferences and other public speaking opportunities.