The packaging industry is a stressful business that’s all about creating multiple types of packaging at a rapid pace. Operators of manufacturing units are constantly focused on delivering to promise, and on immediately fixing any problem that might occur. They don’t want to be distracted by anything. They also have to do quality control at set intervals often involving going through a lengthy and unstructured checklist , with many finding it a rather unwelcome diversion from their main objective.

But do they really? We talked to the users, and they indeed confirmed that quality control does feel a bit like overhead to them. Even though they understand how important quality control is, the relevance of the checklist is not always clear. They also felt they weren’t given enough time in their schedule to do it properly.

For us, this was valuable information. If users say they dislike the task they’re faced with, it makes sense to improve the UX design so that it works for them. Good UX design can make tasks easier and can make their purpose more real to the user.

In a checklist tool such as the one in question, you could, for example, reorder and regroup the items to create a more logical workflow, and make it easier to use, so that it all becomes more efficient. You could also create configuration options to allow companies to adjust the tool to their policies and UX preferences.

None of these UX design features should compromise the quality of the work. On the contrary, UX design is increasingly seen as a top priority for companies creating software.

Taking it to a higher level, I believe this kind of collaboration with customers is crucial. It’s impossible to overestimate how important it is for application designers to make site visits to listen to what end users have to say — open to suggestions and think-along — while digging deeper when user comments are not completely clear. It’s the best way to understand users and involve them in the design process.

So, what about that happy ending? Instead of those deep sighs and that eye-rolling, you’ll have enthusiastic users fully embracing their work, impatiently asking: “When can we have this new solution you’re working on?”